Bon Voyage Honey Mim!

Tomorrow my baby sister will fly across the country to get ready to take a class that will give her a license to teach english as a second language. I think she's hoping to be able to go to France to teach since she has a degree in French, but I know she'd be happy going just about anywhere as long as it's not Oklahoma. Anyway, to bid her a fond farewell, we had a going away party for her at my parents' house. My mum made cheese enchiladas three different ways (YUMMY!) and had burrito and taco fixins. I was asked to bring dessert.

When I asked Hoeny Mim what she would like she wasn't entirely sure. We discussed different ideas and came up with crunkcakes (aka cupcakes made with alcohol). Since we were having Mexican food we decided to have Strawberry Margarita Cupcakes with Lime Buttercream. Since it's one of her favorite alcoholic drinks we knew it would perfect. We also knew my dad wouldn't touch these so I also made Chocolate-Peanut Butter Cupcakes with PB Buttercream (I'll give you that recipe in my next post).

Strawberry Margarita Cupcakes with Lime Buttercream
Recipe by RecipeGirl

CAKE:


9 ounces liquid Margarita mix (a little over a cup; I used the strawberry mix)
3 ounces tequila (a little less than 1/3 cup)
¾ ounce Grand Marnier
1 box white cake mix (next time, I might try it with a scratch recipe)
3 large egg whites
2 Tbs vegetable oil
1 Tbs lime zest

LIME BUTTERCREAM ICING:


2 sticks unsalted butter (1 cup), at room temperature
5 to 6 cups powdered sugar
2 Tbs fresh lime juice
1/8 tsp salt
1 tsp grated lime zest
green food coloring, if desired
small lime slices for garnish, if desired

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line two dozen cupcake tins with paper liners.
2. Prepare cupcakes: Whisk together margarita mix, tequila and Grand Marnier in a small bowl. Measure out 1¼ cups for the recipe; pour the rest on some ice and drink it while making the cupcakes.
3. In a large bowl, blend cake mix, egg whites, vegetable oil, lime zest and 1¼ cups of the margarita mix from step 1. Blend on low for about 30 seconds and then increase speed to medium and blend for two additional minutes. Batter will be slightly lumpy.
4. Spoon the batter into cupcake liners (about ¾ full). Bake for 20-25 min, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Let cupcakes cool for about 10 minutes in the pans, then remove them to a rack to cool completely.
5. Prepare icing: Once cucpakes are completely cooled, prepare the icing. Place butter in a large bowl and beat with electric mixer until butter is fluffy. Add 5 cups of powdered sugar, salt, lime juce, and lime zest. Mix until thick and creamy. Add more powdered sugar until the frosting is of a good spreading (or piping) consistency. Mix in a tiny amount of green food coloring or gel paste if you’d like the frosting to have a green tint. Ice cupcakes in whatever manner you prefer… spreading or piping the frosting. Use small lime slices as garnish.

Happy New Year's Eve!

I've got a special present for the few of you that don't have a party to go to either. I made Earl Grey Cupcakes with Lemon Buttercream Frosting...YUMMY!!!

For Christmas this past year, my wonderful godmother got me the most awesome present ever: a cookbook from TasteBook. The site offers pre-made books that can be added to or completely personalized. Imagine my surprise when my book included 53 recipes and had the option of adding an additional 47 reccipes that I could get off of the site (sweet Erin, the fairy godmother, paid a bit extra just so I could add to the amazing recipes she already picked out for me).

It took me a couple of nights to pick out the recipes I wanted to add on to my existing book, but when I came across this cupcake recipe, I knew it was love at first sight. I wasn't wrong either. Two picky teenagers and two grown men devoured them and begged for more. The lemon buttercream frosting could have been a bit better if I had had fresh lemons to use the zest and juice. Next time I'll use the fresh lemons and loose-leaf tea leaves. Enjoy my lovely readers!

Earl Grey Cupcakes w/ Lemon Buttercream Frosting

Recipe from TasteBook

Cupcakes

1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

2 cups sugar

4 eggs

3 cups self-rising flour

1 cup milk

2 bags or 2 tablespoons earl grey tea

Lemon Buttercream

1 cup unsalted butter

4 cups powdered sugar

zest of 1 lemon

3 tablespoons lemon juice

For the Cupcakes:

1. Preheat oven to 350, fill 2 cupcake pans with paper liners or grease well. In a bowl , beat the butter until creamy. Add the sugar and cream the butter with the sugar until it is light and fluffy.
2. Add the eggs one at a time, beating each egg very well so that it is thoroughly combined before adding the next. Add the flour and milk in three parts, alternating between the two. Cut open the tea bags and stir in until just combined.
3. Fill the cupcake pans ⅔ full. Bake 20-25 minutes, rotating the plans halfway through to ensure even baking. Cool thoroughly before frosting

For the Frosting:

1. Cream the butter until smooth, gradually beat in the powdered sugar until the mixture is very fuluffy. Zest the lemon over the bowl into the fronsting, add the lemoln juice, stir until smooth. Spread or pipe the frosting on cooled cupcakes.