Margarita Cupcakes

Delicious Lime flavored Margarita Cupcakes with some salt on the top and a slice of lime. This is like your favorite cocktail in cupcake form.

If you love citrus in your cupcakes be sure to check out these lemon cupcakes or these raspberry lemonade cupcakes.

Can we take a moment to appreciate the beauty that is a perfectly frosted cupcake?

My daughter recently wanted to take cupcakes to school for a school store they were doing at the end of the school year. Every kid got to spend their class dollars on whatever stuff the other kids brought in. And my daughter wanted to make Italian Sodas and Cupcakes. I tried to convince her to make peanut butter cupcakes since they are my favorite, but it isn’t what she wanted.

She ended up making a billion (slight exaggeration) cupcakes and frosting them was a joke. I helped. But you never would have known it because they looked terrible. So I have to take a moment to appreciate a beautifully frosted cupcake. It is a true skill.

So now let’s talk about these amazing cupcakes. The first time I tried the margarita cupcakes was at my mom’s house. She made them for a Mother’s Day gathering. Ironic how it was her day and she made them. But I guess since I have kids too, it was my day too. And I am pretty sure I made something.

Anyway, my mother shared the recipe with me. And I couldn’t wait to make them again because the cake is tender and soft and subtly lime flavored, and the frosting is just so amazing. It is sweet and tart, and topped with some salt, and a fresh slice of lime. And frankly, it is oh so tasty. It makes me feel a little wild, and makes me think a night out singing karaoke with my best girlfriends might just be in order.

And it does all that with no alcohol? How? Because Margarita Cupcakes are a party on your tongue.

But truly they would be the perfect dessert after a Mexican feast of:

Truthfully, my family doesn’t drink, and I laughed a little when my mom told me these were “margarita” cupcakes because I am pretty sure my mom has never even considered drinking a margarita. And she could just call them LIME CUPCAKES. But that is not nearly as much fun. Plus that salt. Kind of like the rim on the glass.

Anyway, I kept the name and I am glad I did because they really are just too much fun. And serve them with Frozen Mango Margaritas (Non-alcoholic) for even more family friendly flavor.

Margarita Cupcake Tips

Obviously these cupcakes were made in a paper liner, but lately I have been obsessed with these silicone liners. I especially love them because they are eco-friendly, make clean up a breeze, and come in such fun colors. You can find them on Amazon here:
Buy Cupcake Liners Here
If you want pretty piped frosting it is worth it to get a piping bag and tip. I will sometimes just snip the end off a ziploc or ziptop bag, but even that can be problematic. I bought this rather inexpensive piping tip set a few years ago, and still use it. I am by no means a cake decorator, but I like having the reusable silicone pastry bag, and the stainless steel piping tips in different sizes and shapes.

Use Margarita Salt to make these cupcakes even more fun. Of course any large crystal salt will work. It just adds a little more contract to the sweet and sour, and makes for a fun connection. Go easy if you are not huge on salt.
Lime zest is used in the cupcakes cake and can be added to the frosting as well for more fun. My biggest tip when it comes to zesting is to zest directly over the container you are mixing. The rind is good, but the oils that squirt out when you zest is where you get a lot of the flavor, and you don’t want to lose them by transferring zest from one container to another. This is the best selling zester on Amazon (button below), so if you don’t already have one, you might want to consider spending the $10. Zesters rock.
One thing I love about these cupcakes is how light and fluffy they are. And one of the secrets to getting them this way is to SIFT YOUR FLOUR. You guys, I am not the greatest baker, so I used to totally ignore this tip because I did not have a sifter. Well one day I was on Amazon and I had a sifter in my recommended bar. So I finally broke down and bought it. And I am not a convert! HUGE DIFFERENCE. This is the one I have: SIFTER

Imagine the possibilities for when you could serve these fun margarita cupcakes:

Cinco de Mayo gathering: They are fun and themed, and perfect with a big pitcher of something cold.
A Quinceañera: Not old enough to drink, but old enough to enjoy lime and salt!
A girl’s night in: For when you just want to have fun with your friends.
A birthday party: Cupcakes rule the birthday party world, so try these at your next party.
An after school snack (maybe???): Okay, just me who wants any old excuse for cupcakes?

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