Orange Dreamsicle Cupcakes

I think orange is an under-appreciated flavor. It seems like candy dishes always run out of the "popular" flavors, like cherry, chocolate, and lime - leaving a surplus of rejected orange candies languishing at the bottom of the dish. I'm always happy to snatch them up for myself. I like to root for the underdog. And I really, really love orange-flavored everything.

These cupcakes were partially inspired by Icing on the Cupcake's orange cupcakes - which I love - and partially inspired by childhood memories of savoring orange dreamsicles on hot summer days, and swigging orange-flavored Triaminic. Wait, what??! 

Gold Country Fair Crazy for Cupcakes Competition

No, we didn't win.  Alas.  They say that winning isn't everything, right?  Well, that may be true, but winning sure does feel pretty great, huh?  To put it technically, we didn't "place" BUT we are WINNERS just the same.  Okay, enough already.

Jacqueline's Creations
Mint Julep and Chocolate Stout with Bailey's Frosting
Please note the REALLY COOL frosty-mug motif, replete with sugar handles. 
Yeah, these are my new friends!

Ellen's Creations
White Chocolate Liqueur, Root Beer Float and Raspberry Liqueur

Jacqueline's hubster came home 2 weeks ago with a flyer for a cupcake baking competition at their neighborhood fair, Gold Country Fair in Auburn.  When she told me about it and suggested that it would be a fun way to enter our BIWB creations, in all honesty, I wasn't in the right frame of mind.  I had JUST completed a marathon cupcake-baking frenzy the night before, and I was T-I-R-E-D of cupcakes, baking, cleaning the Kitcheaid bowl (someday...I will have 2 bowls!), doing dishes, yadda, yadda, yadda.    So, I said: give me 24 hours to think this over.

24 hours later: Voila!  We were entering the contest.  Jacqueline would enter her FAB Mint Julep and her Chocolate Stout with Bailey's Frosting.  I was going to enter my Raspberry Liqueur and my non-BIWB Root Beer Float.  We were set.  I was game as long as the contest was on a Sunday: it was.  And, if I could bake everything on Saturday: which I could do.  Check. Check.