Margarita Cupcakes

This weekend was my aunt and uncle’s going away party.  They both retired and are moving to Florida.  How exciting!  I offered to bake something for the party and decided to try something new.  It seemed like the perfect event to make a cupcake with some booze!  If I was retiring and moving to Florida I think I would like to lay by the pool and drink margaritas all day.  Margarita cupcakes aren’t too sweet and are a great summer dessert!  I combined a couple recipes I found online at Confections of a Foodie Bride and browneyedbaker to make these delicious treats.

Cupcakes

• 3 cups flour
• 1 Tbsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 sticks unsalted butter at room temperature
• 2 cups sugar
• 4 eggs at room temperature
• 3 limes zested and juiced (yields about 1/3 cup of lime juice)
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1/4 cup tequila (optional) 

*Note: The tequila is used to brush on top of the warm cupcakes after they are finished baking so you can make an alcohol free cupcake.  This recipe yields 3o cupcakes and  I brushed the tequila on all but six cupcakes.  For those six without tequila, I used a different color baking cup and I also used a different color frosting.  I knew FabDaughter would want a cupcake and I wanted to make sure that there wasn’t any confusion between the tequila and the non-tequila cupcakes.  I also made a separate half batch of frosting that did not have tequila in it for the non-alcoholic cupcakes.

Frosting

• 3 sticks unsalted butter at room temperature
• 4 cups powered sugar
• 2 Tbsp lime juice
• 2 Tbsp tequila (Tequila can be replaced with vanilla for a non-alcoholic version.)
• Pinch of course salt

Directions

To make the cupcakes:

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Line cupcake tins with paper liners or baking cups.
2. Stir flour, baking powder and salt together in a small bowl and set aside.
3. Cream butter and sugar on medium-high for about 5 minutes.
4. Add eggs one at a time and mix each in before adding the next.
5. Add lime juice and zest.
6. On low, mix in the dry ingredients in three small batches, alternating with the buttermilk in two batches.
7. Fill each cupcake liner 3/4 full and bake for 25 minutes roughly.  (Oven times vary.)  Check cupcakes with a toothpick and continue to bake until hardly any crumbs are attached to the toothpick.
8. After the cupcakes are finished baking, brush the tops with tequila.  (Optional.)

To make the frosting:

1. Beat the butter on a medium-high speed for about 5 minutes.
2. Reduce the speed and gradually add the powdered sugar.
3. Add lime juice, tequila (or vanilla) and salt mix and beat on medium-high speed for 2 minutes.  If the frosting isn’t thick enough you can add powered sugar a tiny bit at a time until you reach your desired consistency.  If the frosting gets too thick add in liquid (either lime juice, tequila or vanilla) a little at a time until desired consistency is reached.

To frost the cupcakes, I used a Wilton 1M star tip.  I started frosting from the center of the cupcake out, holding a steady pressure on the pastry bag the entire time.