Margarita Cupcakes with Tequila-Lime Frosting

My mom loves margaritas, so for her birthday, I took on the challenge of making margarita cupcakes.  I looked at tons of recipes on Pinterest, and ended up finding Just A Pinch Recipes, and their perfect version of Margarita Cupcakes with Tequila-Lime Frosting.  I followed this recipe to the letter, as I am not brave enough to adapt baking recipes, and the cupcakes were Incredible!!! You could absolutely taste the tequila, lime and salt, and it truly tasted like a margarita!

Margarita Cupcakes

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cups butter, unsalted softened

1 cup sugar

2 eggs at room temp.

zest and juice of 1 1/2 limes

2 Tbsp tequila

1/4 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 cup buttermilk

 

To Brush Cupcakes:

1 to 2 Tbsp tequila

 

Directions:

 

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Line a standard muffin tin with paper liners; set aside.

 

2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt; set aside.

 

3. In an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat the butter and sugar together until pale, light, and fluffy (about 5 minutes).

 

4. Reduce the mixer speed to medium and add the eggs one at at time, mixing thoroughly after each addition.

 

5. Scrape the sides of the bowl and add the lime zest, lime juice, vanilla extract and tequila. Mix until combined. (The mixture may start to look curdled at this point, but don’t worry, it will all come back together, power on!)

 

6. Reduce the mixer speed low. Add the dry ingredients in three batches, alternating with the buttermilk in two batches. Mix only until just incorporated, using a rubber spatula to give it one last mix by hand.

 

7. Divide the batter between the muffin cups. Bake for approximately 25 minutes or until just slightly golden and a skewer shows only moist crumbs attached, rotating the pan at the halfway point.

 

8. Allow cupcakes to cool for 5 to 10 minutes, and then remove to a cooling rack.

 

9. Brush the tops of the cupcakes with the 1 to 2 tablespoons of tequila. Set the cupcakes aside to cool completely before frosting them.

 

 

Tequila-Lime Frosting

 

Ingredients:

 

1 cup butter, unsalted (room temp.)

2 3/4 cups powdered sugar

1 Tbsp lime juice

2 Tbsp tequila

pinch of course salt

 

Directions:

 

1) Whip the butter on medium-high speed of an electric mixer using the whisk attachment for 5 minutes.

 

2) Reduce the speed to medium-low, and gradually add the powdered sugar, mixing and scraping the sides of the bowl until all is incorporated. Give it a mix on medium speed for about 30 seconds.

 

3) Add the lime juice, tequila and salt mix on medium-high speed until incorporated and fluffy. If the frosting appears a bit too soft, add some additional sugar, one spoonful at a time until desired consistency is reached.

 

4) Frost cupcakes and garnish, with lime zest, a pinch of salt and a lime wedge.  I also added a straw, to complete the margarita look :-)