Today I'm sharing a recipe for Orange Cupcakes with Buttercream, and the cupcakes have a little surprise inside - raisins! I'm not sure why, but a lot of these old Orange Cake recipes had raisins in them. Strange, but absolutely delicious! They are an old-fashioned dense cup cake with an intense orange flavor. I have always liked the flavor of orange, and I'm sure I would have liked these cup cakes for an Easter treat way back when this photo was taken in 1963. I was 2 years old, and apparently my mom had just given the old bangs another go. Seriously, what is the deal with the bangs? Ha!

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I do love my pretty pale blue dress and white Easter Sunday shoes. It looks like a nice, warm day. Anyone know what kind of car that is sitting behind me?

Orange Cup Cakes

Here is the recipe as I made it:

Orange Cup Cakes

Bring to a boil:

1 cup water

1 cup raisins

1 teaspoon baking soda

Let cool.

Cream together:

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup butter

Add:

1 egg

Sift:

1 3/4 cups flour

Add to first mixture.

Add to above mixture:

Rind of 1 orange

Cooled raisin mixture

Bake at 375 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until top springs back when touched.

I made a buttercream frosting to go on top.

Buttercream Frosting

Cream until fluffy:

1/2 cup butter at room temperature

Mix in:

2 cups powdered sugar, sifted

Add:

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

Beat in:

2 Tablespoons milk

Beat until smooth.

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I got the raisins boiling right away so they would have time to cool before adding them to the batter.

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The raisin mixture was cooling, I got the first part of the batter ready to go, and then we were ready to add the raisins and orange rind.

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It makes kind of a thick batter.

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This made exactly 12 cup cakes.

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Perfectly beautiful!

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You can see that they are FULL of raisins!

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The above buttercream recipe was just barely enough for the 12 cup cakes. One cupcake was a little light on the frosting. Buttercream roses use a lot of the frosting - if you use a knife to spread it on, there will be plenty.

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I knew these were going into the freezer, so I frosted them - for now - and when I take them out of the freezer, I can either make them extra festive with sprinkles and a chocolate bunny or leave them with just the beautiful roses on top.

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These cupcakes are absolutely delicious. They have a very strong flavor of orange, and the raisins are so good in there. The buttercream frosting is totally the icing on the cake - perfection. And how cute are the sprinkles and the bunny?!! You have just got to be festive on a holiday like Easter Sunday - you just have to! I have to say - these are NOT your light and fluffy cake mix type of cup cakes. These babies are moist and dense and delicious. Everyone is going to love these Orange Cup Cakes for springtime!