I have to declare that whilst these little cupcakes are an arresting sight, they actually taste as good as they look. The orange rind and cream cheese make them so soft and they taste like moist orange scented friands. I am one of those people that sticks whole oranges in the freezer in case I ever need rind or juice. It would probably be better if I zested and juiced the oranges first and put them in a zip lock bag I know. Perhaps I’ll get around to doing that sometime.
I am very excited as these featured on the Cupcakes Spectacular 2008
as well as Cupcakes Take the Cake’s mini round up!
Kaleidocakes cupcakes
Orange buttercake
- 90g butter softened
- 90 cream cheese softened
- 2 teaspoons finely grated orange rind
- 2/3 cup (150g) caster sugar
- 2 eggs
- 125g plain flour
Fondant Icing
- 300g white prepared fondant, chopped coarsely
- 1 egg white
- 1/4 teaspoon orange essence
Royal Icing
- 1 1/2 cups (240g) pure icing sugar
- 1 egg white
- 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
- food colouring in desired flavours
1. Preheat oven to moderate (180c/160c fan forced). Line 12 hole standard muffin pan with paper cases
2. Beat butter, cheese, ring, sugar and eggs in bowl with electric mixer until light and fluffy
3. Beat in flours on low speed until just combined. Divide mixture among cases, smooth surface
4. Bake for 15-20 minutes.
5. Make fondant icing (see below). Spread over cakes. Allow to set at room temperature
6. Make royal icing (see below). Divide evenly among five small bowls. Using colouring tint icing and cover each tightly with plastic wrap. Pipe patterns on parchment and when dry, very, very carefully lift off and place on top of fondant topped cupcake (I piped directly onto the cupcakes as I misread the directions on the recipe)
Fondant icing
Place icing in a small microwave proof bowl and heat on 30% heat for 30 seconds, stir and test, then another 30 seconds. It should look soft like marshmallow spread. Stir in egg white and essence. Use immediately. Spread fondant quickly over cakes, use a metal spatula dipped in hot water to smooth surface (the spatula will need some water on it or it will stick to the fondant)
Recipe adapted from Womens Weekly Cupcakes book
