Orange Ginger Cupcakes

Tomorrow is my best friends' daughters second birthday. I can't believe she's already turning two! For the big day, I'm bringing some apple muffins (post coming soon) and orange ginger cupcakes. These were adopted from a recipe that called for cloves. Since cloves can be a very strong flavor, I substituted ginger. It's light and refreshing for early spring.

3 cups flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 pinch salt
2 tablespoons grated orange zest
5 eggs
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup orange juice, no pulp
1 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line a cupcake tin with liners (makes 24). In a medium bowl, combine the flour, orange zest, baking powder, and salt.

In a mixing bowl, beat the eggs and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add half the flour mixture and combine. Then add the orange juice, followed by the dry mixture.

Fill the cupcake tins until 3/4 high. Bake for 18 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool completely.

Vanilla Frosting

2 tablespoons vanilla extract
1 stick butter, softened
1/8 cup milk
about 3 cups powdered sugar

Combine all ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Adding more/less sugar as need to achieve desired constancy.