Catherine's Bridal Shower

Today I had the honor of making cupcakes for my good co-worker Catherine and her fiance Nolan.  I made the margarita cupcakes with the lime buttercream frosting since it was a margarita themed party, (thanks Sandy for hosting a great shower). 

Since this was for a bridal shower I wanted to add a few personnel touches.  I wanted to make something out of white chocolate to put on the cupcakes.  I googled everything from wedding clipart to edible cupcake decorations, and then I had a brilliant idea.  I went through all of my past greeting cards I received for the various holidays and found the heart decoration I used for the cupcakes.  I took some parchment paper and fitted a ziploc bag with a #3 wilton decorating tip filled with melted white chocolate.  I then traced the heart decoration with the white chocolate and let them dry overnight.  You can literally make any type of decorating, lettering, etc. from chocolate or candy melts.

I also wanted to add a personnel touch for the bride and groom so I made a little flag with their initials in word and glued them to a toothpick and tada you have an instant personnel touch to your cupcake.

So finally here is the recipe for the Margarita cupcakes with Lime Buttercream Frosting (adopted from Bunny's Warm Oven)

CAKE:
9 ounces liquid Margarita mix (a little over a cup, I used a lime margarita mix)
3 ounces tequila (a little less than 1/3 cup)
1 1/2 ounce Grand Marnier
1 box white cake mix
3 large egg whites
2 Tbs vegetable oil
2 1/2 Tbs. lime zest (chopped fine)

LIME BUTTERCREAM ICING
2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
4 cups powdered sugar (you can add more if you like it sweeter or your frosting is too thin)
2 Tbs. fresh lime juice
1/8 tsp. salt
1 tsp. grated lime zest
green food coloring, if desired ( I used gel color)
small lime slices for garnish, if desired
3/4 oz. Grand Marnier
1/2 oz. tequila (I used Jose Cuervo tradicional)

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350° F. Line two dozen cupcake tins with paper liners or you can make these into mini cupcakes.

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 cupcakes are completely cooled, prepare the icing. Place butter in a large bowl and beat with electric mixer until butter is fluffy (this is a very important step for buttercream frostings). Add 4 cups of powdered sugar (more if desired), salt, lime juice, 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.  This frosting will make about 21 - 24 large cupcakes.

Cooking Tips*

Don’t worry too much about exact measuring for the margarita mix/tequila/Grand Marnier. Just eyeball it and measure out the 1 1/4 cups that you’ll need for the recipe.
**If you just spread frosting on the cupcakes (rather than piping), you’ll probably have a bit of frosting leftover.
***If you prepare these a day before, it’s best to place them into a covered container and refrigerate them. Remove them to room temperature a couple of hours before serving. Of course, they’re best if eaten the day they’re made.

Hope you all will enjoy these cupcakes.