Chocolate Orange Cupcakes

A moist, fluffy, chocolate sponge, with zesty orange flavours running through... yes please! If you love chocolate orange, this recipe won't let you down!

Terry's Chocolate Orange's were a staple in my home growing up, and with the chocolate melted right into the buttercream, the memories of us all fighting over a segment came flooding back!

What makes these cupcakes so great?

A chocolatey, light fluffy sponge
Perfect amount of orange flavour
Fun to make!
Easy to make dairy free using the tips below

Make this recipe dairy free by switching out the margarine, milk & chocolate for vegan alternatives!

Total Time

60 minutes

Servings

12 cupcakes

Ingredients List

For the cupcakes

2 medium free range eggs
120g margarine or dairy free alternative
1/2 tablespoon lemon juice
125ml milk or milk alternative
120g caster sugar
95g self raising flour
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1/2 teaspoon of baking powder
45g cocoa powder
2 oranges
small pinch of salt

For the buttercream

90g Terry's chocolate orange
225g unsalted butter or dairy free alternative, room temperature
450g icing sugar
2 tablespoon milk or milk alternative

Method

Start off by adding 125ml of milk to a jug and stir in 1/2 a tablespoon of lemon juice. This will create your buttermilk. Leave this at room temperature to one side for at least 10 minutes, while we create the rest of the cake batter. Don't worry if the buttermilk starts to curdle, it will be fine once cooked.
Preheat your oven to 150°C fan.
Add your sugar, margarine and zest of 2 oranges to your mixing bowl and whisk until combined.
Add in both eggs and mix.
Now sift in your bicarbonate of soda, baking powder, salt, flour and cocoa. Whisk until the dry ingredients are mixed into your butter mixture. Do not over mix! As soon as they are combined, it's a good time to stop.
Time to add in the buttermilk you made at step 1. Add 1 1/2 tablespoons of buttermilk and 1 tablespoon of fresh orange juice. Stir to combine.
Scoop the mixture into the muffin papers in their tin and bake for 20-25 minutes, or until a knife comes out of the cupcakes clean.
Once cooked, carefully put each cupcake onto a cooling rack.
Whilst the cupcakes are cooling, get started on your buttercream by melting your chocolate in a microwave. This should only take 1-2 minutes, stirring every 20 seconds to ensure the chocolate doesn't burn.
As the melted chocolate is resting to one side, whisk the butter for around 5 minutes on a medium setting.
Once the butter is pale and fluffy, sift in the icing sugar and whisk to combine. Starting on a low speed until all the powder is mixed in, then up to a medium-high setting for around 2-3 minutes.
Next, whilst keeping your whisk on a low speed, add in your cooled, melted chocolate and 2 tablespoons of milk. Continue to mix for 1-2 minutes until your buttercream is looking soft and fluffy.
Once your cupcakes are cooled, pipe or scoop your buttercream onto each cupcake. I finished decorating these cupcakes with a Terry's Chocolate Orange segment, but this is totally optional.
Enjoy!