These raspberry orange cupcakes are soft, fluffy, and bursting with fresh citrus flavor in every bite. Made with orange juice and lots of orange zest, the cupcakes have a bright, fresh orange flavor that pairs perfectly with the sweet-tart raspberry jam filling and light whipped white chocolate orange ganache frosting. Even though they look bakery-worthy, they're easy to make and have tender crumb that stays moist for days. They're perfect for birthdays, spring and summer gatherings, or anytime you want a fresh, fruity dessert.
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Why You'll Love This Recipe
- Reverse creaming method- These orange cupcakes use the reverse creaming method, which gives them an incredibly soft, plush texture that stays moist for days. Instead of creaming the butter and sugar together first, the butter is mixed into the dry ingredients before the wet ingredients are added. This coats the flour in fat, which limits gluten development and creates a tighter, more tender crumb. The result is a bakery-style cupcake that's super fluffy with a velvety crumb.
- Fresh orange flavor- The cake and orange frosting get lots of citrusy flavor from freshly squeezed orange juice and orange zest. You don't need any orange extract!
- Whipped ganache frosting- The whipped orange ganache is silky, airy, and much lighter than traditional American buttercream. Since it's made with white chocolate and cream instead of powdered sugar and butter, it has a smooth, mousse-like texture that melts in your mouth without feeling heavy or overly sweet.
Ingredient Notes
Using Fresh Oranges: You need about 2 large oranges (I used navel oranges) for the orange zest and juice. Use fresh orange juice squeezed directly from your oranges! Bottled juice (even if it says fresh squeezed) won't have a strong enough flavor.
The Dry Ingredients: You need sugar for sweetness, all purpose flour for structure, baking powder for lift, and a pinch of salt for balance.
It's very easy to overmeasure flour, which results in dry, dense cupcakes. A cup of flour should weigh 120-130 grams (for my recipes, I use 120). As an experiment, I packed my flour into a measuring cup and it weighed 160 grams, which is wayyy too much! It's best to weigh your flour with a kitchen scale, but if you don't have one, you can use the spoon-and-level method. Fluff up the flour in the bag, then gently scoop it into your measuring cup. Swipe off the excess with a flat edge and you have a perfect cup of flour!
The Fats: I love making cupcakes with unsalted butter and oil. I used both to make these raspberry almond cupcakes and strawberry Prosecco cupcakes as well! The butter gives cupcakes a rich flavor while the oil keeps them soft and moist.
Other Wet Ingredients: Once the butter and oil are added, you'll mix in eggs, vanilla extract, sour cream, and milk to bind the ingredients together, add richness, and more moisture. When I tested this recipe, I discovered that using all buttermilk or sour cream made the cupcakes too tangy (they almost tasted like mayo). ½ cup of sour cream to tenderize the gluten strands in the flour plus ¼ cup milk was perfect.
How to Make Raspberry Orange Cupcakes
Step 1: Preheat the oven to 350°F and line a cupcake pan with paper cupcake liners.
Rub the granulated sugar and orange zest together in a bowl until the sugar is moist. This helps pull the oils from the zest for stronger citrus flavor.
Step 2: Beat in the flour, baking powder, and salt until evenly combined.
Step 3: Add the softened butter and oil, then mix on medium speed for 2-3 minutes until the mixture looks damp and crumbly like streusel.
This step is referred to as the reverse creaming method!
Step 4: Beat in the eggs and vanilla extract until smooth.
Step 5: Mix in the sour and cream and milk, followed by the orange juice to prevent the batter from curdling. Switch to a rubber spatula once the batter is mostly combined to prevent overmixing.
Step 6: Divide the batter between the paper liners, filling each about ¾ full. Then bake for 13-15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out clean.
Step 7: Let the cupcakes cool in the pan for 5-10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before assembling.
Step 8: Using a piping tip or cupcake corer, cut out the middle of each cupcake. Fill the centers with about 2 teaspoons of raspberry jam.
Step 9: For the orange ganache frosting, heat half of the heavy cream until bubbling around the edges, then pour it over the white chocolate. Stir until smooth, the stir in the remaining heavy cream, orange juice, and zest.
Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and chill for 2-4 hours, then whip until light and fluffy.
Step 10: Pipe the ganache on top of the cupcakes using a round piping tip, creating 5 points and dragging the frosting towards the middle to look like a flower. Garnish with fresh raspberries and serve!
More Cupcake Recipes to Try
📖 Recipe
Raspberry Orange Cupcakes
Equipment
- 1 Electric hand mixer or stand mixer
- 1 cupcake pan with paper liners
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Ingredients
Raspberry Jam
- 226 grams frozen raspberries
- 150 grams granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon orange juice
Orange Ganache
- 200 grams white chocolate chips
- 240 grams heavy cream
- 2 tablespoons orange juice
- 2 teaspoons orange zest
Cupcakes
- 150 grams granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons orange zest
- 180 grams all purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 56 grams unsalted butter room temperature
- 60 grams vegetable oil
- 2 large eggs room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 120 grams sour cream room temperature
- 60 grams milk room temperature
- 3 tablespoons orange juice
Instructions
Raspberry Jam
- Add the frozen raspberries, sugar, and orange juice to a medium saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the sugar dissolves and the mixture begins to simmer. Use a spatula or spoon to break the raspberries down into smaller pieces.226 grams frozen raspberries, 150 grams granulated sugar, 1 tablespoon orange juice
- Continue simmering the jam for 5-7 minutes, stirring frequently until the mixture thickens slightly and coats the back of a spoon. The jam will continue to thicken as it cools.
- Remove the saucepan from the heat and let the jam cool to room temperature. Transfer it to a heat-proof jar or bowl, cover, and refrigerate until completely chilled before filling the cupcakes.
Orange Ganache
- Place the white chocolate in a medium heat-proof bowl and set aside.200 grams white chocolate chips
- Add ½ cup (120g) of the heavy cream to a small saucepan. Heat over medium-low heat (or microwave) until steaming and just beginning to simmer around the edges. Do not let it come to a full boil.240 grams heavy cream
- Pour the hot cream over the white chocolate, then let it sit undisturbed for 1 minute to soften the chocolate.
- Add the remaining cold heavy cream, orange juice, and orange zest. Whisk slowly from the center outward until the ganache is completely smooth and no lumps of chocolate remain. If needed, microwave the mixture in 10-second intervals, stirring well between each, until fully melted and smooth.2 tablespoons orange juice, 2 teaspoons orange zest
- Press a piece of plastic wrap directly onto the surface of the ganache to prevent a skin from forming. Refrigerate for 3-4 hours. The ganache will still look thin and liquidy, which is normal.
Cupcakes
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a 12-cup cupcake pan with paper liners and set aside.
- Add the sugar and orange zest to a large mixing bowl. Use your fingertips to rub the zest into the sugar until the sugar feels slightly damp and very fragrant. This helps release the natural oils from the zest for stronger orange flavor.150 grams granulated sugar, 2 tablespoons orange zest
- Add the flour, baking powder, and salt and whisk until combined.180 grams all purpose flour, 2 teaspoons baking powder, ½ teaspoon salt
- Add the softened butter and oil to the dry ingredients. Using an electric mixer on low speed, mix until the butter is fully incorporated and the mixture resembles wet sand with no large chunks of butter remaining.56 grams unsalted butter, 60 grams vegetable oil
- Add the eggs and vanilla extract and mix on medium-low speed until combined.2 large eggs, 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- Add the sour cream, milk, and orange juice. Mix just until the batter is smooth and fully combined, scraping down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed.120 grams sour cream, 60 grams milk, 3 tablespoons orange juice
- Divide the batter evenly between the cupcake liners, filling each about ⅔ full.
- Bake for 13-15 minutes, or until the tops spring back lightly when touched and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs.
- Let the cupcakes cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely before filling and frosting.
- Once the ganache is chilled, whip it on medium speed for 2-3 minutes until light, fluffy, and thick enough to pipe or spread. Be careful not to overwhip so it doesn't get grainy.
- Once cooled, use a cupcake corer or small knife to remove the centers of each cupcake. Fill each cupcake with raspberry jam, then place the cut-out cupcake pieces back on top to cover the filling.
- Frost the cupcakes with the whipped orange ganache using a piping bag or offset spatula. Garnish with fresh raspberries if desired.
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