These tart and creamy orange curd cupcakes were inspired by a Little Cutie baby shower we threw for my friends, Sheila and Sam! Clementines were one of her main cravings and I tried to include them in the desserts. I used whipped egg whites to keep the cupcakes fluffy and saved the yolks for the orange curd. Keep reading to see how to make these cupcakes from a cake mix box.

Ingredients 

Cupcakes

1 box Duncan Hines Vanilla Cake Mix

1 cup water

1/3 cup oil

4 egg whites 

Orange Curd

1/4 cup fresh orange juice

1 tsp lemon juice

3 egg yolks

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 stick butter 

1 tablespoon orange zest

pinch of salt

Whipped Cream Frosting 

2 tbsp instant white choc pudding mix

1 pint heavy whipping cream, chilled

1/2 cup powdered sugar 

Toppings

1 15 oz can of mandarin oranges 

Fresh Rosemary

Directions 

Cupcakes

Preheat oven to 325-350°F.  Stir the cake mix, oil, and water in a bowl.   Separate 4 egg whites into another bowl and save the yolks for the curd.  Whip the egg whites until stiff peaks form and gently fold them into the cake batter.  Fill a lined cupcake pan halfway with batter and bake according to the box.  Allow to cool.

Orange Curd

Zest the oranges and cut them in half to juice them.  Save the zest for later.  Combine the orange juice, lemon juice, 3 egg yolks, sugar, butter and salt in a saucepan.  Stir constantly on medium heat for 8-10 minutes.  Mixture should thicken up and look like gravy.  Strain through a sieve and stir in the orange zest.  Cool to room temperature.

Whipped Cream Frosting

Add all the ingredients into a mixing bowl or stand mixer.  Stir on medium speed until combined and then whip on high speed until stiff peaks form.

Fill a piping bag with the whipped frosting and a separate one with the orange curd.  Pipe the whipped cream frosting around the edge of the cupcakes. Then, fill in the centers with the curd.  Top each cupcake with a slice of mandarin orange and a rosemary sprig.  Refrigerate the cupcakes until ready to serve.