Orange Summer Cupcakes

It's almost Mother's Day so I've decided to make orange flavored cupcakes for my mother and a couple of her friends who were coming over for a meeting. I'm a huge chocolate fan but lately I've been trying to explore other interesting flavors and it makes baking so much fun!

Orange Butter Cake Recipe (makes 18 cupcakes)

1 1/2 cups sifted cake flour
1 tsp. sifted baking powder
a pinch of salt
3/4 cups unsalted butter
1 tsp. orange extract
1 cup caster sugar
4 egg yolks
1/8 cup fresh milk
4 egg whites
1/4 cup caster sugar

Topping
Orange marmalade
Whipped cream

Bake the cupcakes:

Step 1: Preheat oven to 350F. Line 18 muffin cups with cupcake liners. set aside.
Step 2: In a medium size mixing bowl, combine the cake flour, baking powder and salt. sift three times.
Step 3: In a large mixing bowl, using an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream butter together with the orange extract until light and fluffy. Gradually add the 1 cup sugar while beating the mixture at medium speed. After adding all the sugar, increase the speed of the mixer and continue to beat for a full 5 minutes to dissolve the sugar granules. The mixture should turn very pale.
Step 4: Pour in the egg  yolks and continue beating until blended.
Step 5: Add the dry ingredients and the milk alternately to the butter mixture, beating well after each addition. Always start and end with the dry ingredients.
Step 6: In another mixing bowl,using an electric mixer fitted with a wire whisk, beat the egg whites until frothy. Gradually add the remaining 1/4 cup sugar while beating at medium speed. Increase the speed of the mixer and continue beating until the whites are almost stiff.
Step 7: Fold the butter mixture into the beaten whites.
Step 8: Transfer the batter unto the lined muffin cups using an ice cream scoop filling just three-fourths of each cup. bake for 12 to 15 minutes until done.

Assembling the cupcakes:

When the cupcakes have cooled down top each one with orange marmalade and pipe sweetened whipped cream covering the whole top.

I placed small gumpaste flowers on each piped rosette for a more festive look.

Happy baking!