Sweet Orange Cupcakes make for the perfect summertime treat! These orange cupcakes have a sweet orange buttercream icing and come together in less than 30 minutes. These cupcakes will be a go-to recipe for all of your summer gatherings! Makes 12 cupcakes.

an orange cupcake with an orange cupcake liner on a gray plate

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The Best Orange Cupcakes

Orange cupcakes are the perfect summer treat! They are made with a vanilla cupcake base that has fresh orange zest added to the cupcake batter.

They are topped with an orange cream frosting that is packed with zesty orange flavor. It's so creamy, you could even call them Orange Creamsicle Cupcakes!

One of my favorite things to bake is cupcakes. They take my love for muffins and turn them into dessert and top them with frosting. Cupcakes are simply the best dessert.

These orange cupcakes fit the bill. They are perfect for birthdays, baby showers, bridal showers, Easter, graduation parties or even if you are having a gameday party for a team whose color is orange!

Orange Cupcake Recipe

Recently, my friend asked me to make 4 dozen cupcakes for her son's birthday party. I made my go to Lemon Buttercream Cupcakes, which are always a hit at every party I bring them to.

One of the things that has really helped me feel confident making cupcakes is having a base recipe for cupcakes that I trust and then being able to tweak the recipe for the season or situation.

It's no secret that I love lemons, but orange is pretty high up there too. Living in Arizona, it's hard not to love our plethora of fresh citrus year-round!

I absolutely love using oranges in other recipes like these Cranberry Orange Scones, these Grilled Chicken Fajitas or an Orange Margarita.

These cupcakes are fluffy, vanilla filled and so moist. I added some orange zest into the batter for good measure, but the orange flavor definitely comes through the most in the orange buttercream icing.

Prefer chocolate to vanilla? This chocolate almond cake with orange would be great!

orange cupcake batter in a muffin liner in a muffin tin

Ingredients

Here's what you'll need to grab at the store to make these delicious orange cupcakes.

For the cupcakes, you'll need:

unsalted butter
sugar
egg
sour cream
vanilla extract
a medium orange
all-purpose flour
baking powder
baking soda
salt
milk

For the orange buttercream, you will need:

unsalted butter
vanilla extract
powdered sugar
heavy cream
orange juice

If you desire an orange color for the frosting, you can use 1 drop each of red and yellow food coloring. Repeat until your desired orange shade is reached.

If you like, you can garnish the cupcakes with orange-colored sprinkles, orange zest, slices of orange fruit — fresh, candied or candy.

an orange cupcake sliced in half on a gray plate

How to Make Orange Cupcakes

Here's how to make these orange cupcakes. They will come together in a snap — less than 45 minutes of hands-on time.

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Prepare a cupcake tin with liners.
In a stand mixer, cream butter and sugar together. Add egg, sour cream, vanilla and orange zest. Mix again.
In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda and baking powder.
Alternate between adding dry ingredients and milk to wet ingredients in stand mixer, whisking between each addition until batter is just combined.
Pour the batter into lined muffin tin, filling cupcake liners about ¾-full. (I like to use a batter scoop.)
Bake for 15 to 18 minutes, until cupcake centers bounce back to the touch. Insert a toothpick — if it comes out clean, the cupcakes are ready. If it has crumbs, they need more time.
Allow cupcakes to cool completely on a wire baking rack before frosting them.

a hand holding a piping bag to ice cupcakes

How to Make Orange Buttercream

Buttercream is a creamy, delicate yet sturdy frosting, which makes it perfect for cakes and cupcakes.

Use a hand mixer to cream butter, vanilla and orange juice.
Add ½ cup powdered sugar. Continue adding powdered sugar ½ cup at a time until icing is thickened.
Add heavy cream. Icing should be smooth but hold its shape fairly well.
Pipe icing onto room temperature cupcakes.

orange slices decorating orange cupcakes

Tips for Perfect Cupcakes

Alternate Dry Ingredients

Alternate between adding dry ingredients to wet ingredients in stand mixer and whisking in milk slowly.

This will help the batter to stay moist and will yield light, fluffy cupcakes!

Bake Cupcakes Until They Bounce Back

Make sure you bake cupcakes until they bounce back when gently touched or a cake tester or toothpick comes out clean.

Batter or crumbs on the toothpick means the cupcakes are under baked and a clean toothpick means the cupcake is too dry.

a hand inserting an orange slice on a cupcake

Cool Cupcakes Completely Before Icing

Cooling on a wire rack lets the cupcakes cool completely. If you cool them in the cupcake tin, you risk getting soggy bottoms!

In a pinch, cool the cupcakes on the wire rack in the fridge. But for the best, fluffiest cupcakes, cooling at room temperature is recommended.

Icing Your Cupcakes

If you want your buttercream icing to be really firm, you'll need closer to 4 cups of powdered sugar. It will depend on where you live and the time of year too.

For example, in Phoenix, it's just impossible for me to have super thick, firm icing, without using way more powdered sugar than I'd want to. So I'm okay with my icing being a little more runny.

You can also place your buttercream icing in the fridge before piping it to help it firm up a bit. Or store your cupcakes in the fridge and let them come to room temperature before serving.

More cupcake recipes:

Did you make this recipe?

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