Orange Creamscicle Cupcakes

I'd like to interrupt this normally blog post free day to bring you the recipe I promised I would share yesterday. I had a busy weekend, and slept in yesterday, then I got my photos from Persnickety Prints and was so excited to open them and get creative! So, to make up for my excitement over photos, I'm sharing this recipe on a Tuesday instead.

I made these cupcakes and shared them with my parents, and siblings, and took a few to Jon's parents. Everyone loved them, though they were a bit heavy, and the icing may have not been mixed quite evenly.

This recipe comes from here. I found it on Pinterest while searching for new recipes to try. If you follow me on Pinterest, you know that my 'Food' board is actually full of sweets I want to try. So much for trying to lose weight right?

Ingredients:

• 2 10.2g Package of Orange Jell-O
• 1 White Cake Mix
• 1 box of Jell-O No-Bake Cheesecake mix
• 1 1/4 cups of Orange Juice
• 5 Eggs
• 1/3 cup Vegetable Oil
• 1 tsp Vanilla

Frosting:

• 1 8oz Package of Cream Cheese
• 1/2 cup Butter
• 2 tsp Vanilla
• 4-5 cups Powdered Sugar
• Reserved Orange Jell-O
• 1 tsp Finely Shredded Orange Zest

Instructions:

• Preheat over to 350 degrees
• Line cupcake pan with liners (makes 24-27)
• Set aside 2 tsp of orange Jell-O for frosting
• In a bowl, mix together the remaining Jell-O, cake mix, cheesecake mix, orange juice, eggs, oil and vanilla
• Fill muffin cups with batter - about 2/3 full
• Bake 18-20 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean
• Cool cupcakes before frosting

Frosting:

• Soften cream cheese and butter at room temperature for at least 30 minutes
• In a large bowl, beat butter, cream cheese, reserved Jell-O, orange peel and vanilla until light and fluffy
• Add in powdered sugar until desired consistency is achieved
• Add orange food colouring if desired

I altered the original recipe a little bit. I used the Jell-O I had on hand, made a double batch of the cupcakes, but a single batch of the icing and used a lot less icing sugar than called for. My family (and Jon's) aren't ones for a tower of icing on top of their cupcakes, so a single batch of icing made enough icing to cover all the cupcakes. I'd do whatever works for you. If you like a lot of icing, make the full recipe of icing, if not, make half, or a double batch of cupcakes and a single of icing.

I hope you enjoy this recipe! I don't know about you, but I plan to try it with other Jell-O flavours to see how it turns out!

Have a great day!

-Alexandria

Pink Lemonade Cupcakes

I was looking for some new cake recipes since I'm hosting my Mom's birthday in July, and Jon's family is having their reunion in August, and two of my sister-in-law's are expecting babies. I wanted something that I could make for various occasions throughout the next few months.

I found quite a few different versions of this recipe, but the simplest one came from Betty Crocker.

Cupcakes:
1 Box Betty Crocker SuperMoist natural vanilla cake mix
3/4 Cup frozen (thawed) pink lemonade concentrate
1/2 Cup vegetable oil
1/4 Cup water
3 Eggs
Pink food coloring if desired

Frosting
1 Container Betty Crocker Whipped Fluffy White Frosting
6 tablespoons frozen (thawed) pink lemonade concentrate
Pink food coloring if desired
Candy sprinkles if desired

Directions:
Heat oven to 350F. Place paper baking cup in each of 24 regular-size muffin cups. Make cake batter as directed on box, using ingredients listed above. Divide batter evenly among muffin cups.
Bake 20-22 minutes or until toothpick inserted in centre comes out clean. Cool in pans 10 minutes; remove from pans to cooling rack. Cool completely, about 30 minutes.
In large bowl, beat frosting, 6 tablespoons lemonade concentrate and food coloring with electric mixer on low speed until blended. Frost cooled cupcakes. Garnish tops with candy sprinkles.

I highly recommend following this recipe very closely. I did not, and my batter was very runny and I ended up with 4 dozen. The batter also didn't rise so my cupcakes were half the size of normal cupcakes. They were however, a huge hit with my family, and Jon's. They've all asked if I'm making them again.

Enjoy!
-Alex