Oh-range and Pop-py!

Assalamualaikum

Tacky title.I know=p

How’s Ramadhan so far? The last two days I was half dead. I don’t know what I ate or what I did but it was definitely a challenge. I was so dizzy for iftar once that I felt like throwing up. So I ate only a bit but later had Maggi Kari for moreh. AHAH! Or perhaps it’s the heat. Yearsss living in Malaysia and I still can’t take the heat. I take three showers a day. THREE. Sigh. Sabr Soffy. Sabr.

Since it’s Ramadhan, I haven’t baked anything just yet. I made caramel pudding the other day, which wasn’t as yummy as it’s supposed to be. It’s funny how I’ve made caramel pudding a couple of times already and used different recipes each time. My sister just gave me her recipe so we’ll see! I could NEVER say no to caramel pudding. Could you? I could eat the whole pudding on my own and I’m not even joking. If I were to make this pudding for entertaining a small number of guests, I’d deifintely make them in ramekins. Definitely cute! But, if I’m making it for myself. Boy oh boy. Ramekins? Really?No my friend, I’d go for the big ol’ baking dish and EAT.ALL.ON.MY.OWN.huargh!*wipe drools* Moving on..

So on the last day of Sya’ban which was last Friday, our cousins came for a visit. Yeap. It was the perfect time to whip something up in kitchen. If you haven’t noticed, I LOVE entertaining people. (with food.not singing.not dancing.just food). After discussing with mummy and mama bear (hi kak!), we settled on Orange Poppy Cupcakes. I know right? Poppy Seeds! I still remembered when I was 7 or 8. My friend told me an easy way to remember how to spell Oranges.You spell "Orang" and add "e" at the back.Haha.Good ol' days when our greatest concern was how to spell right.

Orange cake was never a favourite of mine.Don’t get me wrong, I’ll eat it still but, to me, there are some cakes that NEEDS frostings. What’s a carrot cake without the cream cheese icing? One time, someone made Zucchini Cake instead of the usual carrot. Carrots are too mainstream? Anyways, imagine eating Zucchini cake on its own. I know right?*flips hijab*.So I decided to make a frosting as well. Why not throw some extra fat in while we’re at it ey? It was the day BEFORE Ramadhan begins anyways. No harm done, I can assure you. Since I had extra orange zest and juice leftover (I purposely saved some zest), I decided to throw that in the frosting to make Orange Cream Cheese frosting instead.. You can stop drooling now.

I got the recipe from here.

   

Orange Poppy Cupcakes

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 cup whole milk

2 tablespoons orange zest (2 oranges)

1/2 cup fresh orange juice (1 orange)

1 1/2 sticks butter, room temperature

1 1/2 cups sugar

3 large eggs

2 tablespoons poppy seeds 

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line muffin tins with baking cups. Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into a bowl. Stir together milk and 1/4 cup orange juice.
2. Beat butter, sugar, and the orange zest with a mixer on medium speed until pale and fluffy,
3. Beat in eggs, 1 at a time. Add flour mixture in 3 additions, alternating with milk mixture, beginning and ending with flour.
4. Beat in poppy seeds.
5. Divide batter among muffin tins (filling each cup 3/4 full). Bake until golden around the edges, 18 to 20 minutes.

Ingredients

Orange zest that smells AMAZING!

Freshly squeezed orange juice

 

Fresh from the oven:)

Orange Cream Cheese Frosting

1 stick of cream cheese (250ml)

1 1/4 cup of icing sugar

1 tablespoon of fresh orange juice

1 teaspoon of orange zest

1. Beat the cream cheese until light and fluffy
2. Add icing sugar, 1/2 cup per addition
3. Add in the orange juice and zest

Assembling ideas

1) You could simply spread it on the cupcakes using a butter knife and sprinkle some poppy seeds onto them.

  

2) You could put it in a piping bag and pipe the  frosting nicely on top of the cupcakes and sprinkle some poppy seeds onto them.

3) Take the cupcakes out from their cups, cut in half. Pipe some cream in the middle and the top. Yeap, you’ve guessed it right. Sprinkle some poppy seeds on to those gorgeous, scrumptious, mouth watering cupcakes!

I personally like the last one best! I’ve put enough sugar in the frosting but somehow it was a still a bit soft. I’m pretty sure it’s the weather. It was pretty hot then.=(

This recipe calls for a lot of liquid which makes the cupcakes very dense and filling. Like I’ve said before, orange cake was never a real favorite of mine but the poppy seeds. Oh Lord! It’s a wonder how those little tiny bits can make those cupcakes crunchy. Is that crazy? No its not! Because the cake WAS crunchy. Try it yourself.

Whenever we're posting pictures online, mommy will tell us to use the nicest dishes. This whole set up was her idea as well. Teehee.

Have a blessed Ramadhan!

Wasalam!

Till then, Salut,

Love,

Anggerik