Margarita Cupcakes

There is *nothing* like an ice-cold margarita on a summer night to take the edge off the Texas heat.

I like ’em frozen…with lots of lime juice and very little tequila.

Oh, and salt around the rim.

Yum.

These Margarita Cupcakes have that same lime-y flavor as your favorite margarita…with just a hint of tequila in the icing.

Margarita Cupcakes
Source: Annie’s Eats

Cupcake Ingredients:

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tbsp. baking powder
  1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 cups sugar
4 large eggs, at room temperature
3 limes, zested and juiced
  1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup buttermilk

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Line two muffin pans with cupcake liners.

Whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt and set aside.

Cream together the butter and sugar on medium-high speed until light and fluffy.

Add in the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition.

Add in the lime juice, lime zest and vanilla and beat well.

Beat in the flour mixture in three additions, starting with the flour mixture and adding the buttermilk after the first and second flour additions.

Fill the cupcake liners about half-full with the batter.

Bake 20-24 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean.

Cool in the pan for about 5 minutes.

Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Frosting Ingredients:

2 cups sugar
8 large egg whites
Pinch of coarse salt
1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 1/2 tbsp. freshly squeezed lime juice
2-4 tbsp. tequila

Combine sugar, egg whites and salt in a medium sauce pan and heat until it reaches 160 degrees F and the sugar has completely dissolved.

Transfer to a stand mixer and beat on medium-high until stiff peaks form and it has cooled to room temperature.

Add in the butter, two tablespoons at a time — mixing well after each addition.

The mixture may start to look curdled…just keep mixing it and, eventually, it will look like this:

Stir in the lime juice and tequila and squeeze on top of the cooled cupcakes.

Enjoy!

These Margarita Cupcakes have all the flavor of your favorite summer night concoction, without the bite.