Margarita Cupcakes

cake:

3 Tbsp. tequila

1 Tbsp. Cointreau or other orange liqueur

1/4 cup lime juice

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 Tbsp. baking powder

1 tsp. kosher salt

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature

1/2 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 Tbsp. grated lime zest

frosting:

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature

1 Tbsp. grated lime zest

1/2 tsp. kosher salt

1 lb (about 4 cups) powdered sugar

2 Tbsp. tequila

1 Tbsp. Cointreau

1 Tbsp. lime juice

1/4 cup half-and-half or milk

For the cake: Preheat the oven to 350°.  Line a 12-cup cupcake pan with paper liners. Makes 12 cupcakes


Combine the tequila, Cointreau, lime juice, and 1/4 cup water and set aside.  In another bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, and salt with a whisk and set aside.  In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar with a mixer until light and fluffy, 3-4 minutes.  Add the eggs, one at a time, beating to combine in between.  Beat in the lime zest.  Alternate adding the flour mixture and the lime juice mixture in three additions each, with the mixer (or your arm) on.  Scoop the batter into the prepared muffin tins and bake for 20 minutes, or until set and a toothpick inserted into the center of one comes out clean.  Remove and cool on a rack.


For the frosting:  Combine the butter and lime zest in a bowl and beat with a mixer until fluffy and combined, 1-2 minutes.  Combine the tequila, Cointreau, and lime juice in a small bowl or measuring cup and slowly add to the butter, alternating with the powdered sugar, with the mixer running.  Add in the half-and-half or milk and continue beating for 3-5 minutes or until creamy and your desired stiffness.  Spread or pipe onto completely cooled cupcakes.

Cupcake Creamsicle’s

Cupcake Ingredients:

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
7 Tablespoons sugar
2 large eggs
3/4 cup self-rising flour 
2 teaspoon orange flavoring, orange oil, or orange liquor
(May use 1/2 teaspoon almond extract instead of the suggested 1 tsp.vanilla extract.)

2-3 Tablespoons milk

Directions :

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. (I bake them at 375* F) Line a 12 cup muffin tin with baking paper cups. Put all the ingredients except for the milk into a food processor and blend until smooth.
Pulse while adding the milk down the funnel to make for a soft consistency.It doesn't seem like enough batter, but it will all work out, scrape every bit from the bowl and try to fill each cup equally. Bake for 15-20 or until they are golden on top. (These are perfectly baked in 14 to 15 minutes @ 375* in my oven) It's best to start checking them at 12 minutes.

Orange Cream Cheese Icing

1 stick (4 oz) unsalted butter softened

8 oz softened Cream cheese

1 cup powdered sugar

2 tsp orange flavoring, orange oil, or orange liquor

Combine the room temperature butter and cream cheese together in a mixer with a paddle attachment. Slowly add the sugar 1/4 cup at a time and add the orange flavoring at the end. For the easiest results put the icing in piping bag with the tip of your choice and pipe onto cupcakes.

Cupcake Cones

Ingredients


1 (18.25 ounce) package yellow cake mix or your favorite recipe from scratch
24 flat bottomed ice cream cones
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips or icing
1 ounce colored candy sprinkles
 
Directions


Prepare cake mix according to directions. Fill each cone about 3/4 full of batter, up to first ridge. Place cones in the cups of a cupcake pan or on cookie sheets.

Bake at 400 degrees F (205 degrees C) for 15 to 18 minutes.

Place 10 chocolate chips on top of each warm cone, and in a minute or two spread melted chocolate over top. Decorate with candies.

Fun, get creative recipe! Made a double batch using two different cake mixes and found that the mix calling for eggs, water and butter (not oil) baked better, yeiled a much better looking cone and had less overflow problems. Using 1.75 ounce cones, I got 25 cones from one box of cake mix. I filled them up to just shy of the top inside line, gently tapped the bottom of the cone to settle the mix and baked them in a cupcake pan with paper liners. The only time I had overflow was when the edge of the cone was broken. If one should overflow to the bottom, I found that if you take it out and replace the paper liner, it breaks the stream and stops. Just frost the drips, after all ice cream melts! Frosted with canned chocolate chip icing, the cones look really authentic! Tip for transporting: Use egg cartons. Cut off the top, then bottoms of each egg holder and you have a "collar" that holds the cones. Then I taped the egg carton collars into a box lid and it made for both easy transport and serving when sitting on a buffet table.

Strawberry-Lime Cupcakes

Strawberry-Lime Cupcakes

Ingredients


1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon fine salt
2 large eggs, room temperature
2/3 cup sugar
3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup milk

Icing:

1 1/3 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted
1 1/2 tablespoons finely grated lime zest
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice
1 drop green food coloring
6 large ripe strawberries, hulled
Green sanding sugar
Fresh mint leaves or candied leaves

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line the muffin tin with cupcake liners.

Whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt together in a medium bowl.

In another medium bowl, beat the eggs and sugar with an electric mixer until light and foamy, about 2 minutes. While beating, gradually pour in the butter and then the vanilla.

While mixing slowly, add half the dry ingredients, then add all the milk, and follow with the rest of the dry ingredients. Take care not to over mix the batter. Divide the batter evenly in the prepared tin.

Bake until a tester inserted in the center of the cakes comes out clean, about 30 minutes. Cool cupcakes on a rack in the tin for 10 minutes, then remove. Cool on the rack completely.

For icing: Mix the confectioners' sugar and lime zest in a medium bowl. Add the lime juice and mix with an electric mixer to make a firm but pourable icing. (If needed, add up to 1 teaspoon more juice, but take care if the icing is too loose it doesn't set properly.) Add food color to make a pale pastel green icing.

To assemble: Remove cupcake from its liner. Cut and remove a strawberry (coned) shaped portion of cupcake from the top of each cupcake, leaving about 1/2 to 1-inch of cake in the bottom. Stuff each cake with a strawberry and cover with a little bit of cake. Spoon and spread icing over the top of the cupcakes. Sprinkle with green sanding sugar. Top with small mint leaves or candied leaves.

Cheesecake Cupcakes ~ Raspberry

Raspberry Swirl Cheesecake Cupcakes

Yield: 32 cupcakes

Ingredients:

For the crust:

1½ cups graham cracker crumbs
4 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
3 tbsp. sugar

For the topping:

6 oz. fresh raspberries or other fresh berries
2 tbsp. sugar

For the filling:

2 lbs. cream cheese, at room temperature
1½ cups sugar
Pinch of salt
1 tsp. vanilla extract
4 large eggs, at room temperature

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 325˚ F. Line cupcake pans with paper liners. In a small bowl, combine the graham cracker crumbs, melted butter and sugar. Stir together with a fork until well blended and all the dry ingredients are moistened. Press 1 tablespoon of the mixture into the bottom of each cupcake liner. (I like to use a small drinking glass to easily and evenly press the crumbs down. One of Andrew's sippy cups works wonderfully.) Bake until just set, 5 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack.

To make the raspberry puree, combine the raspberries and sugar in a blender or food processor. Process until smooth, then pour through a fine mesh sieve to remove the seeds.

To make the cheesecake, beat the cream cheese on medium-high speed in the bowl of an electric mixer until fluffy. Blend in the sugar until smooth. Mix in the salt and vanilla. Beat in the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition.

To assemble, spoon 3 tablespoons of the cheesecake batter over the crust in each cupcake liner. Dot a ½ teaspoon of the raspberry puree in a few dots over the cheesecake filling. Use a toothpick or a wooden skewer to lightly swirl and create a marbled effect.

Bake until the filling is set, rotating the pans halfway through baking, about 22 minutes. (They will look quite puffed initially but will return to normal quickly.) Transfer to a wire cooling rack and let cool to room temperature. Transfer to the refrigerator and let chill for at least 4 hours before serving.