Saturday Night Sweets: Creamsicle Cupcakes

Remember that delicious treat of orange and cream that was usually found in a paper wrapper on a stick? Also usually found in your freezer? Well, it's back- but in cupcake form. I don't know about you, but this is definitely one that I see myself making a good few times over the next couple months.

Hopefully you all enjoy them as well!

This recipe is courtesy of Katie Farrell on Dashing Dish.




Though the recipe tells you to use sugar free and diet, you can definitely substitute in the high sugar stuff (personally, I prefer the regular orange soda to the diet, as well as the full sugar vanilla pudding).

Ingredients
-For the cake
1 box Vanilla Cake Mix
1 (12 oz) can Orange Soda

-For the frosting
1 (8 oz) container Cool Whip
1 sm. box Vanilla Pudding Mix
3/4 c. Milk (whatever kind you prefer to drink or mix with)
Orange food coloring (or mix 3:1 yellow to red food dye)
Juice of 1 orange (and/or 1/2 tsp. Orange Extract)

1 orange to decorate (opt.)

Directions

1. To make the cupcakes, preheat oven to 350, and line 2 (12 muffin tins) with cupcake liners. Beat cake mix and pop together until batter is smooth and creamy. Pour cake mix into lined muffin tin, filling each cup about half way full. Place cupcakes in the preheated oven for 18-20 minutes.

2. While cupcakes are baking, mix together Pudding Mix, Milk, Cool Whip, and Food Coloring.

3. Squeeze the juice of one orange into the frosting mixture. (I like to squeeze my orange upside down, so I don’t get seeds in the bowl!) (Add in the orange extract for a stronger citrus flavor).

4. Beat until smooth.

5. When cupcakes come out of the oven, let cool completely before frosting. When ready to frost, turn a large ziplock bag inside out, and scoop frosting into the corner of the bag with a spatula. Turn ziplock bag right-side out, squeezing frosting down into one corner.

6. Snip the corner of the bag off with scissors.

7. To pipe frosting, begin by making a large circle on top of the cupcake, followed by smaller circles, and simply pull up at the top!

Store in the fridge until ready to serve!

Yummy yummy. Have fun!