Margarita cupcakes: Portland

Commence pseudo-tandem baking. Sadly, I’m not as good at remembering to take photos all the way through, but I’ve got some real artsy shots of tequila bottles and such. I decided to fall back on Grey’s Anatomy and catch up on the new season (it’s ridiculous as ever, but I can’t help myself).

Now for the baking part.

Step 1: Buy some (marginally) acceptable tequila at a store where they don’t let you behind the counter but make it look like you might be able to and have no signs telling you otherwise (lesson learned).

Here’s the pre-baking spread.

You’ll notice I’m using a lovely set of silicone baking cups from World Market, part of HJ’s graduation gift to me. They’ve been super useful, easy to use and make the perfect portion for cupcakes or muffins. I’ll show you more about why I love them later.

Put the dry ingredients in one bowl, wet in the other. Standard.

This bowl set was an awesome investment, though sadly, I cracked the green one the other day while doing dishes. In any case, mixed some stuff together.

So after a few minutes of beating up the batter, they went into the wee baking cups, and 20 minutes later, cupcakes! And look at the awesome shape from those silicone molds. I still need to master the hot spots on them because I’m still learning how to cook with a gas range, but they work pretty well. No need for muffin cups, either.

The frosting was a lot more buttery, airy, and thin than I’m used to with buttercream, but it seemed to work really well for this. And I decided to use my cake decorating set to make them look fancy fancy.

Next time I bake with tequila, I’m thinking tequila sunrise cupcakes, for sure (and by the way, I’ve never encountered this cooking blog before, but it looks amazing).

Margarita cupcakes: Denver

Well, the move is complete, and I’m finally settled (back) down in my hometown of Denver, Colorado.  Today is The Boyfriend’s first full day of work, and I am whiling away my time with cupcakes. What better way to spend a Monday?

Like N and I agreed, the first shared recipe we’re attempting is for margarita cupcakes.  You may recall our source recipe here.  I have pretty high hopes for these little lovelies. On paper, they are almost everything I love: lime zest, cupcakes, and tequila. Speaking of lime zest, look at that color!:

So, I sat down, watched some of an episode of Star Trek: Voyager, and with Captain Janeway looking on, I zested some limes. And juiced them.  And sifted some flour, baking soda, and salt with the help of my salty sea-lion salt shaker.

Once my batter was all made, I slid it into its slinky little polka-dot cupcake wrappers and sat down to wait. I bought these cupcake liners JUST for the purpose of margarita cupcakes.

My batter seemed a little bit thin, but I fought my urge to thicken it up with some extra flour. I am trying to re-learn how to bake at high altitudes (there is a very reasonable explanation for Denver’s nickname, “The Mile-High City”).  Less air pressure means that cakes rise faster and can fall before the gluten structures have a chance to bake into something airy.  Liquid also boils off more quickly, so I’m trying my theory that a thinner batter might work in my favor.

I pulled them out of the oven at 25 minutes in. The recipe specified 20-22, but mine took a bit longer to solidify. (I am mostly relieved I managed not to roast them – I had a traumatic cupcake-burning experience in August.) A quick brush with some tequila made them happy little drunk cakes.

I decided to let them cool by WATCHING MORE VOYAGER. Who says that being unemployed isn’t cool? I am so cool. Right? Right?

After another bout with our intrepid, stranded Star Fleet crew (ep. 4X15, if you are really interested), I decided to crack down on this buttercream business.I ought to preface this buttercream business by saying that I almost always am not a fan of American Buttercream. I usually find it too dense, too sweet, gritty, and flavorless. When I am frosting a cake, I usually spend the time and money on extra eggs and make Swiss Meringue Buttercream instead, because I like the texture and sheen. However, this buttercream recipe is SO GOOD. Holy balls. Like, pipe-the-leftovers-into-a-glass-and-drink-it good. I found it needed a little extra tequila (NEEDED), and added some extra sugar to balance out the texture. Then, into my comically-large piping bag it went.  Look at those beauties! I love how white the icing turned out.

And for detail’s sake, here’s a better glimpse of this buttery peak of tequila goodness.

The recipe demo we’re following garnished its cupcakes with lime zest, but I wanted something that looked salty, because I don’t think any margarita is complete without a salted rim.  I thought about clear sanding sugar, but settled on green.  They look a little St. Patrick’s Day, I will admit, but I’m pleased with the end product.

Now, to wait for The Boyfriend to return so that we can enjoy the spoils of my labor. Never mind that we’re eating chicken curry for dinner…chicken curry could go with margaritas, right?

Challenge #1: Margarita cupcakes

First up, we’ll tackle a classic, cupcakes. But because we’re just out of college, they need booze. We’re both fond of tequila but haven’t baked or cooked with it before. These cupcakes seem like a delicious excuse to drink while baking and please our roommates.

We’ll let you know how it goes, pictures and all.

http://traceysculinaryadventures.blogspot.com/2011/05/margarita-cupcakes.html