These light and fluffy chocolate cupcakes topped with a delicious orange cream cheese frosting are sure to be a hit!
Ingredients
Chocolate Cupcakes:
1cupunsalted butter
1 ⅓cupssugar
2 ¾cupscake flour, sifted
½cupcocoa powder, sifted
4teaspoonsbaking powder
½teaspoonsalt
1cupmilk
1tablespoonbrandy, optional
8Large egg whites, for meringue
⅓cupsugar (for meringue)
Orange Frosting:
16ouncescream cheese, softened
1orange, zest only
8tablespoonsbutter
2poundspowdered sugar
2teaspoonsvanilla extract
1teaspoonorange extract
Instructions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Weigh the ingredients to get the recipe correct. Sift cake flour, cocoa powder.
Cream the butter and sugar together until they are light and fluffy in a stand mixer with the paddle attachment. Mix all the dry ingredients together and all the wet ingredients separately.
Add about 1/3 of the dry ingredients to the butter and sugar mixture, then add half the wet ingredients, then half of the remaining dry ingredients, the rest of the wet ingredients, and then the rest of the dry ingredients. Stir batter until just combined. It should be pretty thick.
For Meringue:
Separate the egg yolks from the whites. Do this one at a time and then add the white to the rest of the whites.
Start beating these with the hand mixer until they are very fluffy and forming light peaks, then slowly pour in the sugar. After a few more minutes of beating, stiff peaks will form.
With a spatula, fold the meringue into the previous batter mixture. Fold it slowly and take your time. You want to keep as many of the bubbles in the meringue as possible.
Fill each cupcake tin with 1/3 cup of chocolate cupcake batter.
Bake at 375 for 17-18 minutes.
Cook the cupcakes before frosting.
For Frosting:
Mix together cream cheese and butter until smooth using either a stand mixer or hand mixer.
Add in the zest of one orange and extracts.
Slowly mix in two pounds of powdered sugar until the mixture is a thick frosting.
Frost cooled cupcakes generously with either a knife or a piping bag.