Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Margarita Cupcakes


Limes are delicious. And so is tequila. Especially more tequila than I put in these cupcakes. If what you were looking for was an intensely flavored lime cupcake, this batch would have been perfect for you. Of course, mine may have tasted extra limey because my limes were as big as apples. Literally.


But I did compensate by only juicing and zesting 1-1/2 limes instead of 3. Seemed like the right equivalent.

ANYWAY...if what you're looking for is a MARGARITA cupcake...then you'll need to add more tequila than I did. The recipe calls for 1/4 cup of tequila to be brushed over the warm cupcakes. I brushed each cupcake with barely a brushful and ended up leaving most of that 1/4 cup in the cup. Next time, ALL of it will go on them. Maybe more. The recipe also calls for 1-2 T of tequila in the frosting. I opted for only 1, but next time I will use at least 2.

Here's what I did right. I made a few altitude alterations: increased flour by 1T, decreased baking powder by 1/4 tsp, used 1/4 c. shortening and 3/4 c. unsalted butter, rather than all butter (I don't know if that's necessarily an altitude thing, but I find that when I use some shortening in my cakes they just work better. And I'm not afraid of organic non-hydrogenated shortening), increased the buttermilk by about 2 T, and baked them at 350 for about 20 minutes.


And nothing sank and nothing spread everywhere. They turned out perfect, for my taste. Not too puffy, not too flat. (Please don't ask me why my cupcake papers want to separate from the cakes, I still haven't figured that out.) (Also, please don't ask why pink and green cupcake papers. It was what I had.)

I also sprinkled some margarita salt on top of the frosting, in addition to the lime zest and I think that made a big difference. A margarita is not a margarita without salt. You can't really see the salt in this picture. Well, maybe if you click on the big version you can see something sparkling on one of the cupcakes. That's salt.


But, you know, a margarita also isn't a margarita without tequila. So, next time, more tequila there shall be! And next time will be relatively soon because I have leftover frosting in my freezer.

Also exciting...Swiss Meringue Buttercream is really the way to go. It turns out perfectly every single time. I may never make another type of buttercream. Ever.

TGIP Rating--Margarita Cupcakes--Could be my bad on the tequila front, so I won't judge the recipe. Otherwise it's summery and delicious and I can't wait to try them again.

Next up: Cherry Chocolate Chip Cookies. My plan is to adapt this recipe for altitude and add some dried cherries. Gross to some, but YUMMY to me!

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