Magpie's Recipes: Orange Cuptail Cupcakes- Easy & Vegan ( Dairy-free, Eggless)

Summer's here and so is the glue that bonds girls from New York to New Delhi- Sex and the City 2!!! So when you get together with your best gal pals to watch back-to-back episodes in preparation, why not bake up some of these delightful & summery Orange cocktail-in-a-cupcake or “Cup-tails”.
These cuties have got to be my favourite summer treats. Why? Because
1) What is better than cocktails and cupcakes ? cocktails in a cupcake :)
2) Because which fruit reminds you more of the blazing summer sun than the orange? I for one can’t think of any. I live next door to an orange orchard and love to walk by and see the trees full of fruit every February, signalling the end of winter and the promise of sunny days ahead. “Spring is almost here, Summer will soon follow!” each plump orange seems to say.

The fresh citrusy taste of this juicy fruit is totally captured in this vegan orange cupcake made mostly from orange juice and zest.
No eggs, no milk, nothing to weaken the bold, orangey awesomeness. So it’s tasty and healthy and cruelty-free too. I'm not a vegan but have amazing respect for those who are, especially the wonderful vegan food bloggers who have helped me see that vegan baked goods are yummalicious, often easier to make and call for less ingredients. Vegan baking is also great for those with allergies to dairy and eggs.
I like these orange cupcakes best after chilling a while in the fridge, so that it’s like biting into a tall glass of orange juice, especially after a hot, lazy day at the beach or swim in the pool.
Add some orange liqueur, vodka or grand mariner, some orange butter-cream frosting if you want, and there you have it, the Orange Cup-tail!

This recipe is from the brilliant Vaishali of earthvegan and I only made a few changes to it because it was already so good.
I didn't have orange liqueur so I used Grand Mariner instead and it was awesome, although it would be awesomer with the orange liqueur or maybe even some orange extract. Want to try it with vodka soon since vodka-orange is my favourite cocktail combination!

Orange Cuptail Cupcakes

Recipe Source: Vaishali of earthvegan from here

Dry Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
finely grated zest from one orange ( Organic oranges would be best. You could omit this although I like it better with the zest. It tastes well, zestier :)

Sift all the dry ingredients into a bowl and mix in the zest.

In another bowl, beat together until well-mixed:

1 cup orange juice ( I used store bought minute maid but fresh would be best)
2 tbsp orange liqueur like Cointreau or Triple Sec (I used grand mariner)
1/3 cup canola oil
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp vanilla

Method

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix with a whisk just until you have a smooth batter. Do not overmix or overbeat.
Pour the batter into greased silicone cupcake molds or muffin tins. Or you could use an ice cream scoop to pour out the batter with less fuss
Bake in a preheated 350-degree oven about 30-32 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Orange-flavored Buttercream Frosting

Ingredients:

8 tbsp (1 stick) vegan butter like Earth Balance
4 tbsp vegetable shortening
1/4 cup orange juice
1 tbsp orange liqueur
1 tbsp orange zest (optional)
2 to 3 cups confectioners' sugar (use more or less depending on how thick you want your frosting, and how sweet).
1 tsp vanilla extract

Cream together the butter and shortening until they are fluffy, about 1 minute.

Now add the orange juice, zest, liqueur and vanilla and half the sugar. Beat until mixed, then add the remaining sugar and beat until mixed for about 2 mins.

Frost the cupcakes after they've cooled completely otherwise the frosting may melt and get runny.

Verdict

To tell the truth, I wasn't expecting too much from a cupcake made mostly out of orange juice and not much else. But the cupcakes have turned out soft and fluffy and absolutely lovely!

Warning: I also tried to bake a cake using lemon juice instead of orange, but didn't like it as much. Might want to use another recipe for vegan lemon cakes (will post one soon)

I also love my silicone cupcake molds which are so easy to unmold and they are so cute I don't even need separate cupcake liners, I can simply bake, and serve in them! Have put a link below if you want to check them out. I think they would make great gifts for the bakers in your family. Just be a little careful while peeling them off though. I was very rash and tore one :(

Oh and if you like this recipe you should totally check out Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World
, which has 75 different cupcake recipes including a margarita cupcake! And they are all dairy and egg-free and most recipes use ingredients you probably already have lying around in your kitchen. This is an awesome cook book and even non vegans (like me) will agree!