Meg's Rainbows

    I have a good friend named Meg, who has definitely been going through a rough patch.  She however, has always been the bravest and funniest person I've ever had the pleasure of knowing.  It had been a while since I had seen Meg, and we just ran into each other at my new job last week.  She filled me in on what had been going on and I immediately decided that she NEEDED cupcakes.  Well, there is only one hold up to that need.  Meg is allergic to peanuts, BADLY!  As in, breathe in a speck of peanut and she's turning blue on the floor.  While I've often joked with her that I find this somewhat amusing (and accidentally almost caused her to turn blue because of a granola bar, I didn't mean it, HONEST) it causes some problems when making my tradition cupcakes.  I couldn't used a box mix because if you read carefully on the side, it says "Manufacturing in a facility with nuts".  Not what kind of nuts (people or tree), but just manufactured with nuts.  Really reassuring in a not so reassuring way.  

    So how to combat this problem..... homemade orange cake!  Meg's favorite flavor is orange, so bingo, orange homemade cupcakes with an orange frosting.  Perfect!  And since there is always a rainbow after every store, the rainbow theme worked beautifully.  The original recipe came from the Cooking Channel.  Since I didn't have an buttermilk, I made my own.  Simply pour however much milk you need, and for each cup, add one tablespoon of an acid (either white vinegar or lemon juice).  Let sit for 5 minutes and you've got buttermilk!  

Orange Cake 

Cake ingredients: 

• 4 tablespoons butter, softened

1 cup sugar

• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon orange extract
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/3 teaspoon baking soda
• 2/3 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon orange food coloring, optional
• 1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup buttermilk

For the cake: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a cupcake pan with 12 paper liners. 

      Using an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg, orange extract, baking soda, baking powder, salt and food coloring if using, beating well after each addition. With the mixer on low speed, alternately add the flour and buttermilk in three additions. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed. Using a large ice cream scoop, divide batter evenly in cupcake liners and bake until a toothpick inserted into a cupcake comes out clean, 18 to 20 minutes. Allow the cupcakes to cool before adding the filling and frosting. 

Frosting Ingredients :

 3 cup confectioner's sugar

1 cup butter, softened

1 teaspoon orange extract 

1 to 3 tablespoon heavy cream or whole milk

light blue food coloring

In a standing mixer (If you don't have one, a bowl will do)  fitted with a whisk, mix together sugar and butter. Mix on low speed until well blended and then increase speed to medium and beat for another 3 minutes.

Add orange, cream/milk and food coloring, continue to beat on medium speed for 1 minute more, adding more cream if needed for spreading consistency.

decorations are mini marshmallows and the rainbows are Airheads Extreme Sweetly Sour Belts, which I bought at Sheetz and cut to make rainbows.