- 22
Ingredients
- Cupcakes:
- 1 cup dried currants (half of 10 ounce bag)
- 2/3 cup cream sherry
- 1 package (18.25 ounces) white cake mix with pudding
- 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 cup sour cram
- 1/3 cup vegetable oil
- 3 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 3/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- Orange Buttercream Frosting:
- 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 3 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar, softened
- 1 teaspoon grated orange zest
- 2 to 3 tablespoons fresh orange juice
- Garnish:
- Ground nutmeg
- Candied Orange Zest (recipe follows; optional)
Preparation
Step 1
Prepare cupcake batter; Place currants and sherry in small microwave-safe bowl and microwave on high power to warm sherry, 20 seconds. Stir, and let currants soak for 5 minutes.
Place rack in center oven and preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 24 cupcake cups with paper liners. Set pans aside.
Strain sherry from currants into large mixing bowl and add cake mix, flour, sour cream, oil, eggs, vanilla, and nutmeg. Blend with an electric mixer on low speed for 30 seconds. Stop machine and scrape down sides of bowl with rubber spatula. Increase mixer speed to medium and beat 2 minutes more, scraping down sides again, if needed. Blend in currants on low speed, 10 to 15 seconds. Spoon or scoop a heaping 1/4 cup batter into each lined cupcake cup, filling two thirds full. (You will get between 22 and 24 cupcakes; remove empty liners, if any.) Place pans in oven.
Bake cupcakes until lightly golden and spring back when light pressed with finger, 15 to 18 minutes. Remove pans from oven and place them on wire racks to cool for 5 minutes. Run dinner knife around edges of cupcake liners, lift cupcakes up from bottom of cup using end end of knife, and pick out of cups carefully with your finger tips. Place on wire rack to cool for 15 minutes before frosting.
Meanwhile, prepare Orange Buttercream Frosting: Place butter in large mixing bowl. Blend with electric mixer on low speed until fluffy, 30 seconds. Sto machine and add confectioners' sugar, orange zest, and 2 tablespoons orange juice. Blend with mixer on low speed until sugar is incorporated, 1 minute. Increase speed to medium and beat until light and fluffy, 1 minute more. If frosting seems too thick, add up to 1 tablespoon more orange juice, 1 teaspoon at a time, until spreadable consistency.
Place heaping tablespoon frosting on each cupcake, and swirl to spread out with short metal spatula or spoon, taking care to cover tops completely. Garnish with Candied Orange Zest, if desired, or ground nutmeg. Cupcakes are ready to serve.
_Store these cupcakes in cake saver or under glass dome, at room temperature for up to 3 days or in refrigerator for up to 1 week. Or freeze them, wrapped in foil or in cake saver, for up to 6 months. Thaw cupcakes overnight in refrigerator before serving._
*Candied Orange Zest:*
2 medium-size oranges
2 cups granulated sugar
1 1/4 cups water
Granulated sugar, to coat
Scrub and dry two oranges and then cut of zest in thin long strands, using vegetable peeler. Make sure strands have no bitter white pith attached.
Place sugar and water in medium-size saucepan over medium heat. Stir until sugar dissolves and syrup comes to simmer. Drop zest into pan and stir so that each strand is completely submerged in syrup. Allow this to barely simmer until zest is translucent, 1 to 1 1/2 hours. With metal tongs, transfer zest to wire rack. While zest is still pliable, cur it or twist it to our liking. sprinkle with granulated sugar to coat and let it dry for several hours or overnight.
_Store zest in tightly covered plastic container at room temperature for up to 1 week._