The Taste of Summer

The summer is officially here!!!! When I think of summer I think of all the fresh berries and citrus fruits that are available. One of my favorite being oranges! I though I would share this orange cupcake recipe to help out with that sweet tooth and to bring a little summer to a party or picnic. Enjoy!!!

Shericka's Orange Cupcakes

3/8 cup softened unsalted butter

1 cup all purpose flour

2 oranges

6 tablespoons of sugar

2 eggs

2 tsp. baking powder

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

2. Finely grate the rind of 1 orange and squeeze the juice into a cup. Beat the butter and sugar together and gradually add the eggs. Sift in the flour and baking powder and mix well, add the orange rind and orange juice.

3. Pour into cupcake pans lined with cups. Bake for about 25 minutes.

4. Remove a thin layer of rind from the second orange and cut into fine strops for decorating. Squeeze the juice from the orange. Once cupcakes are done and have cooled. Squeeze the juice from the orange.

Cream Cheese Frosting

1 8-ounce package of cream cheese
1/3 cup butter
1 1/2 tablespoons sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/3 to 1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar (add the larger amount of sugar for a stiffer consistency)
Pinch of salt

2. Before you begin, you want your ingredients to be at cool room temperature--not refrigerator-cold but not soft enough to spread on toast.

• If the cream cheese and butter are too cold, they'll be too firm to mix easily; if they're too warm, your frosting will be very soft and may be difficult to use.
• Start by beating the cream cheese until smooth.
• You can also use a food processor to make frosting instead of an electric mixer.

3. Add the butter and beat to combine, scraping down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula.

4. Beat in the confectioners' sugar and the pinch of salt. Ingredients such as powdered sugar and cocoa powder should be sifted before you add them to the mixing bowl.

5. Add the sour cream and vanilla extract. Beat until smooth, scraping down the sides of the bowl.

6. Your frosting is now ready to use--it's as easy as that! If you need to refrigerate it before using, bring it back up to room temperature, return it to the mixer, and beat it for a minute or so for the best consistency.

Once complete you can pipe frosting onto cupcakes or you can do it the old fashioned way. Once you have iced the cupcakes add a couple of the orange rinds on top of each cupcake for that decorative touch. Just have fun with it!