Happy Birthday, AmazingPhil!

It's been far too long since I made cupcakes.

FAR. TOO. LONG.

So, here I am! Making cupcakes inspired by one of my favorite YouTubers, the one and only AmazingPhil.

Me too, Phil, me too.
[Source: chipotlou.tumblr.com]

He was one of the first YouTubers, if not THE first, that I actively watched. (Well, him and Danisnotonfire).

Oh, stop. It was the least I could do.
[Source: explodedovariesexplodedovaries.tumblr.com]

I spent a good amount of time *cough month or two cough* catching up on all of Phil's past videos. While I was at my old job.

Oops.

(I had nothing else to do, I swear)!

I'll just hide under a blanket too. Don't tell on me!
[Source: amazingphil-gifs.tumblr.com]

Anyway, he's still one of my all time favorite YouTubers! He's quirky, slightly awkward, super down to earth, and British! Great, right? Well, his birthday is today, and I know this is cutting it close, but I wanted to make some Lion Cupcakes in his honor anyway. Because that's how I roll. Or bake, as the case may be.

He's all about the lions.
[Source: chipotlou.tumblr.com]

These cupcakes are adorable, oh so tasty little treats. I'm really quite happy with how they turned out. I've never been much of a frosting/cake/etc. decorator, so these are a work of art compared to my other experiments. I decided to go with an orange cupcake to get away from the usual, super rich flavors. Granted, the frosting is pretty sweet, but it's all about balance after all. I think the flavors mesh well together (they're like a creamsicle!) so give 'em a go to find out for yourself!

And, no, you don't have to wait another year to make these for Phil. Make them anytime you'd like. I don't think he'd mind. ;-D

Oh, I might be mistaken!
[Source: pinterest.com]

Cupcake Ingredients
1/2 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
Zest of 2 oranges
1 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup fresh orange juice

Directions

1) Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

2) Cream together the butter and sugar.

There's only so many times I can show you guys a picture of butter and sugar.

3) Beat in the eggs, one at a time.

Raw egg or alien embryo?
[The truth is out there. Cue X-Files theme].

4) Add orange zest and combine.

Zesting powers, ACTIVATE!

5) In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

6) Add the dry ingredients alternately with the orange juice to the butter mixture.

Look at how delicious that looks! Fresh squeezed juice is the way to go.

Action shot. BOOM.

** The cupcakes already have a slight orange tint to them with the addition of the orange zest and juice, but if you'd like them to be more vibrant, add some orange food coloring to the batter. **

7) Divide the batter into a lined cupcake pan. I ended up having enough batter for 15 cupcakes.

They smelled so good. I wish we had smell-o-vision for you.

8) Bake the cupcakes for 18 to 22 minutes, or until the tops are golden. My oven baked them in 14 minutes.

9) Allow the cupcakes to cool in the pan for a minute or two before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.

Frosting Ingredients
3/4 cup butter
1 pound powdered sugar
1 tbsp vanilla
Milk
Orange food coloring

Frosting Directions

Mix together the butter, powdered sugar, and vanilla. Add a small amount of milk at a time to get your desired frosting consistency. Don't forget to add orange food coloring to keep with the lion theme!

Orange you glad I didn't say banana?

Once all of your cupcakes are cooled, add a layer of orange frosting to the top of them. I just used the tried and true "spreading with a knife" method.

It's that homemade look.

Lion Decorations

- Airheads, cut up into triangular pieces (I was a goof and ended up getting Strawberry instead of Cherry, so the mane is more pink than red. Oops).
- Chocolate Chips
- Licorice strips (Mine were of the sour variety. The sugar granules give the lion a little more texture).
- Black gel frosting

Assembly is pretty straight forward. And you can always tailor the decoration choices to your tastes. Remember to let your imaginations run wild!

...Badum tsh.

Almost too cute to eat!
... ALMOST ...

If someone made you birthday cupcakes, what would you want them to look like? Or what flavor would you want them to be? Let me know below! And if you have any questions or comments, please leave them below as well!

Thanks for reading and, as always, bake on with your bad selves!

Love,
Jackie