Margarita Cupcakes

Yes, you did read that title right! In the spirit of my last college Spring Break, this is a fantastic little cupcake! This desert is absolute perfection. The cupcakes are light and lovely and the butter cream is probably one of the best I have ever made - and I have made A LOT! Also, these cupcakes are obviously a little boozy, which is lots of fun for little get together.

I was baking tons of little cupcakes for a Razorback Baseball Tailgating event and I wanted to make a coupling of different flavors, to suit a variety of tastes. I decided to make a classic Razorback Velvet Cupcake with Cream Cheese Icing and then these lovely Margarita Cupcakes with Margarita Buttercream. I am proud to report that of the nearly 100 mini cupcakes that went to the tailgate, only about 10 followed someone home. Since we had somewhere around 35 people at the event, I'd say they were a hit!

If you're wondering about the decorations, they are fire, water, and wind inspired for Pappa Keg's company. There were also mini baseballs, but we'll save that for another post!

So to sum things up, go make these... like yesterday!

Notes:

• You could absolutely avoid the alcohol in this cupcake and have a nice, light citrus cupcake with light citrus buttercream. If you choose to leave out the tequila,  add a little extra vanilla to the cupcake and about 1 T of vanilla to the frosting.
• If you find that the buttercream is not the constituency you were looking for, gradually add a little more powdered sugar in until you reach the desired consistency.
• When you brush the cupcakes with tequila, if you aren't going to devour them right away, be a little sparing so they do not get soggy.
• When I made these, as you can see from the picture, I made mini cupcakes.  Bake these for about 15 minutes, to the same conditions as stated below.

Margarita Cupcakes

Batter:

• 1 1/2 c. flour
• 1 1/2 t. baking powder
• 1/4 t salt
• 1/2 c. butter, room temperature
• 1 c. sugar 
• 2 eggs, room temperature
• 2 limes, zested and juiced
• 2 T tequila
• 1/4 t vanilla
• 1/2 c. buttermilk

1-2 extra T tequila for brushing

Buttercream:

•  1 c. butter, room temperature
• 2 3/4 c. powdered sugar
• 1 T lime juice
• 2 T. tequila
• 1/8 - 1/4 t. course salt

Preheat  oven to 325. Prepare your muffin tin with paper liners and set aside.

In a medium bowl , combine the flour, baking powder, and salt.

In your mixer or with a hand mixer, beat the butter and sugar together until nice and fluffy. On medium speed, this will take about 5-6 minutes. Beat the eggs in individually, making sure each is very well incorporated. Mix in the lime juice and zest, vanilla, and tequila.

On low, add the dry ingredients and the buttermilk to the wet mixture; start and end with the dry mixture in 3 batches using the buttermilk intermittently in 2 batches. Mix until just incorporated.

Spoon the batter into the muffin cups, filling the cups about 2/3 full. Bake for 24-26 minutes, until slightly golden and a toothpick test comes out clean or with only a few moist crumbs. In the middle of the baking time, rotate the muffin pan.

Once baked, cool the cupcakes and then brush the tops of them with the extra tequila.

Next, make the buttercream icing.  In a mixer, whip the butter on medium-high speed until light and fluffy. Gradually add in the powdered sugar, on low speed (to avoid powdered sugar clouds).  Occasionally scrape the bottom and edges of the bowl to make sure that all of the ingredients are equally incorporated. Once all of the powdered sugar has been added, mix on high for about a minute to mix in some air. Add the lime juice, tequila, and salt. Mix on high until well incorporated.

Frost the cupcakes liberally, because this buttercream is heaven!

At this point, please remove the cat from the kitchen.