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a chocolate orange cupcake on a plate with orange slices scattered around it
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Chocolate Orange Cupcakes

These chocolate orange cupcakes are soft, fluffy, and full of natural orange flavor, and topped with a decadent fudgy chocolate orange buttercream.
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Prep Time 25 minutes
Bake 15 minutes
Total Time 40 minutes
Servings 15 cupcakes
Calories 320kcal
Author Gabby

Equipment

Ingredients

Chocolate Orange Cupcakes

  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • ⅓ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • ½ teaspoon baking soda
  • ½ teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • ⅓ cup canola oil
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 egg
  • 2 egg whites
  • ½ cup milk (regular or vegan)
  • 2 tablespoon orange zest (around 2 medium oranges)
  • 2 tablespoon orange juice

Chocolate Orange Buttercream

  • ¾ cup butter (regular or vegan), softened
  • ¼ cup + 2 tbsp vegetable shortening
  • ¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 2½-2¾ cup powdered sugar SEE NOTES
  • ¾ teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1½ tablespoon orange zest
  • ½ tablespoon orange juice
  • ½-1 tablespoon milk (regular or vegan), if needed* SEE NOTES

Chocolate Drizzle (optional)

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Chocolate Orange Cupcakes

  • Preheat the oven to 350°F and line a cupcake/muffin tin with 12 liners. Line a second one with 3 more and set aside.
  • In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder, salt, baking powder, and baking soda and set aside.
  • In a large bowl, whisk together the oil and granulated sugar. Whisk in the egg, egg whites, vanilla extract, orange zest, orange juice, then add milk.
  • Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, mixing until they are just combined.
  • Pour the batter into the cupcake liners, filling ⅔ full (NOT to the top, or the batter will spill over!).
  • Bake for 12-15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Leave them in the pan for 5 minutes then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.

Chocolate Orange Buttercream

  • In the bowl of a standing mixer or handheld mixer, beat butter and vegetable shortening together. Add in the orange zest and orange juice.
  • Add in the powdered sugar, ½ cup at a time. Start with 2½ cups, then add in the cocoa powder. If the buttercream is too thin, you can add in more powdered sugar. If it's too thick, add in ½ tablespoon of milk or orange juice until desired consistency is reached.
  • Decorate the cooled cupcakes however you'd like! I added a chocolate drizzle over the buttercream, sprinkled them with orange zest, then added a slice of orange. To make the chocolate drizzle, melt ½ cup of semisweet or dark chocolate chips with 1½ teaspoon of coconut oil (or other oil) in the microwave for 30 seconds, stirring after 15 seconds.

Notes

PLEASE NOTE: I highly recommend using a kitchen scale to weigh your dry ingredients. Metric measurements are found above under the "Metric" tab.
POWDERED SUGAR: When making the buttercream, start with 2 ½ cups of powdered sugar. Only once you've added in the cocoa powder, add in more powdered sugar if the buttercream is too thin. 
MILK: For the buttercream, you can add in ½ tablespoon to 1 tablespoon if the buttercream is too thick. The cocoa powder thickens the buttercream quite a bit, so it is naturally thicker, but you can add the milk a little at a time until you've reached your desired consistency.
ORANGE EXTRACT: This recipe doesn't have any orange extract, but gets a ton of orange flavor from orange zest and orange juice. If you don't have enough oranges for the amount of zest required, or if you want a really strong orange flavor, add ¼ - ½ teaspoon of orange zest into the cupcakes.
VEGETABLE SHORTENING: Vegetable shortening helps the buttercream to hold its shape at room temperature. It can be replaced at 1:1 ratio with more butter.
MEASURING FLOUR: Please, please, please properly measure your flour and cocoa powder using either a kitchen scale or using the scoop and level method
Storage and Freezing Instructions: The frosted cupcakes should be covered and stored at room temperature for 3-4 days, but will be freshest the day it's assembled. They can be frozen for up to 2 months (unfrosted) in a freezer safe ziploc bag, then thawed at room temperature.
The buttercream can be made a few days in advance and stored covered in a container in the fridge. Let it soften a bit at room temperature when you're ready to use it and then you can give it a stir or add in a little bit of milk if it's still too thick.
Leftover buttercream can be frozen in an airtight container for around 2 months. When ready to use, just thaw it in the fridge and re-whip it.

Nutrition

Calories: 320kcal