Every winter, when blood oranges come back in season, I start keeping an eye out for them at grocery stores and farmers markets. This year was different. I’ve been at home, having my groceries delivered instead of perusing the local produce aisles. If you’ve been entrusting strangers to do your shopping like I have, then you know delivery produce selections are hit and miss. So I was elated when a bag of perfectly beautiful, ripe blood oranges landed on my doorstep. This simple joy made my day. There was no choice. I had to make something worthy of the gorgeous red beauties!
I didn’t get enough of gingerbread this holiday season, so I decided to make a gingerbread cupcake recipe that I created a few years ago when I was experimenting with blood oranges. I used blood orange zest in the cupcake batter and brushed the warm cupcakes with the blood orange syrup left over from making the candied oranges. If you don’t make the candied oranges, you can easily make a batch of the syrup* or skip this step altogether. They will still be delicious. I topped the cupcakes with cream cheese icing made with more orange zest and some blood orange juice mixed in. The juice makes the icing turns a soft shade of pink.
Candied blood orange slices are so stunning, that I can’t bring myself to just lay them on top of a dessert. They remind me of stained glass windows. I like to place them on toothpicks so they can stand up in regal style! Many recipes out there will instruct you to boil the orange slices, then let them air dry. This is perfectly fine if you don’t mind floppy candied oranges. For this recipe, boiling the slices, then letting them dry in the oven on low heat will give them enough stiffness to stand up.
If you can’t find blood oranges where you live, here’s a link to get blood oranges shipped to you. This recipe will also work with other types of oranges. You won’t get the deep scarlet color and the flavor will have a bit more tartness, but it will still be beautiful and delicious!
Servings |
12-14 cupcakes
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- 2 1/4 cups all purpose flour, sifted
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 2 teaspoons ground ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon allspice
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened 1 stick
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons blood orange zest or orange zest
- 3/4 cup molasses
- 2 eggs
- 3/4 cup buttermilk
- 3/4 cup (6 ounces) cream cheese, softened
- 6 tablespoons (3 ounces) unsalted butter, softened
- 1 teaspoon blood orange zest or orange zest
- pinch salt
- 3 1/2 cups (16 ounces) powdered sugar, sifted 1 box
- 3-4 tablespoons blood orange juice or orange juice
- 2 medium blood oranges or oranges
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 3/4 cup water
Ingredients
Gingerbread Cupcakes
Blood Orange Cream Cheese Icing
Candied Blood Orange Slices
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- Preheat oven to 350º. Spray the wells of a muffin tin with non-stick spray.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cinnamon, ginger, allspice, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, beat butter with an electric mixer at medium speed, until smooth.
- Add brown sugar and orange zest and beat until light and fluffy.
- Add molasses and beat until combined.
- Add eggs one at a time and beat until combined.
- Mix in dry ingredients in two additions, alternating with buttermilk. Beat just until combined.
- Scoop the batter into prepared muffin tin, filling wells 2/3 full. (If you have any remaining batter, prepare an additional muffin tin.)
- Bake for 15-18 minutes until toothpick inserted in center of cupcake comes out clean.
- Allow to cool in pan 10 minutes, then remove cupcakes from pan.
- Place cupcakes upside down on cooling rack and brush generously with orange simple syrup. Allow cupcakes to cool completely before frosting.
- In a large bowl, beat cream cheese at medium speed, until smooth.
- Add butter, orange zest and salt and beat until combined.
- Add powdered sugar. Beat at low speed until powdered sugar is incorporated. Increase speed to medium and beat until smooth.
- Add blood orange juice and beat, one tablespoon at a time until desired consistency is reached.
- Slice oranges into thin 1/4 inch slices.
- Combine sugar and water in a shallow saucepan and bring to a simmer.
- Add orange slices to saucepan. Simmer for 10 minutes.
- Drain oranges, reserving syrup.
- Heat oven to 175ºF. Place on a large baking sheet lined with a baking mat in a single layer and bake until orange slices begin to stiffen, about 2 hours.
- Remove from oven and let cool on baking sheet. If desired, insert toothpicks when slices are cool enough to handle. The slices will continue to stiffen as they cool.
*To make orange simple syrup, combine the juice of one orange with enough water to make 1/2 cup. Combine mixture with the zest of one orange and 1/2 cup sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat. Stir until sugar is dissolved. Let cool and transfer to a glass container. Refrigerate until ready to use.