A blog I follow almost daily is Design*Sponge. Last week they featured these cupcakes and I fell in love with them immediately. Long story short, tonight I finally had time to bake them, and boy were they worth the wait! The cake is moist and fluffy, the frosting has just the right balance of orange flavor, and the smell, oh the smell! My apartment smells phenomenal! Who knew adding/subbing a simple ingredient could make a seemingly perfect cupcake something unexpected and fabulous? Best of all, you won’t believe how simple these were to make!

Here’s the recipe:

Orange Chocolate Cupcakes
adapted from Day to Day Wonderments

• 1 Box Chocolate Cake Mix
• Replace Water with Orange Juice
• 1/2 Orange Zested

Follow box directions, replacing and adding the ingredients listed above. I’m blaming the fluffiness of the cake on the orange juice, I’ve never had cupcakes turn out like this!

Orange Zest Frosting
adapted from Day to Day Wonderments

• 4 Cups Powdered Sugar
• 8 Tablespoons Butter, Softened
• 3 Tablespoons Orange Juice (add more juice if needed)
• 1 Orange Zested

1. Mix all the ingredients until smooth.
2. Use a round piping tip to pipe the icing.
3. Zest an additional orange for to garnish and sprinkle a little sugar on top.

Servings: 24 cupcakes