Annie’s Eats

Ben has been having a bit of a rocky start to this school year so far, and unfortunately his classroom is no exception. He has brought home quite a number of horror stories from his own class, but on Friday he came home and told me that another first grade teacher had her finger broken by a student pushing a desk over on purpose (she tried to catch it). I felt so bad about the whole situation and I wanted to do something to make her feel better. Since I can’t really send Ben to school with a round of stiff drinks for everyone, I thought these margarita cupcakes might be the next best thing

I was so happy with the way these turned out. I was a little hesitant about the lime buttercream icing, but it really pairs well with the cupcake. I added Wilton leaf green coloring to the frosting and then used my mechanical pastry bag to frost a few. However, I decided to frost the rest normally with a knife because I thought that although they looked really pretty, they just had too much icing. Ben ate one and confirmed that thought. I topped them all by sprinkling with granulated sugar to look like salt. I thought that was a fun touch. Cheers!

Margarita Cupcakes
Ingredients:
9 oz. margarita mix
3 oz. tequila
¾ oz. Grand Marnier or other orange liqueur
white cake mix
3 egg whites
2 tbsp. vegetable oil
1 tbsp. lime zest
1 recipe lime buttercream frosting (recipe below)

Directions:
Mix together the margarita mix, tequila and Grand Marnier in a large glass or spouted bowl. Reserve 1 ¼ cups of this for the cupcake batter and drink the rest as a treat while you are baking.

In a stand mixer, add the margarita mixture (1 ¼ cups), cake mix, egg whites, vegetable oil, and lime zest. Mix on low for about 30 seconds and then increase to medium speed for 2 minutes (the batter will still be a bit lumpy).

Spoon the batter into a prepared muffin pan and fill cups 2/3 to ¾ full. Bake at 350° for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Remove the pan from the oven and let cool for 5 minutes. Place the cupcakes on a cooling rack and allow to cool completely. Once the cupcakes have cooled, make the frosting for the cupcakes.

Lime Buttercream Frosting
Ingredients:
4 cups confectioners’ sugar
1 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/8 tsp. salt
3 tbsp. lime juice
green food coloring (optional)

Directions:
Add all ingredients to a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and mix on low until combined. Turn the speed to medium-high until the icing is light and fluffy. Use water to thin the frosting if necessary (I used about 2 tbsp). Add the icing to a pastry bag or use a spatula/knife to frost the cupcakes.

Source: Confections of a Foodie Bride by Shawnda