T FELT LIKE I hadn't made cupcakes in ages until my friend Rachel and I planned to make Blue Moon flavored cupcakes. The combination of wheat, honey and citrus-y notes that Blue Moon offers are so refreshing and make it one of the few beers I never really get sick of. I was very intrigued by the idea of a cupcake with this flavor and consequently pretty thrilled to make them.
To accomodate Nick's veganism, we opted for a cream cheese-less frosting, but if you don't have these dietary restrictions, I say use regular cream cheese!
CUPCAKE INGREDIENTS
- 1 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 3/4 cups Earth Balance butter (room temp)
- 3 eggs
- 2 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp orange zest (reserve a little bit extra for garnish)
- 1 cup Blue Moon
- 1/4 cup soy milk
- orange wedges (garnish)
FROSTING INGREDIENTS
- 12 oz Tofutti vegan cream cheese
- 6 tbsp Earth Balance butter
- 1 tbsp freshly squeezed orange juice
- 1 tsp orange zest
- 5 cups powdered sugar
DIRECTIONS
- Combine dry ingredients in one bowl: flour, baking powder, and salt. Combine milk and Blue Moon in another bowl. Beat together softened butter and sugar until fluffy.
- Add eggs one at a time to butter/sugar mixture and then vanilla and orange zest. Then add milk/Blue moon mixture alternating with dry ingredients to the creamed butter/sugar.
- Fill cupcake liners 2/3rd full and bake at 375 degrees. Bake for 15 minutes or until golden.
- For the frosting, first cream the butter and cream cheese until smooth. Add orange juice, zest, and powdered sugar until smooth.
- Apply frosting to cupcakes with a knife once cupcakes have cooled. Garnish with orange wedge and orange zest.
