I found this recipe the other – for the life of me I cannot remember where – but decided that I was going to give them a try. I don’t think I would have tried these were it not for the fact that I *love* Red Velvet Cupcakes so much. I imagined these to be the same, only orange.

Well, I was pleasantly surprised. They were delicious. Soft, moist and indeed velvety. Not too sweet and a flavour that really just moves around in your mouth – you know what I mean?
Instead of Cream Cheese Frosting (this is traditionally used with Red Velvet Cupcakes) I decided to use just a simple Vanilla Bean Buttercream Frosting. As these cuppies are not too sweet, i thought it was the perfect finish to them.
Here is the recipe that I used – your feedback, if you make them, would be welcome:

Orange Velvet Cupcakes
Yields: 24 cupcakes

Ingredients:
– 1/2 cup butter, softened
– 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar (i used light brown)
– 2 eggs
– A good squirt Orange Gel colouring
– 1 cup buttermilk
– 2 1/2 cups flour (sifted well)
– 1 teaspoon salt
– 1 teaspoon vanilla
– 1/2 teaspoon orange extract
– 1 tablespoon vinegar
– 1 teaspoon bicarb

Directions:
Beat sugar and softened butter well. Add food coloring and eggs. Beat well. Add buttermilk, flour, salt, vanilla and orange extract. Mix well. Stir the vinegar in by hand. Then add bicarb. Mix well.

Pour batter into cupcake liners. Bake +/- 20 minutes at 350 (180). Allow to cool before frosting with your fav Vanilla Buttercream Frosting.

And then sit down and enjoy with a cup of tea!