Blood Orange Cupcakes Recipe with Hazelnuts

These blood orange cupcakes with hazelnuts are the perfect treat to snack on while re-visiting a movie or book in the beloved Harry Potter series. And honestly, these are PERFECT for the adults at a Harry Potter party because these flavors pair SO well together.

A simple frosting pipe will allow you to decorate these uniquely flavored cupcakes easily and let the hazelnuts steal the show. Plus, it will look like you bought these from a fancy bakery!

RELATED READING: The Best Harry Potter Cake Ideas You Can Actually Make at Home!

Half-Blood Prince Hazelnut Cupcakes

Here are Ruffles and Rain Boots, we don’t hide the fact that we are pretty big fans of the Harry Potter series. We enjoy re-reading the books almost as much as we do re-watching the movies. Add in a Harry Potter cupcake recipe, and it is the perfect night in!

Part of the allure of these magical literary treasures is that each time you go back to a favorite book or movie, you discover a tidbit you didn’t see before. And this easy cupcake recipe is a bit like that: with each bite, you uncover another layer of flavor.

These cupcakes will become a favorite when blood oranges hit the shelves. Watch or re-read the Half-Blood Prince and enjoy this Half Blood Prince recipe. Let’s get started.

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This recipe is created with book 6 of the Harry Potter series in mind. To refresh your memory, it is this one, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.

Tips for Making Cupcakes with Unique Flavor Combinations

1. When buying hazelnuts, pay attention if they are pre-roasted or not. If they are, you want to cut back on the cooking time to just a minute or two. Otherwise, you will get a bitter and burnt flavor.
2. For this recipe, I used blood oranges, which are in season from December to April. If you plan to make this recipe out of season, you can substitute a navel orange, which comes close to the tangy, sweet, and juicy flavor of the blood orange.
3. An ingredient in making the frosting for this hazelnut cupcakes recipe is blood orange syrup, which has a mild flavor. For more flavor, increase the amount from 1-2 teaspoons to 3-4 (start with 3 and taste test). If yu cannot find the syrup, in a pinch you can use Blood orange juice.
4. Do you prefer a red color to the light brown color frosting you will get from this recipe? Use a red gel food coloring with a bit of orange coloring. This will give you a vibrant blood-orange tint.

Ingredients for Half-Blood Prince Blood Orange and Hazelnut Cupcakes

• Chocolate or Vanilla cupcakes (use my insanely popular vanilla cupcake recipe or this yummy chocolate cupcake recipe)
• Chopped hazelnuts
• Ground cinnamon
• Salted butter at room temperature
• Zest from an orange
• Orange syrup
• Powdered sugar
• Heavy whipping cream

Each step is detailed below so it’s easy to follow. Keep this page open while you are creating your Hazelnut Cupcakes. If you would rather have a printable recipe, scroll down and select the print button.

Step 1: Add the chopped hazelnuts and 1 tablespoon of butter to the skillet.

Step 2: Add in the cinnamon and mix with the spatula.

Step 3: Remove the hazelnuts from the heat and pour them onto a sheet of parchment paper to cool.

Step 4: Zest 2 teaspoons of the orange into a small bowl.

Step 5: To make the blood orange frosting, add the butter to a large mixing bowl and beat on high for 2 minutes.

Step 6: Mix in the orange syrup, zest, powdered sugar, and heavy whipping cream. Beat until fluffy and smooth.

Step 7: Prepare the piping bag with the tips and add in the frosting.

Step 8: Frost the cupcakes with a simple mound in the middle, followed by a swirl, starting on the outside. Pull it up and around to end in a point at the center.

Step 9: Roll the cupcakes into the hazelnuts. You might have to press the larger pieces into the frosting.

Notes on How to Frost Cupcakes

1. When making frosting, be sure to use butter that is softened, not melted. If you use melted butter, the frosting may “break” or separate into fat and whey, leaving you with a runny frosting. If this happens, it is impossible to frost your baked goods with it and have it stay in place.
2. Don’t have softened butter? You can speed up the process in the microwave but DON’T microwave the butter! Heat up 2 cups of water for 2 minutes in the microwave. Slice the cold butter and place it on a heat-safe plate. Once the water is heated, carefully remove it and add the butter into the microwave. Shut the down, wait 10 minutes, and you will have softened butter without additional moisture added in.
3. Choosing a piping tip can be a bit confusing and overwhelming as there are so many. I recommend using the Wilton 1M tip to get this thick and chunky swirl.
4. As mentioned above, never frost a warm cupcake. You can place them in the refrigerator to cool, but heed my warning: it will look like a hot mess 3 minutes after you pipe frosting onto a warm cupcake.

More Harry Potter Recipes and Crafts

• These Are the Best Harry Potter Food Ideas for a Wizarding World Party: We love a Harry Potter party and serving the right snacks is the key to success. Here is a great collection of our favorite Harry Potter-inspired treats.
• Butterbeer Fudge Recipe for Potterheads: Fudge is such an easy and fun recipe to make. With this butterbeer-flavored dessert, your Potterheads will be asking for more.
• Make These Easy Harry Potter Spellbook Notebooks!: If you are hosting a Harry Potter party, be sure to include this fun craft for the kids to make. They will love this treasure they get to take home with them.

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