Saturday, September 3, 2011

Margarita Cupcakes!

Labor Day weekend.......it's a long weekend, but it kind of marks the end of summer (although here in SoCal, summer will still continue until about mid-December). I love summer time for the heat and the bbqs that bring friends together and all the good times that come during the summer season. I am totally looking forward to fall, though, for all the baking, and the best holidays that come at the end of the year.....Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's!!!!

To celebrate the "end of summer" holiday weekend, I decided to bake something a little extra special (and I am not talking about THAT kind of special ;) )......MARGARITA CUPCAKES!!!!!! I have talked about baking them for a couple weeks now, so I was so excited to finally be making them today. My friend, Casey, came along for the ride to help me bake.
Amers and Casers

I also decided to do the baking "on location" at my WONDERFUL grandparents' house! Oh how I love them so much. It was such a great time......even though I felt awful cuz we baked and ran. I may need to go back there tomorrow to pay them a more sincere visit.

On a lighter note, while getting ready this morning I received a knock on the door. It was FedEx......to deliver my super awesome new apron!!!!! I was so excited that it came before I left. I had paid to have it delivered by yesterday and when I found out it wasn't going to be delivered until today, I was quite upset. Thankfully it came and I was able to wear it for my baking today! :D
     ***I wanted to make note that I got my apron from Flirty Aprons. I had a shipping issue, but they took care of me and I am (once again) a happy customer. They have tons of cute aprons, so check them out if you are in the market for one! :)
Showin' off the new apron....and yes, I am wearing shorts underneath! 

Once Casey and I were all set up, the baking began! I had to make sure I had all the ingredients ready since I couldn't take my whole kitchen with me (even though it sure did feel like I did when I was loading, unloading, reloading, and re-unloading my car with all my baking essentials). 

INGREDIENTS:
(as adapted from Sweet Pea's Kitchen)

1 1/2 + 3TBSP Cake Flour (you can use all-purpose, but we did a test on it and the cake is much more light and fluffy with the cake flour and more dense with the all-purpose flour. If you decide to use all-purpose, omit the extra 3 TBSP)
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup baking sugar (you can use regular sugar, but baking sugar is finer)
2 eggs, at room temperature
Zest and juice from 2 limes (after juicing limes, remove 1 TBSP of the juice to use for your frosting)
2 TBSP tequila (any brand will do. I used Jose Cuervo since we have it and its cheaper.....wasn't about to be using my Cazadores for these cupcakes) ;)
1/4 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup buttermilk (I use the powdered buttermilk so I don't have to worry about it going bad from not using it. This required me to add the powder to the flour mixture and use 1/2 cup water when the recipe asked for buttermilk)
***This recipe made 12 regular sized cupcakes and 12 mini cupcakes

DIRECTIONS:
-Preheat oven to 325 degrees
-In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside
-In a stand mixer, beat the butter and sugar together on medium-high speed (around speed 6), until pale, light, and fluffy (approximately 5 minutes)
-Reduce the mixer speed to medium (around speed 4) and add the eggs, one at a time, mixing thoroughly after each addition
-Scrape the sides of the bowl and add the lime zest, lime juice (don't forget to save 1 TBSP for your frosting......you forgot, didn't you???? ;) Good thing I reminded you......), vanilla extract, and tequila. Mix until combined. (The mixture will start to look curdled, but it's all good......that's just what tequila does! ;)
The curdled mixture

-Reduce the mixer speed to low (around speed 2-3). Add the dry ingredients in 3 batches, alternating with the buttermilk in 2 batches (this is where I added the water instead of the buttermilk since the buttermilk powder was added into my flour mixture)
-Mix only until just all ingredients are mixed together, then use a rubber spatula to give it one last good mix the old fashioned way.....by hand! 
-Pour the batter into the muffin cups, about 3/4 of the way full. 
Regular sized cupcakes

ORRRRR.......Little Mini Cupcakes!!!!!! :D

-Bake regular sized cupcakes for 13 minutes, then rotate pan; continue baking for 12 minutes or until inserted toothpick comes out with only a few moist crumbs. Bake mini cupcakes for 6 minutes, then rotate pan; continue baking for 6 minutes or until inserted toothpick.....blah blah blah, you know the drill! ;)
-Remove from oven and allow cakes to cool for 10 minutes on a cooling rack. Please be careful to not burn yourself on the pan while removing the cupcakes. It IS ok to let them cool in the pan, but if you're like me, you only have 1 cupcake pan and need to get going on another batch.
-Once cooled, brush the tops of the cupcakes with tequila, then set them aside and allow to finish cooling for about 15 more minutes, then you can frost away!!!!



The frosting is always so much fun to make. Butter, sugar, vanilla......yummmmmy!!!!! Anything else after that is just icing on the.......well, on the cake, of course! ;) Sorry, that was just too perfect of a moment! :D

I used a tequila and lime buttercream frosting for my cupcakes. It was so yummy and you could feel an oh so slight burn of the tequila while eating them. Gotta love the burn!

INGREDIENTS:
1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 3/4 cups powdered sugar
1 TBSP lime juice (here it is.....you finally get to use it!)
2 TBSP tequila
Pinch of coarse salt

DIRECTIONS:
-Place the butter into a large mixing bowl
-Whip butter using the whisk attachment on medium-high speed for 5 minutes
-Reduce speed to medium-low, and slowly add the powdered sugar, mixing and scraping the bowl until all is mixed together
-Give the mixture one last good mix on medium speed for 30 seconds

-Add in the lime juice, tequila, and salt and mix on medium-high speed until all mixed and the frosting is fluffy. (If the frosting is too thin, add more powdered sugar [about a spoonful at a time], or you can continue to whisk it to allow air to get in there and make it fluffier.)
-Frost your cupcakes and then enjoy.....responsibly! ;) 
**I also added some green food coloring gel for the slight green tint in the frosting and topped with some green sanding sugar! Decorate however you want!

Testing out different frosting tips!
So pretty!!!!!

Casey enjoying her cupcake!

The baker has to try one too!

I had tons of frosting leftover and my grandma hates to see anything go to waste, so she decided to put it in a container to use for another cake. I saw that she had a box of lemon cake mix (GASP!!!! Boxed cake mix......!!!?!???!?!?!?!?!) and suggested that she use the frosting for a lemon cake! Hmmmm......maybe a new recipe???? LOL!!! Maybe I will tackle that at a later time!

After baking....and then leaving......Casey and I decided to head to the mall and do some shopping. I got a super cute new dress and new heels (since my puppy ate my other ones) for Davey's and my anniversary trip to Vegas in 2 weeks! I also got 2 new candles from Bath and Body Works. Their fall scents have arrived [WOOO HOOOO] and I was just too tempted to NOT go in and smell them all. Ended up with Pumpkin Caramel Latte and Mint Chocolate. I also got a car scented thingy of the Mint Chocolate so now my car smells superbly delicious!!!! We then headed to dinner at Lazy Dog Cafe and enjoyed a nice little girl's time! :)



All in all it was a great day! Especially considering that I also received, in the mail, my t-shirt I had ordered!!!!

Hahahahahaha!!!!!!! LOVE it!!!!!! TRI-Life!!!!!

Hope you all enjoy the rest of your night and your weekend! Thankfully it is Saturday and we still have 2 more days to go! 

<3 much and until next time!!!!
Amy















2 comments:

  1. Awww <3 my Amers! Had a fantastic day with you!

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  2. I had a fantastic day as well! Thanks for helping me make my delicious treats!!!!!!!! <3 you my Casers!

    ReplyDelete