Orangey Orange Cupcakes with Raspberries

I baked in my new cooker! They (the mystical beings from wherever) say that all cookers temperatures can vary by 5 or 10 degrees one way or the other. The only way to find out how my new oven's tempted swayed was by baking in it!!

It sways on the side of being a bit hotter then the temperature says, but now that I know that I can either adjust the temperature or the cooking/baking time!

One never stops learning things. Like that your boiler needs to be switched on to work. That was a fun visit from the boiler man. He solved my problem with a sharpie marker. He wrote boiler on the plug base thing for me. Just to inform everyone that it's the boiler and it should be switched on.

(For my American friends and family and readers all the electric sockets have switches on them and can be switched off and on. Very useful if you ask me.)

Needless to say this last month has been a learning curve. Now that things are slowly settling it was good to get back to baking! I have a plan to share at least one bake a week. We will all see how that goes....

Anyhow to the cupcakes! These are very orangey with orange zest in the sponge and frosting and raspberries dotting around in the sponge and as decoration! So, I called them orangey orange cupcakes with raspberries!

My flat sits on top of a business and so when I took some of these beauties down to share with them and they all had nothing but praise for how good they were! I was even called to say that they were amazing! That made my day and a good testament that you should try them out!

Orangey Orange Cupcakes with Raspberries

225g unsalted butter, softened
225g caster sugar
a pinch of salt
2 oranges, zest of
4 medium eggs
225g self-rising flour
250g (about) raspberries

Heat the oven to 175C and line two 12 cup muffin tins with cupcake cases.
Beat the softened butter, sugar, salt and orange zest together until light and fluffy. In a separate bowl/jug gently beat the eggs together. Gradually add the beaten eggs to the butter mixture, scraping down the sides when necessary. If it starts to separate or curdle add 1 or 2 tablespoons of the flour (from the 225g) to bring the mixture back together and then continue to add the egg until it's completely combined. Sift in the flour and gently fold in until just combined. Place 1-2 dessert spoons into each case and place 1-2 raspberries on top of the batter! (Be sure to save some for decoration!) Bake for 20-22 minutes depending on your oven. After 10 minutes I rotated my pan to ensure a more even bake. They should be golden brown and springy to the touch, if not sure use the skewer test to ensure they are completely baked.

While they are baking make the cream cheese frosting

Orange & Cointreau Cream Cheese Frosting 

250g full fat cream cheese
250g unsalted butter
625g icing sugar
2 oranges, zest of
2-3 teaspoons of Cointreau, (orange liqueur) optional

Bring the cream cheese out of the fridge when you are ready to start making the frosting, I would suggest doing so while the sponge is baking.

Beat the butter and 200g of the icing sugar together until combined, then add another 200g and beat until smooth, repeat one last time with 225g sugar until it is smooth and fluffy. Add the slightly softened cream cheese, orange zest, and Cointreau if using to the mixture and beat until combined, scraping down the bowl as needed. Put in a piping bag if using and place it in the fridge for about 30 minutes or until it's firm enough to pipe. If not piping I still suggest leaving it in the fridge for a while to firm up.

By this time the cakes should be out of the oven and cooling. Pipe on top of the cooled cakes and add a raspberry (from the cake ingredients) to complete the look!!

more fruity cupcakes:
Salted Caramel Apple Cupcakes from Farmersgirl Kitchen
Diamond Jubilee Cupcakes from Fab Food 4 All
Dark Chocolate & Passion Fruit Cupcakes from Supper in the Suburbs
Orange & Beetroot Cupcakes from Tin and Thyme

notes: recipe was adapted from Peggy Porschen cupcakes - my review is here! FYI I do know that boilers need to be switched on, but I wasn't sure which switch was which and I didn't want to just start flipping switches everywhere and accidentally break something else in the process of trying to turn the boiler on! Just thought I should clarify that!