Orange Chocolate Cupcake ~ Eggless,Butterless & Healthy

I have a special liking towards the citrus flavor. With gorgeous oranges in season, I was looking for an orange cupcake recipe and I stumbled upon the chocolate orange cake at Baking Bites and an orange muffins at Verstaile Kitchen. Both the recipes were eggless and  I needn't have to make it eggless to suit my taste.  I have adapted the baking bites' recipe  taking few hints from Versatile Kitchen. Orange and chocolate complement each other so well and you will experience the combo flavor with the first bite.



You need

•  Wheat flour - 1 1/2 cup
• Coco powder - 1/2 cup
• Sugar - 3/4 cup
• Baking powder - 1 tspn
• Cooking soda -1/2 tspn
• Salt - 1/4 tspn
• Fresh Orange juice - 3/4 cup
• Vegetable oil - 1/3 cup
• Vanilla essence - 1 tspn
• Orange zest - 1 tblspn (I used candied orange peel)

Method

Sieve dry ingredients - wheat flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, cooking soda and salt. I always measure the dry ingredients to a plastic container which has a tight lid. I shake the container vigorously with the lid on and proceed. A bit lazy to take out the sieve and the cleaning that comes after.

Mix orange juice, sugar, oil and vanilla essence. Fold the dry ingredients into the wet mix and finally stir in the orange zest.

Grease the muffin mould and fill to 2/3 in each hole.  Bake in a preheated oven at 170 C for 25 minutes.

This will yield 12 medium sized muffins. My muffin tray can hold only 9 and I baked the remaining batter in microwave.

For the frosting

• Butter - 2 tblspn
• Powdered sugar - 1 1/2 cups
• Orange Juice - 1 tblspn

Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy and add the orange juice. Adjust the juice quantity to suit the consistency required. Pipe it on the cooled muffins and enjoy the orange flavored chocolate delight. I know my frosting has not come out well. The cupcake on its own is not very sweet. Hence the frosting did enhance the taste. I have baked it twice and both times, the cakes have vanished pretty fast.

To bake in the microwave

Scoop a heaped tablespoon of the batter into greased MW cups and bake for a minute. Leave it for 3 minutes and enjoy your cake.

If your baking a single cake, do add a teaspoon of milk  or orange juice to thin the batter. This will ensure a

moist cake. I tried baking in individual cups and haven't baked a single cake.

While the cup cakes were getting baked in the OTG, I could enjoy a quick treat with the MW cake.

Update: I am sending the healthy cake to Priya's Fast  Food Not Fat Food event