Ingredients
- Cupcake
- 7 oz. sugar
- zest of one orange and one lemon
- 7 oz. GF flour (3 oz superfine brown rice flour, 3 oz. superfine white rice flour, 1 oz. tapioca starch/flour)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 6 oz. unsalted butter, almost room temperature (9 tablespoons)
- 6 oz egg (3 large eggs)
- 3 oz. buttermilk (about 2/3 cup)
- 1 tablespoon pineapple juice
- 1 teaspoon Limoncello
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1/2 teaspoon orange oil or extract
- 3 tablespoons crushed pineapple, drained
- Pineapple Orange Cream Cheese Buttercream
- 3 oz. unsalted butter, slightly cold
- 8 oz cream cheese, cold and broken into chunks
- 16 oz powdered sugar, sifted (about 4 cups)
- 1 teaspoon Grand Marnier
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1/2 teaspoon orange oil or extract
- 2-3 tablespoons pineapple juice
- Topping
- orange or pineapple segment or jelly candy
Preparation
Step 1
Cupcake
Preheat oven to 350 and place cupcake liners in a muffin tin. Set aside.
Weigh sugar into a small bowl and add the lemon and orange zest. Work the zest into the sugar with your finger tips until all the sugar is coated. Give it a stir and set it aside so the flavors can infuse the sugar. About 15 minutes. Meantime, weigh the flours into a bowl and add the baking powder, soda and salt. Whisk to combine. When the sugar is ready empty it into the bowl of a stand mixer and add the butter. Mix to combine and fluff slightly. Add the eggs one at a time. Add the buttermilk and flavorings. With the mixer on low, add in the flour until it is fully incorporated. Remove the bowl and using a silicone spatula, fold the batter so that all the dry stuff is incorporated well. Fold in the crushed pineapple. Scoop into the liners about 2/3 full. Bake at 350 for 10 minutes and reduce oven temperature to 325. Bake about 14-18 minutes more or just until a toothpick comes out with no crumbs. Cool for a minute and remove cupcakes to a rack to cool completely before frosting.
Pineapple Orange Cream Cheese Buttercream
Place the sifted sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer. Using the whip attachment mix in cubed pieces of the semi-chilled butter until it looks like coarse crumbs. Break off pieces of the cream cheese with clean fingers and drop into the mixer one at a time while it is running and keep whipping on medium until all the cream cheese is mixed in. Turn the mixer to medium high and as it smooths out add in the flavorings. Whip just until everything is mixed in well and it is smooth. If the mixture is not stiff enough you can refrigerate for about 10 minutes before piping. Pipe onto each cupcake and top with a pineapple orange jelly or whatever decoration you wish (or not). Refrigerate to set the buttercream and serve at room temperature.