Another fun margarita inspired treat today that’s perfect for Cinco De Mayo parties, spring and summer get togethers or just any random Tuesday. Margarita Cupcakes!
Sweet, salty, tart and yummy, all together. Sounds great to me! I added a tequila glaze to these that you could omit if you like (or make with something other than tequila) and topped them with a yummy lime frosting.
These start out with a vanilla or white cake mix, which is a great base for doctoring up and adding flavor to. For the frosting I made a cream cheese buttercream with green food coloring and a touch of lime flavor.
These are really simple to make (thanks to the cake mix base). I used a premade margarita mix, with tequila included, in place of water in these. If you want to omit the alcohol, a margarita mix that does not have alcohol added would do the trick. Lots of yummy lime zest kicks up the flavor and gives the cupcakes a nice visual pop of lime.
The tequila glaze is optional. You can skip it if you like, or you could replace the tequila with water, and a few drops of lime juice, in the glaze. I made my glaze thin and brushed a coating on top of my cupcakes after baking them.
After the glaze I added my frosting. In my opinion the salty ring around the margarita glass is SO critical to a margarita, so I piped a ring of frosting onto my cupcakes and then sprinkled a combo of crystal sanding sugar and salt on to the frosting, then finished frosting my cupcakes. This allowed me to make a nice clean “ring” of salt on the cupcakes. There is probably some fancy decorating method to doing this, but this worked! If you are serving these immediately, they would be super cute topped with slices of lime, but I went with something that would hold up a bit longer, some simple green candy hearts and dots.
Those super cute cupcake liners, head over to Sweets & Treats Boutique to pick some up.
So yummy!
Ready to whip some up? Here’s the recipe! Remember you can pick up the cupcake liners at Sweets & Treats Boutique.
Margarita Cupcakes With Tequila Glaze & Lime Frosting
Ingredients
Cupcakes
- One Box White or Vanilla Cake Mix
- 1 1/3 Cups Premade Margarita Mix the kind with tequila already included
- 2 TBSP Vegetable Oil
- 3 Egg Whites
- 1 1/2 TBSP Lime Zest
Tequila Glaze
- 1 cup confectioners’ sugar
- 1 1/2 tablespoon water may need slightly more
- 1 1/2 tablespoon Sauza Tequila if you want to skip the tequila, just replace it with water and and a few drops of lime juice
Lime Frosting
- 8 oz Cream Cheese – softened
- 1 Cup Butter – softened
- 5 Cups Powdered Sugar
- 3 TBSP Lime Juice
- Green Food Coloring optional
Garnish
- 1/2 cup crystal sugar sprinkles
- 1/4-1/2 tsp salt – mix the sugar and salt together
Instructions
Cupcake Directions
- Preheat oven as directed on cake mix. Prepare your cupcake pan with liners.
- Combine cake mix, margarita mix, egg whites, oil and lime zest, stirring until well mixed. Beat with an electric mixer on medium speed for two minutes.
- Spoon batter into your lined cupcake pan, filling each liner approximately 2/3 of the way full.
- Bake according to package directions, typically about 18-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
Glaze
- Combine powdered sugar, water and tequila and stir well to create your glaze. You may need slightly more water to thin out the glaze so that you can brush it on to your cupcakes. Once your cupcakes have been removed from the oven and cooled for approx 5-10 minutes, brush a layer of glaze over the top of each. Allow them to cool completely.
Frosting
- Combine butter and cream cheese in a bowl and mix with mixer until light and fluffy.
- Add in your lime juice and green food coloring until desired shade is reached (remember it will lighten slightly when you add your powdered sugar).
- Add in your powdered sugar, one cup at a time, until the desired consistency has been reached (could be slightly less or more than five cups).
- Frost each cupcake as desired. You can pipe on a ring of frosting and sprinkle with sugar and salt mixture, then finish frosting your cupcake, or frost your entire cupcake and sprinkle the sugar and salt mixture on top.
- Due to the cream cheese in the frosting, it’s best to store these in the refrigerator.
- Enjoy!
Disclaimer
Nutrition information is estimated as a courtesy. If using for medical purposes, please verify information using your own nutritional calculator. Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
Looking for another sweet and salty treat? How about some Margarita Cookies!
Cindy O' says
These cupcakes have a delicous tang! I actually substituted the margarita mix for the tequila in the glaze which worked well. I also cut the frosting recipe in half, which was plenty of frosting for the number of cupcakes. I might note that, althought I think it’s pretty, I’m not a fan of a 1:1 ratio of cupcake to frosting, so that may have affected the amount of frosting that I found sufficient. Happy Cinco de Mayo!
Erin says
I have made these on four separate occasions this summer. Each time they’ve gotten rave reviews. Because of its popularity, I’m going to try adapting a piña colada cupcake recipe this week,using the same principles from this recipe using piña colada mix with some coconut run thru the grinder on my Nutri bullet.
Thank you so much for this great recipe!
Christi says
Erin, so glad that these have been a hit for you! 🙂 They are really great. Can’t wait to hear how the pina colada ones turn out!
Christy says
I made these for Cinco de Mayo and have gotten a hugely positive response. Just thought I’d let you know… I’m a big baker and make cupcakes and cookies quite a bit for my coworkers and everyone is raving about these. They’re already asking me to make them again, and that’s not an issue, because I think I have half a batch of the frosting left over! 🙂
Christi says
So glad everyone enjoyed them, they are a really unique flavor combo, we love them! 🙂
Gaynell says
Hi Christi, I plan to make these cupcakes using key lime cake mix and frosty. Do you think adding the margarita mix to the key lime flavored cake mix will work out? I want just want a hint of the margarita flavor, not overwhelming. I also plan to use the glaze and the sugar brim. Great idea and presentation. Thank you!
Christi says
HI Gaynell, I haven’t tried it with a key lime cake mix, but I imagine it would work out really well. 🙂 They sound so good!
Jess says
This looks AMAZING!! 🙂 Pinned it! 🙂
I would love for you to join my Blog Hop!
http://www.pluckys-secondthought.com/pluckys-blog-hop-4-with-co-host/
Heather says
Yum! I love how you decorated it with the sugar!
Georgia @ The Comfort of Cooking says
Such a fun flavor for spring and summer! These look amazing, Christi!
Rachel @ Baked by Rachel says
“if you want to skip tequila” uhmm no I definitely do not 😉
Dorothy @ Crazy for Crust says
These are so pretty, and omg I bet they taste amazing!
Faith @ Pixie Dust Kitchen says
I love Frosting Creations! They are such a simple and easy way to add flavor and color to frosting. These cupcakes are so cute!
Kinsley says
Hey Christi! This recipe is so cute and looks delicious! I have a few friends that would go crazy over this cupcake! I would like to invite you to my link party to post this recipe and up to 2 others if you would like! Have a great day! http://home-styled.blogspot.com/2013/04/link-party-show-your-style-sunday-3_14.html