I was never a fan of cranberries before, maybe because of their tart nature. However, I adore all things cranberry + orange; scones, muffins, cupcakes, cookies, etc. I think the loads of sugar added to them plus a little citrus gives them just the pop they need.
These cupcakes take a little extra work if you choose to make the sugared berries for on top. They do look pretty though and they can be made up to a week ahead of time.
The original recipe calls for cranberry frosting, but I find it difficult to chop them tiny enough to be able to do pretty pipping. Also, it requires buying another bag of fresh cranberries. I instead opted for an orange frosting that still compliments the cupcakes well.
Cranberry Orange Cupcakes
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/2 tsp orange extract
3/4 cup buttermilk
1 1/2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
zest of an orange
1 1/2 cups roughly chopped cranberries
Yields 15-18 cupcakes.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line muffin tins with cupcake papers.
- Combine flour, baking powder and salt into small bowl.
- In a large mixing bowl cream butter and sugar together until fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, scrapping bowl as needed. Mix in orange extract and orange zest.
- Pour in about 1/3 of the butter milk and mix until combined.
- Add about 1/2 of the dry ingredients and mix until just incorporated. Repeat steps 4 and 5 until all ingredients are used.
- Divide batter into muffin cups and bake for 17-20 minutes; or until the tops spring back up when gently pressed.
Orange Frosting
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
2 tbsp fresh orange juice
zest of one orange
2-3 tbsp heavy cream
- Beat butter with electric mixer until creamed together.
- Slowly add powdered sugar, orange zest and orange juice. Mix until well combined.
- Add heavy cream and mix well on medium speed. Your desired consistency may require more or less heavy cream.
- Frost cooled cupcakes and top with optional sugared cranberries.
Adapted from Taste and Tell.
