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Saturday, July 17, 2010

Strawberry Margarita Cupcakes


I made margarita cupcakes a few months ago and they were very popular but two things about the recipe left me a little bothered. One I don't usually bake from a cake mix, so while the cupcakes are good, I felt like I was cheating. The second problem is that if I'm going to order a margarita, its going to be strawberry or maybe mango. I like my margaritas a little fruity. So I searched for a strawberry margarita recipe and came up with a few choices. I decided on this one from The Picky Apple although I did make several changes. Namely I used a non-alcoholic margarita mix instead of limeade. Don't skip the glaze on the cupcakes, while its a little messy to put on, it really adds an extra kick of flavor and helps keep the cake nice and moist.

If you want to make these cupcakes completely non-alcoholic, replace the tequila in the cake with half lime juice and half margarita mix. For the glaze, use margarita mix in place of the tequila.


Strawberry Margarita Cupcakes
Adapted from The Picky Apple

Cake:
3 cups cake flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup margarita mix
2 T lime juice
1 tsp lime zest
5 T strawberry preserves
1/3 cup tequila
3 eggs
1/2 cup milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 24 muffin cups with paper liners.

Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl and set aside. In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add margarita mix, lime juice, lime zest, strawberry preserves and tequila and mix on low speed to incorporate. (Mix may appear slightly curdled at this point but don't worry, it will come back together with the flour.) Add in eggs, one at a time, mixing after each addition. Add 1/3 of the flour mixture, then 1/2 the milk, and repeat mixing after each addition until just incorporated, ending with the flour mixture.

Divide the batter evenly among the cupcake liners and bake approximately 20 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool approximately 10 minutes and remove from pan to a wire rack to cool completely.

Glaze:
1/2 cup margarita mix
2 T tequila
1/2 cup powdered sugar
Red food coloring

Add powdered sugar to a small bowl, whisk in margarita mix and tequila to make a thick liquid glaze. Add a few drops of red food coloring to desired color. Poke 4-5 holes in each cooled cupcake with a wooden skewer. Spoon glaze over cupcakes, about a tablespoon at a time, giving the glaze a chance to absorb before adding more. You don't want to saturate the cupcakes so you may have some extra glaze left over.

Frosting:
1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
8 oz cream cheese, at room temperature
4-6 cups powdered sugar
3 T margarita mix
2 T strawberry preserves
Red food coloring

Beat together butter and cream cheese until smooth and creamy. Add margarita mix and strawberry preserves and beat until well incorporated. Add powdered sugar one cup at a time until frosting is desired consistency. Add a few drops red food coloring to tint frosting to desired color. Pipe frosting onto cupcakes as desired. Top with sliced strawberries for garnish if desired.

33 comments:

  1. This looks scrumptious! Pour me another....cupcake :D

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  2. Oh yum, they look so very appetizing

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  3. Good for you for finding and adapting a baked from scratch recipe for these cupcakes! They look so pretty.

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  4. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  5. Your cupcakes turned out beautifully! I agree that the glaze is messy, but it does add great flavor. So glad you enjoyed the recipe.

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  6. I just went to the store and got everything to make these, but didn't realize there were three components; I thought the glaze was the frosting so I didn't scroll down for the third set of ingredients and didn't get cream cheese.

    That's the only ingredient I'm missing...is there another way to get the ideal frosting for these cupcakes, without creamcheese? I'm making them here in a few minutes for my soon to be sister-in-law to celebrate her 21st birthday ;) Any quick advice would be awesome! Thanks so much :)

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  7. @Krystal - hope you get this in time... You could do a classic buttercream recipe as well - just use all butter in place of the cream cheese - they won't have the same tang to the frosting but it will do since you're in a pinch.

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  8. Did you use a powdered Margarita mix or liquid?

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  9. @Beckie - I use liquid margarita mix

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  10. Did you use a regular lime margarita mix or a strawberry margarita mix?

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  11. @Amber - I used regular lime

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  12. Hi there. Love the idea of this recipe! I absolutely hate margarita mixes though, as they have sulfites and other things in them that I don't like to touch. Do you think you could just substitute more lime juice and maybe some simple syrup, and maybe a little triple sec in place of the mix?

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  13. @Tipsy Tisch - I would just substitute whatever you would use to make a real margarita for the mix minus the tequila. So if lime juice, simple syrup and triple sec is what you do that should work just fine.

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  14. before I found your site, I saw another nearly same directions for cake for a margarita cupcake. We are going to a mexican themed dinner tonight. I too love strawberry or fruity flavored drinks not so much on the tequila loving side. I don't have strawberry preserves. So what do you think if I have strawberries at home puree them add some sugar and then make the icing as you did. Would it still taste sweet and like a strawberry margarita, or should I just follow the near same recipe for just a plain margarita... I don't want to do the glaze as I baked my cupcakes last night and they have been in the fridge

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  15. Yes I think you could use sweetened strawberry puree, just be careful to watch the amount of liquid as the puree could cause your frosting to be too thin if you add too much.

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  16. I saw that you used lime margarita, I'm a strawberry kinda girl myself. Do you think using strawberry magarita mix would add a little more flavor? Me and my friends are having a girls night in "Tequila & Tacos" and I want to surprise them with these cupcakes!

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  17. @TPayne - I would think the strawberry mix may be a little sweet, the lime mix is generally a lot more tart. You could probably use the strawberry and reduce the preserves a bit if it's one of those puree type mixes. If it's like the Jose Cuervo mix or something that is just liquid, I would just sub the strawberry for lime. It will probably make the cake sweeter though.

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  18. @Jen. Thank you! I will stick to your recipe and maybe when I am experimenting in the house I will try the strawberry.

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  19. @TPayne - good luck - I hope you enjoy!

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  20. Jen! The cupcakes were DELISH! I must try them again! I only did a teaspoon of the glaze for fear of messing them up. I'm not the most avid baker and before the glaze, everything was going GREAT so I didn't want to jinx myself and over saturate. My girlfriends LOVED them! Will do again for Cinco de Mayo girls night in! Thanks again for sharing!

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  21. @TPayne - so glad they were a hit!

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  22. I don't have cake flower. Can I use all purpose flour instead?

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    1. You can make cake flour with a combo of all purpose flour and cornstarch, just Google the amounts.

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    2. Thank you! I can't wait to make these this weekend!! I hope they turn out!

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  23. I just made these this afternoon for Easter brunch in the morning... They are delish!!

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  24. Hi, Jen. I'm so glad to have found this recipe. So many call for box mixes...

    I wonder what you would substitute for the strawberry preserves in the cake, though? I was thinking something like 1T extra of margarita mix, tequila and milk, then maybe 2T of orange juice.

    What do you recommend?

    Thanks! :)

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    1. Depends on what you are trying to do... are you trying to make them regular margarita cupcakes and not strawberry?

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  25. Yes! For the icing, I thought I'd just add tequila instead of the strawberries...

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    1. Just add it a little bit at a time -- you don't want to add too much liquid to the icing or you won't be able to pipe it. But it should be fine without the strawberry flavor.

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  26. Thanks! What do you think about the cupcakes? I'm not sure about the different consistencies....

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    1. I would think it would be less problematic in the cupcakes but I've never done it so I can't make any guarantees but it sounds like it should work.

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  27. I love these! I baked these for a Cinco de Mayo party and they went over well. I modified the recipe a bit and shared it on my blog (with credit back to you, of course!) Thanks for sharing! http://notesonawire.wordpress.com/

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  28. are the preserved strawberries nessecery?
    -nicole

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