Orange Cupcakes with Italian Meringue
These Orange Cupcakes with Italian Meringue are so tasty!
Ingredients
- 2 Cup(s) all-purpose flour
- ¼ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ Cup(s) salted butter softened
- 1 Cup(s) granulated sugar
- 1 ½ Tablespoons orange zest
- 2 large eggs
- ¾ Cup(s) heavy cream if you want a lighter texture use half and half
- ¼ Cup(s) fresh orange juice
- 1 ½ tsp orange extract optional
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Meringue:
- 1 ¼ Cup(s) sugar
- ⅓ Cup(s) water
- 6 large egg whites room temperature
- ¾ teaspoon cream of tartar
- 2 ¼ Cup(s) unsalted butter room temperature
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees and prepare a muffin pan with 12 cupcake liners.
- In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt, set aside.
- In a second bowl, blend together butter, granulated sugar and orange zest until light and fluffy, about 3-4 minutes. Add in eggs, one at a time. Set aside.
- In a small bowl, stir together the cream, orange juice, orange extract and vanilla extract.
- Slowly add half of the flour mixture to the butter-sugar batter, blend, then add half of the cream mixture, blend, and repeat.
- Portion out the batter into cupcake liners.
- Bake cupcakes 22-25 minutes, until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
Cool completely before frosting.
FOR THE MERINGUE:Place 1 cup of sugar and water in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Simmer gently.- Meanwhile, place egg whites in a mixing bowl and whip on low speed until light and frothy. Add cream of tartar and turn speed to medium-high. When soft peaks begin to form, slowly add in 1/4 cup of sugar. Whip until stiff, glossy peaks form.
- Bring the sugar/water mixture to a rapid boil and cook until it reaches 248˚ to 250˚ F on a candy thermometer.
- With the mixer running, pour syrup in a thin, steady stream directly into the meringue. Whip meringue until cool to the touch, 5-8 minutes.
- With the mixer running, add butter a couple tablespoons at a time. The meringue is done when it is the consistency of whipped cream.
Nutrition
Serving: 1g
