Recipe for Eggless Vanilla-Orange Zest Cup Cakes with Chocolate Ganache

I have been going cupcake crazy since a while now….and Iove baking these little cups of joy….however, since I don’t live life by the blog….most of what I have been making never makes it here anyways…..its a joyous thing to have them demolished as soon as they are out of the oven (which is happening most of the time) and there is absolutely no chance to take pictures etc…..

these I made to take to a friend’s place and though both k and I like ours plain, on this occasion I dressed them up with some chocolate ganache piped onto it because they were meant for someone else…..the long and short of the story is that we got to honour the invitation we had…..something else came up and we had to cancel…..but thanks to the intended visit, the cupcakes got all dressed up and photographed

pink jimmies on chocolate curls

i went a little berserk with the icing bag in hand!!

While I love doing different things with cupcakes like adding fruit or nuts or different flavours, this time I stuck to plain vanilla with some orange peel….the recipe is from joyofbaking it called for lemon zest which i didnt have on hand (damn bottled lemon juice) so i added orange zest which i had….. it was so comforting and the flavours so uncluttered! The verdict was two thumbs up!!

Here is the recipe:

For the Vanilla Orange Zest Cupcakes (makes 12 medium ones)

½ c unsalted butter at room temperature

2/3 c sugar (I used powdered sugar)

4 T thick yogurt / 3 eggs

1 t vanilla extract

1 ½ c All purpose flour

1 ½ t baking powder

¼ t salt

¼ c milk

1 T orange zest

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F or 177 C (i could set mine to 175 only, but it worked well) and line muffin trays with paper liners

Cream butter and sugar till light and fluffy. Add the yogurt (or eggs, beating well after each addition) and beat well. Beat in the vanilla and orange zest.

In another bowl, whisk the flour with salt and baking powder.

Add the milk and flour to the butter-sugar mixture alternately, beginning and ending with flour.

Evenly fill the paper liners with batter and bake for 18-20 minutes or till a tester comes out clean.

Leave to cool on a wire rack. Enjoy plain or top with frosting of your choice. I used chocolate ganache

For the chocolate ganache topping

1 c dark (semi sweet) chocolate, chopped into small bits

4 T cream (I used low fat)

1 t powdered sugar (optional, I did not add)

Assorted sprinkles for decoration

Melt the chocolate and cream in the microwave on high for 30 seconds or in a double boiler (place a pan of water on the stove and bring to the boil, place a heat proof glass bowl with the chocolate and cream on top of this and stir constantly till melted and cream and chocolate is well incorporated. Add powdered sugar if using)

Stirfor a couple of minutes till a glaze appears. Leave it to cool

Fill a piping bag fitted with an icing nozzle with the ganache and decorate the top of the cupcakes as desired. Garnish with decorative decorative sprinkles.

I used a zip lock bag with an end snipped off and fitted with a star shaped icing nozzle.

These frosted cupcakes can be stored without refrigeration for a day. If storing for longer, keep them in the fridge