Margarita Cupcakes

Quite simply...

I love baking cupcakes.

photo credit: http://jannaalisonphotography.com/

There is something very zen about mixing the ingredients and baking them into these sweet little cakes.  And then frosting then all pretty.  It sounds silly, but I find a lot of peace in it.

I also really enjoy following a recipe.  Going step by step, measuring and somehow creating a delicious treat...I just love it.

It may be the math nerd in me....or maybe I'm just a nerd...

Anyways....I thought it was time that I attempted to create my own recipe.  This has always intimidated me, because although I am great at following directions, I wasn't sure how well I would do figuring out all the measurements to equal a successful cake.  I needed a push.

That push was margareaster...a holiday my family created a few years back that has become a favorite tradition.  It involves, you guessed, margaritas and Easter.  Well Easter crept up on all of us this year, so margareaster is falling a little later than normal, but it gave me time to experiment.

I searched all over pinterest for some margarita flavored cupcake ideas.  I thought they would be a fun addition to the event.  I found TONS of stuff...I mean TONS.  Most of them however used boxed cake mix.  I have nothing against mixes but I personally don't like them because it makes a real soft cake that is hard to frost.

So I decided to give my own recipe a try.  I took a look at recipes I liked in the past and did some substituting with parts that would make them more margarita-ish....like adding tequila.

Tonight I put my recipe to the test.  The outcome....

I thought they tasted pretty good!  The true test will be tomorrow when everyone gets to enjoy them!

Here is the recipe I came up with.  I'm sure I'm going to tweak it as I go, but not too bad for a first try.  If you try them, let me know how they went and what you think may make them better!  Enjoy!


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Margarita Cupcakes

Test #1 (4/11/13)  ~ makes about 2 dozen regular size cupcakes

photo credit: http://jannaalisonphotography.com/

Preheat Oven to 350°

Ingredients:

-       1 ½ cups AP Flour

-       1 ¼ cups Cake Flour

-       ¾ tsp Salt

-       2 tsp Baking Powder

-       1 cup Butter

-       2 cups Sugar

-       1 tsp Vanilla

-       4 eggs

-       ¼ cup Tequila

-       ¾ cup Buttermilk

1. Combine dry ingredients and whisk together
2. Cream butter until smooth, add sugar and vanilla
3. Add eggs, one at a time, beating in between
4. Add tequila
5. Add dry ingredients, alternating with buttermilk
6. Mix until well blended
7. Bake for 20-25 minutes (rotate pans halfway through for a more even bake)
8. Let cool
9. Once cool, remove centers and fill with Lemon Curd Whipped Cream

Lemon Curd Whipped Cream:

-       1 pint Heavy Whipping Cream

-       1/3 cup Sugar

-       ¼ cup (or more to taste) Lemon Curd

10. Beat whipping cream until stiff peaks form, add sugar and beat again
11. Add lemon curd and beat till mixed, but still fluffy
12. Put into a pastry bag and pipe into the center of each cupcake
13. Frost with Lime Butter cream

Lime Butter Cream:

-       1 cup Butter

-       1 tsp Vanilla

-       4 cups Powdered Sugar

-       2-3 tbsp Lime Juice

-       1 tsp (or more to taste) Lime Zest

14. Beat butter until light and fluffy
15. Add vanilla
16. Slowly add powdered sugar, alternating with lime juice
17. Add lime zest and whip butter cream until light and fluffy
18. Put in piping bag and frost (or use offset spatula)