Desserts

Orange Creamsicle Cupcakes

~ SL

Just because fall in creeping in, it doesn’t mean fresh summer flavors have to disappear. One of my favorite summer treats is an orange creamsicle, so I decided to replicate those creamy, juicy flavors in a cupcake! This weekend, I turn 41, while I also celebrate Too Busy Livin’s first official year in business.

Photos by: Gabrielle Touchette Photography, Food styling by: Josée Trudeau
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Making the cupcakes

These orange creamsicle cupcakes are light and fluffy with a pop of citrus flavor. Whipping up the egg whites and folding them in at the end creates that fluffiness.

Getting help from the kids

There are quite a few jobs that kids can do to help out with this recipe. Younger kids can help with pouring, dumping, stirring and placing cupcake liners in muffin tins, while older kids can squeeze the oranges, crack eggs and practice using measuring cups and spoons.

Substitutions

If your oranges aren’t very juicy, you can definitely use orange juice from concentrate. You can even make lime or lemon flavored cupcakes by replacing the orange juice with either lemonade or limeade, and the zest with either lemon or lime zest.

Frosting the orange creamsicle cupcakes

I love a great store-bought shortcut, especially if it is as creamy and delicious as this frosting! To make this frosting, all you have to do is use a package of vanilla pudding, and replace the milk with 35% whipping cream. The frosting recipe comes from Two Sisters blog. They use white chocolate pudding, but you can use this method with any pudding flavor. Whip it up into a thick, creamy frosting and slather it on the cupcake with a spatula, or pipe it on like I did here. Be sure to store frosted cupcakes in the fridge so the icing stays firm and doesn’t spoil.

Garnishing the orange creamsicle cupcakes

I chose to garnish these with gummy orange slices, but you can also use:

  • Orange ju-jubes
  • Jelly beans
  • Sanding sugar or sprinkles
  • Dehydrated orange slices
  • Fresh mandarin orange segments

If you’re want to try another delicious cupcake recipe full of summer flavors, these S’more Stout Cupcakes are reminiscent of eating s’mores around a summer bonfire.

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Orange Creamsicle Cupcakes

A fresh citrusy cupcake with a thick and creamy frosting

Course Dessert, Snack
Keyword citrus, creamsicle, cupcake, orange, whipping cream
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Servings 18 cupcakes

Ingredients

  • 2 3/4 cup all purpose flour
  • 4 tsp baking powder
  • 3/4 tsp salt
  • 4 egg whites
  • 1 1/2 cup granulated sugar Use 1/2 cup for whipping the egg whites.
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 zest of one large orange
  • 3/4 cup orange juice freshly squeezed or from concentrate
  • 3/4 cup milk

Creamy Vanilla Frosting

  • 4 cups 35% Whipping Cream
  • 2 102g boxes instant vanilla pudding

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

  2. Combine flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl and set aside.

  3. In the bowl of a stand mixer, add 4 egg whites.

  4. Using the whisk attachment, whip the egg whites until they begin to foam.

  5. Gradually add 1/2 cup of sugar, while continuing to whip. The egg whites should be opaque white and form soft peaks.

  6. Transfer whipped egg whites to another bowl and set aside.

  7. In the bowl of the stand mixer, add 1 cup of sugar and butter.

  8. Use the paddle attachment until the sugar and butter are combined.

  9. Add the orange zest and vanilla. Continue mixing until combined.

  10. Alternately add some of the flour mixture, the orange juice and milk, mixing constantly until a uniform consistency is achieved.

  11. Fold in the egg whites using the paddle attachment at the lowest speed, or by hand with a spatula.

  12. Use a large, triggered ice cream scoop to portion out the cupcakes into liners. If you prefer to skip the liners, grease the muffin tins with cooking spray.

  13. Bake the cupcakes for 20 minutes. They are ready when a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean.

Creamy Vanilla Frosting

  1. Combine pudding mix and whipping cream in the bowl of a stand mixer.

  2. Using the whish attachment, whip until the pudding mix and cream are fully combined and you have a fluffy, spreadable frosting. If you mix it too much, you will end up with butter, so watch it closely.

  3. If you like a thinner frosting, you can add more whipping cream to thin it out.

Recipe Notes

Allow the cupcakes to cool completely before frosting them. 

Frosted cupcakes must be refrigerated. 

Carrot Oat Mini-Muffins

~ SL

These carrot oat mini-muffins are the perfect after-school snack or lunch box addition.

Key ingredients

Whenever I develop muffin recipes, I always try to make sure they include bananas or applesauce. Why? Who doesn’t have a ton of bananas in their freezer? Also, we always have a ton of homemade unsweetened applesauce on hand that we make with apples from our friend’s tree. Applesauce is also a more economical choice and a pantry/freezer ingredient, versus using butter, so I like that too!

Food waste tip: Make your own applesauce from bruised apples

Did you know that you can make your own applesauce? Drop chopped skin-on apples in your slow cooker with 1/2 cup of water. Cook it on low for about 6 hours, puree and freeze!

I also like to use whole wheat flour and oats in my muffin recipes because I know my kids will take them for snack, lunch, or even breakfast sometimes, and I want them to be filling and satiating so the kids aren’t asking for another snack right after they have one.

We always have carrots in the fridge, so it’s an easy ingredient to include.

These Oatmeal Applesauce Muffins with Salted Caramel Chips also contain whole wheat flour, oats and applesauce. A few other muffins on my regular roster are these Chocolate Zucchini Muffins these Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins. Both contain bananas!

Meal prep tip: Shred carrots while you chop carrots for another meal or snack

One of my favorite meal prep tips is to touch ingredients once for all uses. That means, shred the carrots for the muffins and bake them while you chop carrots for your weeknight meals and for lunches. This saves on dishes and time!

Mini-muffins or standard size?

I used to make standard sized muffins for the kids to take to school all the time, but I was always sending them in plastic bags. I have a personal goal to try to send zero-waste/low-waste lunches as much as I can, so these mini-muffins fit perfectly in the containers I have for the kids’ lunch boxes.

Waste-reducing tip: Avoid paper muffin tin liners

You can reduce waste by simply greasing your mini-muffin tins with cooking spray and skipping the paper liner. You can also purchase silicone mini-muffin liners.

If you’d like to make standard sized muffins, simply increase the cooking time by 5 minutes.

The kids couldn’t keep their grubby little fingers off these muffins.

Meal prep tips for Carrot Oat Mini-Muffins

If you want to pre-measure your ingredients, then bake them later, use three containers: One for the dry ingredients, one for the liquid ingredients and one for the carrots. You can whip together a batch quickly while your dinner is in the oven, then bake them while you eat. When they’re ready, you clean up once! Plus, your oven will already be pre-heated from cooking dinner.

Warm or cool?

I typically enjoy a warm fresh-baked muffin right out of the oven, but these muffins are a lot more flavorful when you let them cool and allow the flavors to concentrate.

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Carrot Oat Mini Muffins

Carrot Oat Mini Muffins are the perfect bite-sized treat.

Course Breakfast, Snack
Keyword carrot, mini muffins, muffins, oatmeal
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 24 minutes
Servings 40 muffins

Ingredients

  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 2 cups unsweetened apple sauce
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
  • 1/2 cup rolled oats
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 2 tsp cinnamon
  • 2 cups carrots

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 375 F.

  2. Combine brown sugar, applesauce, egg and vanilla. Mix until thoroughly combined.

  3. Add flour, oats, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and mix until combined.

  4. Stir in carrots.

  5. Use a cookie scoop to drop into greased or lined mini muffin tins.

  6. Bake at 375 F for 15 minutes.

S’more Stout Cupcakes

~ SL ~ 1 Comment

Shopping local is always important, but now, more than ever, Winnipeg small businesses need our support. These cupcakes echo all of the smore-like flavors of the Kilter S’more Scout with the crispy texture of a toasted marshmallow, a gooey marshmallow centre and a fluffy subtly chocolate buttercream on top.

Jump to Recipe

My friend Pat from the Bros, Bumps & Beers podcast gifted me this Kilter S’more Scout to try. As soon as I read the description on the can, I knew I had to use it in a cupcake, which I in return shared with the guys at the podcast. You can also listen to the Bros, Bumps & Beers’ review of the Kilter S’more Scout here.

S’morey goodness

This stout tasted exactly as described. Chocolately, marshmallowy and sweet with a subtle hint of cinnamon and campfire. I savoured every drop like I savored every crumb of this cupcake. If you aren’t into cupcakes, this beer will make the perfect dessert substitution. And if you like the best of both worlds, crack the can, make the cupcakes and drink the rest.

Layers of s’more flavour

These cupcakes highlight several dimensions of smore-like flavors. The tops bake up crispy and chewy like a perfectly toasted marshmallow. The centre oozes with a gooey marshmallow fluff filling. I made the marshmallow fluff from the Jenna Rae Cakes and Sweet Treats book (another amazing local Winnipeg business and a must-have for your cookbook collection if you like to bake). You could substitute it with a store-bought jar of fluff. Finally, these cupcakes are topped with a fluffy buttercream, subtly flavored with cocoa and cinnamon. I didn’t have any graham wafers when I made these, but a crumble on top the of icing would be delicious too.

Substitutions

The Kilter S’more Scout is a limited edition beer and may not be available when you want to make these cupcakes. You could also use another stout. May I suggest exploring the options available from some other local Winnipeg breweries such as Half Pints, Sookrams, or Barnhammer to shop local. If you’re not into baking with beer, you could also substitute it with milk or black coffee. The texture of the cupcake may change, depending on the substitution you choose, however you’ll still have a delicious cupcake.

The perfect accompaniment for any meal

Enjoy these s’more cupcakes any time, as a dessert or snack. Sourcing local ingredients for your meals is an easy way to support local Manitoba businesses. Try these Lemon Basil Chicken Burgers (made with local Manitoba chicken) or this mac & cheese (made with local Bothwell cheese) to start shopping local.

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S’more Stout Cupcakes

The flavors of Kilter's S'more Scout beer are all echoed in cupcake form. Crispy, chewy toasted marshmallow, chocolate with a hint of cinnamon.

Course Dessert
Keyword beer, beer cupcake, cupcake, smore, stout, stout cupcake
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes
Servings 24

Ingredients

  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup cocoa
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1 cup unsweetened applesauce
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/4 cup canola oil
  • 1 tbsp vanilla
  • 1/4 cup milk
  • 3/4 cup Kilter S'more Scout Can substitute with another stout, milk or black coffee.
  • 1 Tbsp White or Apple Cider Vinegar

Filling

  • 1 cup marshmallow fluff

Frosting

  • 1/2 cup butter
  • 2 1/2 cup icing sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 2 tbsp cocoa
  • 1/4 cup heavy cream
  • 1 pinch cinnamon

Toppings

  • mini marshmallows
  • mini chocolate chips
  • crumbled graham wafers

Instructions

  1. Combine dry ingredients. Set aside.

  2. Mix all wet ingredients except beer & vinegar.

  3. Add dry ingredients to the wet ingredients.

  4. While mixing, gradually add beer, then vinegar.

  5. Scoop into muffin liners and bake at 350 degrees Farenheight for 20 minutes.

Frosting

  1. Soften butter using the paddle attachment on a stand mixer.

  2. Add vanilla, then the cocoa & icing sugar.

  3. Mix at low speed until combined.

  4. Gradually add the heavy cream and whip on high for 3 minutes or until fluffy.

Filling and Decorating

  1. Once the cupcakes have cooled, fill a piping bag fitted with a round tip with marshmallow fluff.

  2. Plunge the piping tip into the centre of the cupcake and squeeze out a small amount of fluff into each cupcake.

  3. Fill a second piping bag fitted with a 1M tip with icing and place a swirl of icing on each cupcake.

  4. Sprinkle the tops with crumbled graham wafers, mini chocolate chips and mini marshmallows, as desired.

Recipe Notes

If substituting the beer with milk or coffee, the texture of the cupcake may change slightly.