Craving sunshine and a umbrella-garnished margarita to go with it? We are, too. While we can’t whisk you all away on vacation or come by and make you a drink, we CAN help your wishes come true by offering you a fun and delicious new way to enjoy that margarita taste: cupcakes! And we mean business with these treats, too.
Not only are both the cupcakes and the frosting made with actual tequila, we’re topping them off with a sugar-salt rim to really achieve a true margarita taste. It’s like a mini-vacay in every bite. Watch how easy they are to make – you can use boxed cake mix or your favorite white cake recipe – and give them a try today!
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MARGARITA CUPCAKES
Makes 16 cupcakes
You’ll Need
Cupcakes
– 1 – 15.25-ounce box white cake mix
– ⅓ cup lime juice
– ⅓ cup tequila
– ⅓ cup buttermilk or milk
– ½ cup vegetable oil
– 3 large eggs
– 1 tablespoon lime zest (from 2 limes)
– 1 tablespoon tequila, for brushing the tops
Frosting
– 8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
– ½ cup unsalted butter, room temperature
– 2 cups powdered (confectioners’) sugar
– 2 tablespoons lime juice
– 1 tablespoon tequila
– ½ tablespoon lime zest (from 1 lime)
Garnish
– ¼ cup sanding sugar (optional: mix with ¼ teaspoon coarse sea salt)
How To
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (175 degrees Celsius). Line a muffin tin with paper or foil cupcake liners, and spray the liners with nonstick spray.
- Pour the dry cake mix into a large mixing bowl. Using a hand mixer, beat the mix together with the lime juice, tequila, buttermilk, oil, large eggs and lime zest until just-combined.
- Divide the batter evenly among the muffin tins.
- Bake for 14 to 17 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow the cupcakes to cool to room temperature.
- Brush the tops of each cupcake with the reserved tablespoon of tequila. Refrigerate the coated cupcakes for 30 minutes before frosting.
- While the cupcakes are in the refrigerator, make the frosting by whipping the cream cheese and butter together until completely smooth. Add in the remaining ingredients and whip until combined.
- Pipe the frosting onto each cupcake.
- Place the sanding sugar in a small bowl. Carefully roll the edges of each cupcake in the sugar to achieve the margarita sugar rim effect!
Tip
- Because there is cream cheese in the frosting, be sure to refrigerate any leftover cupcakes.