Cosmo Cupcakes

By Texaschef11

Ingredients

• * ¼ c. butter
• 1 * 1 c. sugar
• 1 * 1 egg
• * ¼ tsp. salt
• 1 * 1 ½ tsp. baking powder
• 1 * 1 ½ c. AP flour
• * ¼ c. milk
• * ¼ c. vodka
• * ½ c. cranberry juice concentrate, thawed
• * zest of 1 lime

Preparation

Step 1

The preparation follows what he occurred to me to be basic cupcake preparation (are you guys getting bored of the same old step-by-step pictures?): cream together the butter and sugar.

Add the egg and beat just until combined. Now, in a measuring cup combine the salt, baking powder, and flour. In a separate bowl, combine the liquids (milk, vodka, and cranberry juice concentrate). Alternate adding the flour and liquid mixtures (starting and ending with flour) until the batter is well-combined. Blend in the lime zest.

I really did not like the color of the batter; it looked…unappealing. So, I took out my handy gel colors and added a touch of red and a smidgen of pink to come up with a cosmo-worthy hue:

Fill lined cupcake tins (or greased with cooking spray) 3/4 of the way full. Bake at 375 degrees for 16 minutes (regular sized cupcakes) or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Triple-sec and Lime Buttercream Frosting

* ½ c. butter, softened
* 3 c. powdered sugar
* 1 tbsp. lime juice
* triple-sec to taste and consistency (I used about 4 tbsp.)

Cream the softened butter. Begin to add the powdered sugar little by little. Continue to mix sugar in until you’ve reached what you think to be a consistency just stiffer than you’d like. Add the lime and triple-sec. Adjust taste and consistency by adding more powdered sugar or triple-sec.

Pipe on to cupcakes and enjoy!

For a Cosmo Cupcake, I feel as if these needed more flair. Perhaps some candied pearl drops? Flaked silver or pink glitter? They taste great, but the aesthetics could use a boost :)