Orange Marmalade Cupcakes

My mom doesn't bake a lot but she has some pretty creative ideas.  Knowing my penchant for cupcakes she enjoys coming up with suggestions for me to try.  This recipe is actually a twist on a desert she likes to make using frozen pound cake.  Don't let the fact that it's made of pound cake scare you off.  This cupcake was light, incredibly moist and very flavorful.

Orange Marmalade Cupcakes

1 box pound cake mix (plus ingredients needed from the box)
Orange juice (optional)
Orange (optional)
1 can mandarin oranges
1 8oz cream cheese
1/4 cup butter
Powdered sugar
Orange marmalade

Following the directions on the pound cake box, bake the pound cake in cupcake tins.  Instead of the water that my pound cake called for I used the juice from the mandarin oranges as well a handful of crushed mandarin oranges.  Because I used the Tastefully Simple pound cake which has a distinctive almond flavor I didn't want the orange to be overwhelming.  If you are going to use a little blander pound cake I would recommend substituting the water with orange juice to give the cake a little more flavor.

Once the cupcakes have cooled, melt about four tablespoons of orange marmalade in the microwave.  Using a barbecue brush, "paint" the tops of the cupcakes with the melted marmalade.

In a mixing bowl combine the softened cream cheese and butter with approximately 3 cups of powered sugar (more or less sugar to your taste).  If you desire a little "orangier" taste to your frosting you can add a little fresh squeezed orange or use some orange juice.  Make sure the frosting still maintains peaks so it doesn't run off your cupcakes.

Add your frosting to a zip topped sandwich bag.  Cut a small amount of the corner off to use as a frosting bag.  Squeeze a small amount on the top of your cupcake.  While I'm a huge fan of frosting, I found this cake to be so flavorful that to much frosting was overwhelming.

Top your cupcake with a mandarin orange.

Note:  The number of cupcakes you get depends on the pound cake that you use.  The Tastefully Simple Pound Cake I used resulted in 12 cupcakes.

Enjoy!

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Triple Chocolate Cupcake
Pink Lemonade Cupcake