Orange Velvet Cupcakes

If you found this recipe looking for an orange flavored cupcake this not the recipe for you.  My Orange Velvet Cupcake is a  white chocolate flavored cupcake topped with salted cream cheese frosting.  A spin on the traditional red velvet, if you will.

Confession: I graduated from Clemson. A long time ago.  So basically to keep my alumni card, I need a bright orange cupcake on the blog.  {just. kidding.  there are no alumni cards}  The Solid Orange Cupcake is a must have.  On Fridays we wear orange.  Students. Alumni. Fans.  We rep our school.  Every Friday.   Do you know how creative you have to be to work Solid Orange into a professional wardrobe?  Actually, it is not that hard.  I have so many former and current colleagues who just know this about me.  When Clemson won the National Championship in 2017, I got so many emails and messages  from people who remembered that I'd always worn orange on Friday. It was touching.

I'm sharing these cupcakes on the last football Solid Orange Friday of Football season, because we don't have Santa Clara money.  Tickets + Air Fare + Time Off + Begging the grandparents to watch our toddler = we are going to be watching Clemson v. Alabama part 4 at home.     A fun and festive cupcake seemed like a slam dunk! (wait, wrong sport).

About this cake.  It is so easy to make. No stand mixer required.  All you need is a hand mixer and a couple of bowls.   The mellow flavor of the white chocolate is balanced perfectly with the frosting and as a bonus,  if you aren't in love with the color orange, you can VERY easily modify it to make it the perfect color for your school or team.   This cake has no egg yolks and clear vanilla extract, which  makes this cake base a blank palette. Perfect!

I wanted an orange that is more Clemson and less Tennessee or Texas.  You know what I mean?   With a white cake you are going  use an alarming amount of food coloring if you want a Clemson orange.  Lean into it. Embrace the food coloring.  I find that  gel food coloring works best, but use what you love.  I happened to be wearing a Clemson sweatshirt while I was making the cupcakes, which allowed me to quickly see how close to perfect the color was.

When it comes to cupcakes I always care about the cake first.  The cake needs to be good enough that you don't even need frosting.  Frosting should literally be the icing on the cake.   I always want a nice light crumb, good flavor and a well baked cake.  To get the nice light crumb  you have beat air into the egg whites. You want just enough air, but lets not get crazy here.  2-3 minutes of mixing at a medium speed is all you need.  Plan accordingly.

To get a good flavor of cake, buy the best white chocolate you can afford.  My thought is that if I am going through this whole thing to make a cake from scratch then quality ingredients are worth it.   This was not my motto a few years ago.  I bought the cheapest everything.  You know your budget, so do you.

I know that people hate the word "moist" to describe cake.  So I am not going to do that.  All I am going to say is don't over bake your cake. After 15 minutes in the oven, it's time to start checking every minute.  This recipe makes 24 regular cupcakes or 12 jumbo (pictured) cupcakes.  For jumbo cupcakes, start checking at the 20 minute mark.

The frosting is an American-Style cream cheese butter cream with a pinch of salt. I love adding salt to frosting because it adds a balance to the all of the sugar and in some ways intensifies the flavor.  It's my go-to frosting move.

I can't eat and watch Clemson Football at the same time.  My nerves are too bad because I survived the decade we lovingly call "The Tommy's".   I am hoping that these cupcakes will be a nice way to cap off an impressive season, win or lose.  (But I am really hoping for the win!) Work on Tuesday is going to be questionable at best.

Happy Baking, and Go Tigers!

Orange Velvet Cupcakes

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Velvet-y white chocolate cupcakes topped with salted cream cheese frosting.

• Author: Richelle
• Prep Time: 35 minutes
• Cook Time: 15 minutes
• Total Time: 50 minutes
• Yield: 24 cupcakes 1x
• Category: Dessert

Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

For the Cupcakes

• 3 cups cake flour (sifted)
• 1 1/2 tbsp baking powder
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 1 cup sugar
• 4 1/2 large egg whites
• 1 cup whole milk
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 9 tbsp unsalted butter (softened)
• 6 oz white chocolate
• orange gel coloring

For the Frosting

• 8 oz cream cheese (softened)
• 4 oz unsalted butter (softened)
• 7 cups powdered sugar
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 tbsp whole milk
• pinch sea salt

Instructions

For the Cupcakes

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Fill a small saucepan with water and bring to a simmer.  Place the white chocolate (baker's bar or white chocolate bar preferred, but white chocolate chips can be used in a pinch!) in a heat resistant bowl.  Set the bowl over the simmering water and stir frequently until the chocolate melts.  Set aside.
3. In large measuring cup briefly whisk together the egg whites, 1/4 cup of milk and vanilla extract.  Set aside.
4. In a large bowl combine all of the dry ingredients with a hand mixer on a low speed.  Slowly pour in the milk and butter and mix on a medium speed  until dough forms, about 2 minutes.   Scrape down the bowl, then slowly pour in the egg/milk/vanilla mixture in two additions, scraping the bowl as necessary.   Mix on medium for 30 seconds and stir in the melted white chocolate and the food coloring.  Mix for another minute until the batter is completely smooth.
5. Scoop the batter into two cupcake tins lined with cupcake wrapper, filling each well 2/3rds of the way full. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

For the Frosting

1. In a medium bowl, cream the butter and cream cheese together until smooth, then add 1/2 the powdered sugar, vanilla extract, milk and salt.   Blend until creamy and then mix in the remaining powdered sugar until you reach a nice consistency.  Turn the hand mixer on high and whip for 30 more seconds.
2. Decorate the cupcakes and enjoy!