Party Panache, Blue Moon Cupcakes

This is a recipe I pinned a couple years ago and I finally got around to making it~
It is a perfect summer cupcake, so light and fresh
If you’ve ever had a Blue Moon beer, you know it must be garnished with an orange slice
There are a lot of different versions of this recipe floating around, and this is mine 🙂
Vanilla cake mix, with an extra egg, melted butter instead of oil, a box of instant vanilla pudding, and Blue Moon instead of water
Once the batter is mixed, divide it in half
and add some food coloring to half of the batter to make it orange
I only had the old fashioned 4 pack of food coloring, so I just kept adding red and yellow until it turned a pretty orange
Fill cupcake liners using first the plain batter, then top with the orange batter
Bake according to cake mix box directions
I made a simple cream cheese icing with orange zest and orange juice
Cupcake with a slice of orange!
It’s not necessary to make 2 colors of batter, but it is kinda fun!
These are very kid friendly, the alcohol bakes off and you don’t really taste beer, just a subtle interesting undertone…
Substitute orange juice for the beer if you prefer
Garnish with a fresh blueberry and orange slice right before serving
When you take a bite and inhale the aroma from the fruit, it is heavenly~ In fact next time I might add blueberries to the batter, they taste soooo good with the fresh orange
I put 4 garnished cupcakes under a dome to keep until lunch. You can keep the cupcakes, without fruit, in a cakedome on the counter or store in the refrigerator. Remember not to add the fruit too early~
Here’s the recipe:

Blue Moon Cupcakes
Ingredients
Cupcakes
- 1 box vanilla cake mix
- 4 large eggs
- 1 box instant vanilla pudding
- 1/3 cup butter melted
- 1 cup Blue Moon beer or orange juice
- orange food coloring or use red and yellow food coloring
- fresh orange slices
- fresh blueberries
- orange zest
Orange Cream Cheese Icing
- 4 oz. softened cream cheese
- 1 box 3 3/4 cups, powdered sugar
- 1 stick butter softened
- 2 T orange juice
Instructions
- Combine cake mix with the rest of ingredients.
- Divide batter in half in 2 bowls. Add food coloring to one bowl until it is a pretty orange color. Line cupcake pan with cupcake papers.
- Fill papers 1/3 way with plain batter.
- Top with orange batter until papers are 2/3 full.
- Bake according to directions on cake mix box, checking frequently at the end. Do not overbake cakes.
- Let cool, remove from pan and cool completely.
- Frost with Orange Cream Cheese Icing and garnish with orange zest, blueberries and orange slices
- Blend cream cheese and butter. Add sugar and orange juice. Beat until the desired consistency is reached, adding more juice if necessary. Spread or pipe on cupcakes.
If you want to make a cake with lots of different colors, you need to use gel food coloring for intense tones
You can swirl the batters a little to create a zebra like effect after baking
This is an old terrible photo of my Iron Bowl cake that I made a few years ago, using this method
I got the directions, the photo below and the recipe for this Iron Bowl cake from Plain Chicken
Isn’t that fun?
Makes you want to go bake a cake!
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I will be joining these fabulous parties and blogs:
Jenna, I love a doctored cake mix… have your Blue Moon and eat it too 🙂 The two-tone batter is so pretty and I could eat cream cheese frosting with a spoon, especially with the addition of orange.The garnish of your orange slice and blueberry is the perfect topper. Love your festive Iron Bowl Cake! I’ve never swirled cake batter, it does make me want to bake a cake.
I think there are too many cupcakes for just you. I’ll be right over.
Pinning your football cake!
Fun and yummy! And guess who just picked up some new food coloring:@)
I have made Blue Moon cupcakes!! Aren’t they great?!
Stopping by from the Will Cook for Smiles Link Up.
Thanks for sharing 🙂 Have a great Sunday.
Hi Jenna,
This cake and cupcake is just fabulous! Thanks so much for sharing this awesome recipe with Full Plate Thursday, I will be pinning this one. Hope you are having a great weekend and come back to see us real soon!
Miz Helen
My husband will be so grateful to you for this cupcake recipe! 😉 He loves Blue Moon with orange, and it’s sure to be even better in cupcake form. Pinning!
ha! thanks, be sure to give him a Blue Moon to wash it down!