Chocolate Cupcakes with Orange Buttercream Frosting

Sometimes I get restless.  Not often.  It’s hard to find the time to become restless with Husband and the Onions underfoot.  But sometimes – like a Tuesday night during the NHL playoffs – I get antsy and start looking for trouble.

This happened to me one night and I found myself standing in the middle of the kitchen looking for something to get into.

I had a half batch of chocolate cupcakes in the freezer and thought I might try to whip up something out of those.  I didn’t have much else to work with on hand except two beautiful Florida oranges.  And butter.  Aw yeah… the wheels started turning.

I love the combination of chocolate and orange (remember those orange slice shaped chocolates you used to get at Christmas that had a hint of orange flavor to them?) and the zest just really makes this buttercream crisp and fresh tasting.

Chocolate Cupcakes with Orange Buttercream Frosting

1 batch of chocolate cupcakes*

½ cup butter at room temperature

1 teaspoon vanilla

3 tablespoons fresh orange juice
3-4 cups powdered sugar

2 tablespoons fresh orange zest

Whip butter with an electric mixer on medium speed until fluffy (about 2 minutes).  Reduce speed to low and add vanilla and orange juice. Mix in 3 cups of powered sugar and orange zest.  Add up to 1 cup of additional powdered sugar if necessary to reach your desired consistency.

If it gets too dry, add more arrange juice – one teaspoon at a time. 

*If you use a box mix, substitute orange juice for the water that the directions call for.  If you use the ‘Suck It, Betty Crocker’ Chocolate Cake recipe, double the frosting recipe.

Print Page