The Halloween posts are finally here and over the next few days I will be showing you a few different cupcake designs and flavours so that you can create your own trick or treat platter! To start us off I have gone for an obvious TREAT and picked Chocolate Orange Cupcakes. These have been topped with an orange icing and a cute little pumpkin decoration! If you can’t find any pumpkin decorations, don’t worry! Just save a bit of your icing before you add the orange food and add green to it instead! Then you can ice the orange pumpkin with a green stalk! I’ve included photos of both my designs for you to see but they’re always better when they are individual to you, so decorate as you like!

🛒 Ingredients 🛒 

For the cupcakes:

▪️175g butter

▪️175g caster sugar

▪️3 eggs

▪️125g self raising flour

▪️1 tsp baking powder

▪️40g cocoa powder

▪️Zest of 1 orange

▪️2 tsp vanilla extract

▪️4 tbsp orange marmalade

For the icing:

▪️60g unsalted butter

▪️2 tbsp orange juice

▪️250g icing sugar

▪️1 tsp vanilla extract

▪️Orange food dye (I used a gel)

👩‍🍳 Method 👩‍🍳 

1. Preheat the oven 180°C. Prepare your cupcake cases on a tray.
2. In a bowl cream together the butter and the sugar until pale. 
3. Add in one egg at a time and make sure you mix until it is fully combined before adding the next one. Then mix in the vanilla extract. If at any point the mixture begins to curdle, add in 1tbsp of your flour at a time, beat well between each addition until the mixture comes back together.
4. Next, sieve in the flour, baking powder and cocoa powder and fold through until completely mixed in. Add in the orange zest and fold through.
5. Scoop the cake batter into your prepared cases and bake in the oven for 15 minutes, until a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean.
6. Remove from the oven and leave too cool on a wire rack for 5 – 10mins. In a piping bag with an open tip add the marmalade, place the piping tip into the centre of the muffin and squeeze gently to fill. 
7. To make the icing, beat the butter and vanilla in a bowl until it is pale. In a separate bowl, sift together the icing sugar and the cocoa powder. 
8. Add the icing sugar and cocoa powder mixture to the butter in stages. Whisk in each addition fully. Once you have added all of the icing sugar add in the orange juice and beat well. Add in the food dye and stir until completely combined.
9. Pipe the buttercream onto your cupcakes and top with your favourite toppings.