Blood Orange Creamsicle Cuppeycakes

     Last week Elisabeth Hasselbeck was making the talk show rounds to promote her newest gluten free cookbook. I happened to catch her appearance on The Chew, which is a cooking talk show. I'm not a huge Elisabeth fan. She often times shares incorrect information. It is really hard to get correct information out there when gluten free celebs spout incorrect info. and people treat celebs like their word is gospel. I'll just leave it as I'm not a huge fan. I was intrigued, however, by the cupcakes that she brought out for the hosts of The Chew. The Chew graciously posted the recipe on their website for the Orange Cream Cupcakes . I'm not sure if these are in Elisabeth's book, or not, but the recipe can be found via that link at least. The recipe for today was inspired by that recipe.
     As with most recipes, I thought there were a few things that needed changed. So I switched up a few things and set out for the kitchen today to give my recipe a whirl. I used Blood Oranges in my recipe. That is the kind of orange that I had in the house. I LOVE them. They are a deep blood red inside when cut open. They have great flavor. AMAZING!! However, if you don't have blood oranges, don't freak out. Simply use a regular orange. It will work just as well in this recipe. I also bumped up the flavor and changed the frosting. I happen to think that my product is pretty darn amazing!! Give the recipe a whirl and let me know what you think.

Blood Orange Creamsicle Cuppeycakes

1 3/4 C. Annalise Robert's GF Flour Mix
1 tsp. Xanthan Gum
2 tsp. Baking Powder
1/4 tsp. Salt
1 C. Sugar
1/2 C. Cooking Oil
2 Eggs
The Zest and Juice from one blood orange
1tsp. Orange Extract
1/2 C. Milk

Pre heat the oven to 350 deg. Line a cupcake pan with 12 cupcake liners. Spray the inside of the cupcake liners with cooking spray.

In a bowl combine gf flour, xanthan gum, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat the oil and sugar until combined. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well between each addition.

In a small bowl combine the blood orange juice, orange zest, orange extract, and milk. (the juice will make the milk curdle, this is fine, it will be just like adding buttermilk to the recipe) Add half the milk mixture to the egg mixture. Beat until combined. Add half of the flour mixture and mix until combined. Add the other half of the milk mixture and the other half of the flour mixture. Mix well.

Fill the 12 muffin cups by dividing the batter evenly among the paper liners. Bake at 350 for 15-20 min. or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of a cupcake comes out clean. Remove the cupcakes from the muffin tin and let them cool completely before frosting.

Blood Orange Cream Cheese Icing

1 pkg. (8oz.) Cream Cheese (softened)
Juice from 1 Blood Orange
1 tsp. Orange Extract
1 T. Orange Zest
4 T. Butter or Margarine
3 1/2 C. Powdered Sugar

In a bowl using an electric combine the cream cheese, butter, blood orange juice, orange extract, and zest. Mix until creamy and no lumps of cream cheese or butter are visible. Add the powdered sugar one cup at a time. Beat until combined before adding in more powdered sugar.  Icing will not be super stiff, if you want it to be more stiff, add more powdered sugar. Using a icing spatula, spread the icing generously over the tops of the cupcakes.

Line your muffin tin with cuppeycake wrappers. Spray them generously with cooking spray.

Before you start mixing the batter, zest and juice the blood orange.

Use a micro plane or the smallest holes on a cheese grater to zest the orange.

Bake for 15-20min. at 350 deg.

Cool completely before frosting.

Combine the cream cheese, butter, zest, blood orange juice, and extract. Mix until creamy.

Add the powdered sugar one cup at a time. Mix well after each addition.

Frost and decorate.

Enjoy the cuppeycakes!!!

-Jessica