Bake It in a Cake

This is, perhaps, the luckiest cupcake in the world. And one of the tastiest, too! Toasted sesames add a slightly nutty flavor to the otherwise sweet orange cake, and the fortune cookie inside takes on a bit of a chewy texture. The ginger buttercream and candied ginger tops it off, adding a warm spice to the whole thing. Delicious!

This recipe will make about 22-24 cupcakes.

For the cupcakes you’ll need:

1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/2 c. sugar
3 eggs
2 t. vanilla
2 t. baking powder
1/2 t. baking soda
1/2 t. salt
1 1/3 c. whole milk
2 1/2 c. flour
1/2 t. orange extract
1 15 oz. can of mandarin oranges, drained and lightly chopped
1/4 c. sesame seeds, lightly toasted
24 fortune cookies

For the buttercream you’ll need:

2 sticks unsalted butter
2 c. powdered sugar
2 t. powdered ginger
candied ginger and more toasted sesame seeds for the top (optional)

Directions: 

Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees (F). 

Remove the paper fortune from all the fortune cookies. (I used a pair of clean tweezers, and in some cases, I had to snip off one end of the cookie to get the fortune out.) Keep the fortunes for later, if you’d like, so you can put them on a toothpick and stick them into the cupcakes. Or just throw them away. Go ahead. Just throw away people’s good luck. It’d be kind of a jerky thing to do, but whatever. No judgment. 

To make the cupcakes, cream together the butter and sugar on med-high speed. Add the eggs, one at a time, and then the baking soda, baking powder, vanilla, and salt. Beat that for about 45 seconds to a minute, until the mixture is smooth. Add the milk and the flour, alternating between the two ingredients about a half a cup at a time, until the batter is creamy and everything is well combined. 

Lightly chop the mandarin oranges (you can just use a fork to break them up a bit in a strainer, over a bowl so the excess juice drains away) and then add them to the batter along with the sesame seeds and the orange extract. Beat for about a minute—the batter should be smooth (save for the specks of sesame seeds).

Spoon a heaping tablespoon of batter into paper-lined cupcake tins. Press one de-fourtuned fortune cookie into each tin. (It’s okay if they touch the bottom of the pan in this case, they float!) Cover with more batter, so the cookie is completely hidden and the cupcake tin is filled 3/4 of the way (maybe a smidge more, that’s okay, too). 

Bake for about 25 minutes, until the cake is set and golden brown. The cookies will probably float to the top. That’s okay! You’re going to cover ‘em with frosting. Just keep an eye on them so they don’t burn. If they start to brown much quicker than the rest of the cupcake, cover the pan with a sheet of foil and continue cooking until the cucpcakes are done.

Allow the cupcakes to completely cool before frosting.

To make the buttercream, cream together the butter and powdered sugar. Add in the powdered ginger, a 1/2 teaspoon at a time (a little goes a long way). Taste with each addition, until the frosting is as strong as you’d like it to be. You can use more ginger, you can use less.

Frost the cupcakes, and then sprinkle some candied ginger on top, if you’d like. You can also toast some more sesame seeds for garnish. 

Finally, gather up the fortunes and stick the top of a toothpick through each fortune (as pictured above) and then stick one in each cupcake. You can even roll them up on the toothpick, so people don’t see the fortune before picking a cupcake. Or leave them open, flying like little flags. Cute!

This recipe was created by Megan Seling for Bakeitinacake.com. See dozens of other delicious concoctions here!