I am so excited. Ok, that doesn’t even begin to describe my emotions. There are no words. Tomorrow marks one week. That’s right. One week……..until the…premiere………..of the second half starts…….of the Walking Dead! I know. I know. You’re excited too! And yes, for all you judgy judgersons out there…….I said The Walking Dead. As in the AMC TV series about the zombie apocolypse. It is…….. myfavoriteshowofalltime! Are you understanding my enthusiasm yet? Maybe I love it because I don’t believe it could really happen? Maybe I just love super fictional stories? Maybe I’m just an awesome wife who watches a lot of boy movies and shows so my husband thinks I’m cool (I’ve seen every single Resident Evil movie out. Wife. Of. The. Year.) Maybe I’m tired of wondering who Ben the Bachelor will choose……..of hoping……..and praying……..that he’ll kick Courtney off the show. Seriously, anyone would be better than her. She’s the worst. You just lost a little respect for me didn’t you?
The premiere of this show will be an event at our house. Anna will go to bed, Eric and I (and maybe a couple friends?) will break open chips and dip and other bad-for-your-cholesterol foods and pretend we are watching something worthy of a party. In trying to decide what dessert would be fitting for such an occasion, I stumbled upon a recipe for blood orange cupcakes. Eric has asked me to quit calling them that…….he thinks that’s gross. But that’s what they are called. I didn’t make it up! I swear! These oranges are only in season in the winter (its like nature knew I would need them for such a time as this). I’m guessing they are called blood orange cupcakes because the inside looks like this………
And the juice is red. Like blood. Ok, you get it. Remember those chocolate oranges you can buy at the grocery store, you hit them on a hard surface they break into “slices”? They are awesome. These cupcakes remind me of those. The perfect balance of chocolate and orange. And the frosting is so pretty.
In fact, we like these so much we will trying to figure out if they taste as good with other kinds of oranges, for when blood oranges are no longer in season. I hear there’s a big football game on tomorrow? Make these for that.
Chocolate Blood Orange Cupcakes
Makes 12 standard cupcakes
Recipe adapted from loveandoliveoil.com
Ingredients
- 1 cup whole milk
- 1/3 cup canola oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon blood orange zest, finely grated
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon almond meal
- 1/3 cup cocoa powder
- 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
For Frosting:
- 1/2 cup butter or margarine, room temperature
- 3 cups confectioners’ sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 tablespoons blood orange juice
- 1 teaspoon blood orange zest, finely grated
- 1-2 tablespoons milk (only if needed, I didn’t need any)
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line muffin pan with paper liners.
Whisk together the milk, sugar, oil, vanilla extract, and zest until incorporated. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, almond meal, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Make a well in the center of dry ingredients and pour in milk mixture. Stir until just smooth (do not overmix).
Pour into liners. Bake 16-20 minutes (or 10-12 for minis), or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Transfer to a cooling rack and let cool completely.
For frosting, cream butter until smooth and fluffy, 2-3 minutes. Add 1 cup powdered sugar and beat until combined. Mix in orange juice, zest, and vanilla. Continue adding sugar, 1/2 cup at a time, mixing well after each addition. Continue beating until light and fluffy, about 3-5 minutes. Spread or pipe onto cooled cupcakes.
These look beautiful!
Thanks! I’m glad you like them!
hi^^
I liked this recipe,i want to do end this week ,lovely look
but Can I use vegetable oil instead of canola oil?
Thanks! Yes, vegetable oil will be just as good as canola oil. Good luck!!
Oh my goodness, I just figured out what I’ll be doing with the bag of blood oranges that I got at Trader Joe’s this weekend. Thanks, they look gorgeous!!
You will love them!! Have fun!!
ohh nice! blood oranges
Thanks for this post! Your blog is amazing 
Thanks! I’m glad you like the blog! I’m making these again this weekend!
O.M.Geeze Louise. I am so glad we are not neighbours. These look absolutely amazing.
This is fabulous