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!
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Gingerbread Cupcakes with Blood Orange Cream Cheese Icing
Ingredients
Gingerbread Cupcakes
- 2 ¼ cups (287g) all purpose flour, sifted
- 2 teaspoons ground ginger
- 1 ¾ teaspoons ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon ground allspice
- â…› teaspoon fine sea salt
- ½ cup (113g) unsalted butter, softened
- ½ cup (100g) packed brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons blood orange zest or orange zest
- ¾ cup (245ml) molasses
- 2 large eggs
- ¾ cup (174ml) buttermilk
Blood Orange Cream Cheese Icing
- ¾ cup (170g) cream cheese, softened
- 6 tablespoons (85g) unsalted butter, softened
- 1 teaspoon blood orange zest or orange zest
- 1 pinch fine sea salt
- 3 ½ cups (450g) powdered sugar, sifted
- 3-4 tablespoons (45-59ml) blood orange juice or orange juice
Candied Blood Orange Slices
- 2 medium blood oranges or oranges
- ½ cup (100g) granulated sugar
- ¾ cup (177ml) water
Instructions
Gingerbread Cupcakes
- Preheat the oven to 350º. Spray the wells a 12-serving muffin pan with non-stick spray.
- In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together flour, cinnamon, ginger, allspice, baking soda and salt until well blended.
- In a large bowl, beat the butter, brown sugar and orange zest with an electric mixer at medium speed, until pale and fluffy.
- Add the molasses and beat until combined. Beat in the eggs one at a time until incorporated. On low speed, mix in the flour mixture in two additions, alternating with the buttermilk. Beat just until combined.
- Scoop the batter into prepared the muffin pan, filling the wells 2/3 full.
- Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cupcakes comes out clean, about 15-18 minutes. Allow the cupcakes to cool in pan for 7 minutes, then remove them from pan and place them upside down on a cooling rack.
- Brush the warm cupcakes generously with orange simple syrup. Allow them to cool completely before frosting.
Blood Orange Cream Cheese Icing
- In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese, on low speed with an electric mixer, until smooth.
- Add the butter, orange zest and salt and beat until smooth and well blended.
- Add the powdered sugar. Beat on low speed until the powdered sugar is incorporated. Increase the speed to medium and beat until smooth.
- Beat in the blood orange juice, one tablespoon (15ml) at a time until the desired consistency is reached.
Candied Blood Orange Slices
- Slice the oranges into thin 1/4 inch slices.
- Combine the sugar and water in a shallow saucepan and bring to a simmer. Add the orange slices to the saucepan. Simmer for 10 minutes.
- Drain the oranges, reserving the syrup.
- Preheat the oven to 175ºF (80ºC). Place on a large baking sheet lined with a baking mat in a single layer and bake until the orange slices begin to stiffen, about 2 hours.
- Remove the orange slices from the oven and let them cool on the baking sheet. If desired, insert toothpicks when the slices are cool enough to handle. The slices will continue to stiffen as they cool.
