These mouth-watering chocolate orange cupcakes use fresh orange zest and juice to add a punch of citrus flavour to each bite.
Finished with a smooth, velvet chocolate orange buttercream, these cupcakes are delicious. Our chocolate orange cupcakes are made with melted dark chocolate and a hint of salt. The salt really brings the richness of the chocolate flavour to life. This recipe makes 10 cupcakes.
Ingredients
- 165g of plain flour
- 20g of cornflour
- 175g golden caster sugar
- 90g of unsalted butter at room temperature
- Grated zest and juice of one orange
- 115g of dark chocolate, melted
- 2 large eggs
- 1/2 teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda
- 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon of salt
- 1 tablespoon of milk at room temperature
- For the chocolate orange buttercream:
- 400g icing sugar
- 100g cocoa powder, sifted
- 200g of unsalted butter
- Juice and zest of one orange
- 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract (or a few drops of cold water)
- 10 satsuma or tangerine segments, optional
Method
Preheat the oven to 160 fan oven/180/350/gas mark 4.
Melt the chocolate in the microwave or in a heat proof dish over a saucepan of water until smooth.
Cream the butter, sugar and orange zest until it is light and fluffy.
Add the eggs and slowly beat until just combined. Add the melted chocolate, flour, bicarbonate,baking powder, salt, orange juice and milk and beat until the mixture come together. Don’t over beat as the cakes will peak in the middle.
Spoon the mixture into the cupcake cases (to about 2 thirds full) and bake for 30 minutes.
Remove from the oven and leave in the tray for a few minutes before placing them on a wire rack to cool completely.
For the chocolate orange frosting: Add all the ingredients together and beat until light and fluffy. This should take about 5 minutes with an electric beater.
Spoon or pipe the icing on to the cakes. Top with satsuma segments or grated orange zest.
Top tips for making chocolate orange cupcakes
We’ve decorated our cupcakes with satsuma segments, but you could opt for Terry’s Chocolate Orange pieces instead or a simple finish with grated orange zest to keep it simple.
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Classic chocolate cupcake recipe
Basic cupcake recipe
Chocolate orange cake
