I don’t know about you, but when I was a kid Santa always put a chocolate orange in my stocking on Christmas morning. Chocolate orange is one of those flavours that cake-ifies particularly well, so here it is: chocolate orange cupcakes!
The chocolate and orange flavours pair perfectly together, and the cupcakes are topped with a creamy chocolate orange frosting, flavoured with zesty and rich chocolate ganache.
I find that I tend to bake A LOT over the holidays, and it seems sweets are never in short supply. It is the time of the year when everyone gets the baker’s itch! Which is of course, my favourite thing to see. But that it also why this small-batch recipe comes in handy. No need to overflow the dessert table, but nice to add a little zing of citrus!
Pro tip: You can prep the garnish, buttercream, and ganache days in advance. The dried mandarin slices can be stored in an air-tight container for weeks. The buttercream and ganache can be stored in the fridge for up to a week.
Here’s a short video showing the assembly process:
And here is a longer video showcasing all of the recipe steps:
Small Batch Chocolate Orange Cupcakes
Ingredients
Chocolate Orange Cupcakes
- ½ cup Flour
- ½ cup Granulated Sugar
- ⅛ cup Cocoa Powder
- ⅛ cup Black Cocoa Powder
- ½ teaspoon Baking Powder
- ½ teaspoon Baking Soda
- ⅛ teaspoon Salt
- 1 Egg
- ¼ cup Buttermilk
- 2 tablespoon Canola Oil
- 2 tablespoon Orange Juice
- ½ teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- Zest of Half an Orange
Chocolate Orange Ganache
- 100 grams Dark or Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
- 50 grams Heavy Cream (35%)
- Zest of Half an Orange
Chocolate Orange Buttercream
- ½ cup Unsalted Butter room temperature
- 1 cup Powdered Sugar sifted
- ¼ cup Cocoa Powder
- ¼ cup Chocolate Orange Ganache
- ⅛ teaspoon Salt
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
Instructions
Chocolate Orange Cupcakes
- Preheat the oven to 325ºF.
- In a small mixing bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients (egg, buttermilk, canola oil, vanilla extract, and orange juice)
- Sift the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients (flour, sugar, both cocoa powders, baking powder, baking soda, salt).
- Zest about half of the orange into the bowl.
- Whisk everything together until just combined. Be careful not to over mix the batter.
- Prep your cupcake pan by filling it with 6 cupcake liners and spraying them with non-stick cooking spray.
- Evenly divide the cupcake batter into the cupcake liners, filling each one approximately ⅔ full. DO NOT overfill them! This will cause the cupcakes to overflow. If you feel you have leftover batter, make a 7th or even 8th cupcake. Do not just top up the other liners.
- Bake the cupcakes for 22 minutes at 325ºF. To check if they are done, you can do the toothpick test: insert a toothpick into the centre of a cupcake, and if it comes out dry (or with a few crumbs attached) they are done. If it comes out wet, put them back in for another 2-3 minutes.
- Remove the cupcakes from the tin as soon as possible (using an oven mitt), and allow them to cool completely on a cooling rack before decorating.
Chocolate Orange Ganache
- Microwave heavy cream for 1 minute, until steaming.
- Add chocolate chips to the cream and let stand a few minutes, to let the chocolate start to melt.
- Whisk until all of the chocolate is melted and no lumps remain. If required, you can pop it back in the microwave for 30 second increments.
- Zest the remaining half of the orange into the bowl, whisking to combine.
Chocolate Orange Buttercream
- Make buttercream according to instructions (check the "Classic American Buttercream Recipe" page!). You will add in the chocolate orange ganache in place of plain ganache, to make it chocolate orange flavoured.
Assembly
- Using a piping tip (I like the size of the Wilton 1M for this) or apple corer, punch out the middle of the cupcake. Fill the hole with 1 tablespoon of chocolate orange ganache, and place to the side to allow the ganache to set up slightly.
- Fill a piping bag fitted with any tip (I used the Ateco 828). Starting at the edge of the cupcake, pipe a ring of frosting spiralling inwards and stacking upwards.
Optional Garnish: Dried Mandarins
- Dried sliced mandarins make a lovely topper for these cupcakes! They are the perfect size to put on top of the cupcake (vs an orange which would be too big).
- To make your own at home, thinly slice 3-4 mandarins. Place them on a cooling rack on top of a cookie sheet. Bake at 150ºF for 2-3 hours, flipping them every 45 minutes. Each time you flip the slices, check on them – they will be done when they are dry and hardened slightly. If they are still moist and flimsy, keep baking!