Orange-Honey Cupcakes for Mother's Day

This year for Mother's Day, I made cupcakes. I tend to do that a lot these days. When in doubt, I make cupcakes!

Today, I wanted to take some time to thank my mother. We always make fun of the fact that she isn't a great cook (though she does make a few fantastic dishes, including fabulous marshmallows!). Her cooking ability, or lack thereof, is a standing joke whenever we get together as a family. But, she makes up for it in so many other ways. Ever since the birth of my little girl 18 months ago, she has been so much more of a blessing than ever. Without my mother's help, I wonder how I could have made it through those first few tiring, frustrating, depressing months. So, I just wanted to say 'Thank you, Mom!'. Since she loved the Red Velvet cupcakes I made for her birthday, I was sure she would love these too!

I also wanted to say 'thank you' today, to my wonderful husband and my precious little girl for giving me the awesome gift of motherhood. I cannot begin to tell you how much my life has changed since she came along. And, they have also been the happiest months of my life.With each stage of her life, she continues to amaze me and take my breath away. And my husband is such a good dad & takes such good care of his baby girl. I am so blessed to have them.

I had some nice oranges at home and so I though this would make a nice combination. It is a variation of a lemon cupcake recipe I use sometimes. For the frosting, I adapted The Pioneer Woman's Tasty Kitchen website's "That's the best frosting I've ever had" recipe. It was very good! I can't say the same about my frosting abilities. I really need to invest in a good set of frosting bags and tips. I have a few random ones and while I can't really blame my tools, they didn't help much either!

Orange-Honey Cupcakes
Ingredients
2/3 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup vegetable oil
3 eggs, separated
1 1/2 tsp fine orange zest
1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp mixed spices (cinnamon powder, freshly grated nutmeg & a pinch of clove powder)

Method
1. Prepare a cupcake tray by lining with paper/foil liners. Preheat oven to 350.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the juice, honey, oil, egg yolks and orange zest.
3. In a large bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and spices.
4. In another bowl, whisk the egg whites until stiff peaks form.
5. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir until just combined.
6. Fold in the whisked egg whites, folding gently until no white streaks remain.
7. Fill the cupcake liners 2/3 full. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
8. Cool on a wire rack and frost when completely cool.

Best Orange Frosting
Ingredients
5 tbsp flour
1 cup milk
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp orange extract
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar (not powdered)
Orange food coloring (optional)

Method
1. In a saucepan, combine the milk and flour and stir until smooth.
2. On a low heat, while stirring continuously, cook this mixture until it is very thick and creamy.
3. Allow the mixture to cool completely. It should not be even slightly warm.
4. Stir in the extracts and set aside.
5. In a large bowl, cream the butter. Add the sugar and continue creaming until the mixture is light and fluffy.
6. Add the cooled flour mixture to the butter mixture and continue beating until the frosting is light and has a whipped cream-like consistency.
7. Mix in food coloring if desired.

These cupcakes were very, very moist, light and had a very tender crumb. They were only mildly sweet & so the frosting worked very well with it. I will make this recipe again, only next time, I would probably add slivers of blanched almonds. I think it would really add something to these already flavorful cupcakes.

My mother liked the cupcakes, as did my husband and daughter. And that made me very happy this Mother's Day!

Hope all of you had a wonderful Mother's Day too!

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