I received the Hummingbird Bakery Cake Days
recipe book for my birthday from some incredibly thoughtful friends, and
it wasn't until I started flipping through the gorgeous, glossy pages
of the book that I realised that I'd never actually owned a cookbook
until now. In honour of this little "first" of mine, I've decided to
start the Hummingbird Trail - to capture those moments inspired by the
book.
Chocrange? Chocorange? Orangelate? Whatever the word of choice, the chocolate-orange pairing is one of my all-time favourites. So, partially fueled by a chocolate-orange cupcake I got from a colleague at work (but mostly from an unshakeable love for the pairing), I made a batch of mini birthday cupcakes in exactly that flavour.
The cupcake I had at work was one that stayed true to the Cake Days' recipe, with its cream cheese based frosting. I'd never thought that cream cheese, chocolate and orange would work as a trio but it did - the distinct tartness of the cream cheese offering an interesting edge to the overall flavour. I decided, however, to replace the chocolate-orange-cream cheese frosting that's supposed to go with the sponge with what I thought would be a lighter alternative - orange butter cream. It was simply a matter of tweaking the recipe for the vanilla butter cream frosting featured in the book by adding the left over orange zest from the sponge recipe.
Nothing like a whiff of cocoa powder to awaken the senses.
Obtaining orange zest the old-school way 
As expected, the cupcakes had the Hummingbird lightness that I've come to know and love. Being able to say that a lot less butter went into the cupcakes than would have been required by other recipes is also quite the selling point in this age of healthy(ier) living.
Another win for Cake Days. Next time, I'll stay true and whip up a batch of cream cheese frosting.
Drop me a message if you'd like the recipe!
Previous stop on the trail: Apple and Walnut Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting
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