Am I a cupcake Hero?!?

Laurie over at quirky cupcake asked all cupcake lovers of the world to unite! She has started a monthly blogging event based around cupcakes! I do love cupcakes! For the inaugural event, the theme ingredient is lime!

Hubby, myself, and some friends were planning our menu for our upcoming Jimmy Buffett tailgating extravaganza and I thought Margarita cupcakes would be perfect! Margaritas are my favorite tasty beverage so I’ve been wanting to try this recipe for a while now.

There are quite a few recipes out there for Margarita cupcakes. I chose this one because I liked the fact that it doesn’t use Margarita mix, but is a more “from scratch margarita” in cupcake form.

Margarita Cupcakes – makes 12
Recipe from here (Original recipe from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World)
1/4 cup lime juice
1 1/2 tsp lime zest (1 lime)
1 cup soy milk (plain or vanilla) – I used Silk Light Vanilla Soymilk
1/4 cup vegetable oil – I used 1/4 cup applesauce
2 tsp tequila
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup sugar
1 1/3 cup all purpose flour
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 350F. Fill a 12-cup muffin tin with liners.

In a large bowl, mix together lime juice, lime zest, soy milk, oil, tequila, vanilla and sugar.

In a small bowl, mix together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Add to lime mixture and stir until just combined.

Divide evenly into muffin tins. Bake for 20-24 minutes, until a tester comes out clean and the cakes spring back when lightly pressed. Turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely before frosting.

Tequila and Lime Frosting
1/4 cup butter or nonhydrogenated shortening, softened
1 tbsp soymilk – I used Silk Light Vanilla Soymilk
3 tbsp lime juice
1 tbsp tequila
2+ cups confectioners’ sugar
coarse sugar for “rims”

Cream together butter/nonhydrogenated shortening (depending on whether you want the frosting vegan or not), soymilk, lime juice, tequila, and 2 cups of confectioners’ sugar.

Add in more sugar as needed to make frosting stiff, but spreadable.

Spread on cupcakes and roll the edges in a small amount of coarse, colored sugar (poured into a small bowl, so it’s easy to direct it.

The verdict: The cupcakes turned out great. They really tasted like margaritas. You could taste a hint of the tequila, but it wasn’t overpowering. They were great for our Buffett tailgating!