Orange Coconut Cupcakes with Orange Cream Cheese Frosting

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Do you remember a long, long, long time ago when I told you about how David brought home a big ol' bag of oranges from a work trip?  They were ripening...or you could say spoiling...fast.  So, I made quick work of them, concocting a handful of recipes.  David doesn't like anything orange-flavored except OJ.  Even just regular ol' oranges.  He's weird.  He also doesn't like tomatoes...but, that's a blog post for another day.

What does one do with a bag full of super-ripe oranges when you're the only one in the house that'll eat 'em?  I already shared with you my first recipe, which was pretty darn good.  For a refresher, click here.  Here's my second orange experiment:

Orange Coconut Cupcakes
adapted from How Sweet It Is

4 cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
4 large eggs
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
3/4 cup freshly squeeze orange juice
zest of 5 oranges
1 cup coconut

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Line cupcake pans with liners. (Or not, I didn't...just spray your pans well)

Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl.

In a large mixing bowl, beat butter and sugar in a with an electric mixer at medium speed until pale and fluffy, then beat in vanilla. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well and scraping down the bowl after each addition. At low speed, beat in buttermilk until just combined (mixture will look curdled). Add flour mixture in three batches, mixing until each addition is incorporated. Add orange juice and zest.

Fill cupcake liners about 3/4 of the way full. 

Bake for about 20-25 minutes.

Let cool, then frost with below recipe.

Orange Cream Cheese Frosting
also from How Sweet It Is

1 stick butter
2 8oz blocks of cream cheese
1/4 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
zest of 2 oranges
1 - 1 1/2 lbs powdered sugar

Cream butter and cream cheese together. Add 1/2 of powdered sugar, then add orange juice and zest. Add the remaining powdered sugar.

You may need more or less depending on consistency.

Optional: top with toasted coconut. 

As you can see, I put toasted coconut on some, but not others.  The cupcakes are good both ways...it just depends on whether or not you feel like babysitting the coconut under the broiler for a few minutes and dipping the frosted cupcakes into it for that extra effort.  It's worth that extra loveliness, but I wouldn't say it's a necessity.

OMG, these are super delicious.  These pics are from when I first made them.  But, after scarfing a couple fresh, I froze the rest in freezer bags. 

I had a hankering for a tasty dessert yesterday evening and decided to grab a couple out of the freezer.  I may or may not have had two for dessert last night and another two for dessert at lunch today...seriously, once you grab them out of the bag and sit them on the counter for about 20-30 minutes.  Yum. 

They're even good still a little cold from thawing out...I found that out today. 

Try 'em, you won't be disappointed.  That is, unless you don't like orange or coconut.  And if that's the case, you're just weird.  Haha, just kidding...maybe.