Orange Cupcakes with Vanilla Buttercream

This is birthday cupcake recipe #2.  I thought I ought to make something, well, less boozy.  And I wanted something light and summery, which these certainly turned out to be.

Recipe:

Cupcakes
1 stick Butter, softened
1 cup Sugar
2 Eggs, separated
1 teaspoon Vanilla
1 3/4 cups Cake Flour (or 1 2/3 flour and 2 tablespoons cornstarch)
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1 tablespoon Baking Powder
1/2 cup Orange Juice

Preheat oven to 350°.  Place cupcake papers in cupcake/muffin tin.  This recipe makes about 18 cupcakes.
Cream together butter, sugar, egg yolks and vanilla.
In a separate bowl, stir together flour, salt, and baking powder.  Add dry ingredients to the creamed ingredients, alternating with portions of the orange juice.
Beat egg whites until stiff and fold into batter.
Spoon batter into cupcake papers, fill about 1/2 full.
Bake 15-18 minutes or until a tester comes out clean.  Cool completely before frosting.

Frosting
2 sticks Butter, softened
1 tablespoon Vanilla
3-4 cups Powdered Sugar
1-2 tablespoons Whipping Cream

Cream butter until fluffy.  Add vanilla and mix well.  Gradually add 2 cups of the powdered sugar and mix until smooth.  Gradually add remaining sugar and cream until the frosting is a good consistency for spreading.

These came out well.  Nice and summery!  The flavors are Orange Creamsicle-like, which is what I was going for.  The juice gives the cake a great orange flavor without increasing the sweetness.

Yum!