Margarita Cupcakes

Ole! Ole! Great to see you. How's it going today? Got a special treat for you today but fill your mug with some freshly brewed arabica and snag a virtual treat. Now where was I? Oh yeah...

Last night was Nong's 'girls' night out wherein she and a bunch of Tims girls let off steam at a local restaurant. Wednesdays, the RCAFA (Royal Canadian Air Force Assn) holds 'Wing Night' and I was invited to tag along. I thought I'd make a treat for the group...some Margarita Cupcakes. I had the recipe in my book of favourites...some tried...some untried...and had yet to make this one. What an opportunity, I exclaimed silently to myself. This is a fun group. So I made a dozen. Although I put a little too much tequila in the frosting, which made it too runny to build high atop the cupcakes, they tasted 'Awesome!' as I was told. The cupcakes disappeared before I could even try one. Guess I'll just have to make some more. Got a whole squirtable bottle of frosting left!

Here's the recipe:

Margarita Cupcakes

Yield: 12 cupcakes

Prep Time: 25 minutes

Cook Time: 25 minutes

Total Time: 50 minutes

Ingredients:

For the Cupcakes:
1½ cups all-purpose flour
1½ teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
½ cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs, at room temperature
Zest and juice of 1½ limes
2 tablespoons tequila
¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
½ cup buttermilk
To Brush the Cupcakes:
1 to 2 tablespoons tequila
For the Tequila-Lime Frosting:
1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
2¾ cups powdered sugar
1 tablespoon lime juice
2 tablespoons tequila (Keep it to i tablespoonful)
Pinch of coarse salt

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. Brush the tops of the cupcakes with the 1 to 2 tablespoons of tequila. Set the cupcakes aside to cool completely before frosting them.
9. To make the frosting, whip the butter on medium-high speed of an electric mixer using the whisk attachment for 5 minutes. 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. 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. Frost cupcakes and garnish, if desired, with lime zest, an additional sprinkling of salt and a lime wedge.

All I will add is that the other fellow in the group said he never danced - ever. Well, whether or not my tequila creations had anything to do with it or not, ten minutes after scoffing down one of them, he was up on the dance floor. To paraphrase a not-so-old adage, "One tequila...two tequila...three tequila...dancefloor! (That's Nong on the right...also after only one cupcake!)

See ya, eh!

Bob