Kelsey: How-to Friday! How to make cupcakes without an oven.

Wow the title of this post does not do it justice. This is one of my favorite things to do in Uganda. It is a group activity and at the end you get delicious cupcakes. Sort of.

Everything you need

I found boxed cake mix at the local supermarket. Betty Crocker cake! It was $6. Almost worth it. I actually don't even like chocolate cake but I do love chocolate plus orange flavored anything. You know those chocolate oranges that you can get at Walgreens? You have to slam them on the table and the crack into orange slices. Love those things.

Orange

Ugandan Oranges are green. I do not know why. If you leave them they eventually turn a little bit yellow, I have never seen one turn orange. The lemons are also green but that does not matter. We are making cakes in oranges!

Still the right color inside

Make a cut near the top of the orange so you create a sort of cup with a cap on it. You can cut all the way through or you can leave it like a flap. If you are doing this project with kids you can cut the orange in half... It is easier for them to scoop out the insides that way.

the kid version

If you do it this way you will end up with two smaller cakes.

Dorcus and Gladys working for the promise of cake!

Scoop out the inside of the orange. This actually takes kind of a long time. You should be using around 15 oranges, depending on how large they are.

an empty orange

Have I mentioned that the oranges need to be sweet? Very important to have delicious sweet oranges. I like to scoop out the main part but then leave some orange in the top. This makes the cakes extra moist and orange flavored.

box cake

Mix up your box cake mix. You can make the cake mix from scratch. But I assume you will be very tired after scooping all the oranges and will not have the energy to make cake from scratch. Plus box cake has delicious tasting batter. Lick that bowl.

orange juice

I added some orange juice into the cake mix because chocolate is a strong flavor and I really want it to be orangey.

yummm

Gosh oranges are pretty.

Oh my gosh I want to eat this!

Pour the chocolate into the orange. It should be filled about 3/4 of the way to the top. I like when the cake starts to explode out of the orange as it cooks. Maybe exploding cake isn't your thing. I don't know.

chocolate orange

Ok this is a little full but it'll work. If there is any batter dripped on the outside of the orange it will burn but its not really a big deal.

Its like a little foil blanket

Put the lid back on the orange and double wrap it in heavy duty foil.

fire!

Stick the double wrapped oranges on the coals. If you do not have access to coals (poor you) this can be done in the oven. But if you have an oven then you probably have cupcake tins... but then you would not get delicious orangey cakes. Don't take the easy way! Use the oranges!

Fresh orange juice

Make delicious orange juice with the scooped out insides. Or you could freeze it and make granita. Yum! But I do not have access to a freezer. Suck.

ta da!

Ok the oranges get a little bit gnarly looking on the fire, but the cake tastes so good. I always know mine are finished when I can smell the drips of batter outside the orange burning. I have never overcooked these cakes, and I burn almost everything I make.

Orange cupcakes!

I call this Exploding Chocolate Orange Cake! It is light, fluffy, and moist and has the perfect amount of orange to chocolate ratio. I highly recommend this.