03.10
I made these amazing cupcakes last month for my sisters 40th birthday. She was planning a “bar” themed party for over 50 quests, so when I offered to make cupcakes I knew I had my work cut out for me. I had never made more than a dozen cupcakes at a time, and those were out of a box. But when the only other option is store bought cake (yuck), I knew I could not back down.
I already had an idea for the chocolate lovers (me!) which included chocolate cakes made with Guinness and topped of with a creamy head of off-white frosting that had a lovely touch of Irish cream and Jameson Whiskey (sorry no pic). After that mouth watering goodness I knew I needed something special for those white cake lovers.
I have to say, despite my love for chocolate and Guinness, these Margarita cupcakes rocked my world and were gone before the party was over (no, not just by me!).
The alcohol is very minimal in the recipe (about 1 tbs per 2 dozen), but never-the-less I made 2 dozen with alcohol and 1 dozen without for those who do not drink (and of course the kids needed cake too :P ).
The recipe below makes 1 dozen cupcakes. For non-alcoholic cakes, just omit the tequila! I hope my crazy step-by-step instructions/ingredients doesn’t confuse anyone, its just how my ninja mind works!
Oh, and these where much easier, and funner, to make with a friend… Thanks Jen! xoxo
Shopping List….
- Lime juice – 1/4 cup + 3 Tbs
- Limes – 1 large & 2 mini limes (a sub for the mini limes could be candy limes or other citrus)
- Milk – 1 cup + 1 Tbs (you can use any kind you want; whole, nonfat, soy, etc.)
- Butter – 1/2 cup
- Vegetable Oil – 1/4 cup
- Vanilla Extract – 1/2 tsp
- White Sugar – 1 cup
- Powdered Sugar – 2+ cups (aka “confectioner’s”)
- All Purpose Flour – 1 1/3 cup
- Baking Soda – 1/4 tsp
- Baking Powder – 1/2 tsp
- Salt – 1/2 tsp
- Tequila – 1 Tbs + 2 tsp (optional)
- Coarse Sugar for “rims†(I used red and green cookie sprinkles to help segregate the “good” from the better, maybe a tablespoon each)
- Colored Straws (3 reg sized straws cut 4 ways worked great)
For the cakes…
- Preheat oven to 350F.
- Fill a 12-cup muffin tin with liners.
- In a large bowl, mix together:
1 cup milk
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 tsp tequila (optional)
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup white sugar
- In a small bowl, mix together:
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
- Add dry mix to lime mix and stir until just combined.
- Divide evenly into muffin tin.
- Bake for 20-24 minutes (until a toothpick comes out clean)
- Cool completely before frosting.
For the frosting part…
- Cream together:
1 tbsp milk
3 tbsp lime juice
1 tbsp tequila (options)
2 cups powdered sugar (add in more as needed to make it as stiff as you like it.. man that sounds bad)
For the awesomeness part…
- Spread frosting on cupcakes
- Roll the edges of the frosted cakes in a small amount of the colored coarse sugar (using a small paper plate for the sugar worked great)
- Top with a half slice of those cute miniature limes (or a candy lime if your lucky enough to find some, I was not).
- Finish it with a cut straw (about 2″)
Hahaha! These look AMAZING! I definitely have to test them out. I wonder how well they would go over out here. I’m glad the tequila is optional.