Well, Cinco de Mayo is coming up this weekend, and we all know what that means…TEQUILA! Such a great song, I always think of the Pee Wee Herman movie when he jumps up on the bar and starts doing the dance in those big ole shoes with that goofy look on his face. Next thing you know, the bikers love him. Maybe they’d been drinking too much tequila themselves? Unsolved mystery.
I did have some of the el cheapo tequila in my liquor cabinet, but I decided to go on a hunt for some good quality tequila instead. Here’s what I came across. When I walked into the liquor store, the girl up front greeted me and asked if I needed any help. “Yeah, I need some REALLY good tequila,” I told her. “Right this way, I’ll show you where the good stuff is.” Score. As she was talking about the different brands (of course there was a price range), and I looked at the Patron Silver. The brown eyed baker used it on her site, and she made a very valid point about using high quality liquor. There’s a reason it’s more expensive, and it’s because it tastes so much better…which is extremely important in baking. The girl at the liquor store pointed to the Patron and said, “That stuff is really smooth, definitely the best.” I’ll take it. When I told her what I was making, her eyes lit up. As very well they should have, because these cupcakes were awesome.
Oh, look at that. There’s a cupcake and a shot waiting for me. It’s five o’clock somewhere, right? I’d have to be careful though, being such a lightweight. Makes me a cheap date though. The funny thing is that I’m really not a margarita (or tequila in general) fan, but I absolutely LOVED these cupcakes.
Honestly, I was only going to eat half of the cupcake and save the rest for my husband to try…but after biting into my half, chewing, swallowing and grunting over how good it was…I ended up finishing the rest of it off, trying to justify that I needed to make an accurate judgement on how good it tasted by eating the whole thing. That’s my excuse, and I’m sticking to it.
About two dozen of these cupcakes are going to a 30th Cinco de Mayo birthday party on Saturday, so I wanted to dress them up to make them a little festive. When I came across the neon colored straws at the grocery store, “Great!” came out of my mouth and I threw them in the buggy. Festive. Colorful. Delicious…and with a wonderful tang of lime combined with smooth tequila. I honestly couldn’t be happier with how these guys turned out. In fact, as a couple of days go on, they’ll probably taste even better with the flavors marinating in the cupcake even more. I’ll definitely be making these again!
Recipe:
1 box Duncan Hines white cake mix
1 small box lime Jello gelatin
4 eggs
1/2 cup oil
1/2 cup tequila
1/2 cup lime juice (you can use fresh-squeezed, in a bottle or frozen limeade concentrate)
8 oz. sour cream
1 teaspoon salt
Combine all ingredients and mix at medium speed for 3-4 minutes. Spoon into lined cupcake pan and bake at 350 degrees for 23-24 minutes. Cool completely, then brush tequila on tops of cupcakes. Let the alcohol dry, then top with icing.
Icing Recipe:
2 sticks butter, softened
2 lbs powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup tequila
1/3 cup lime juice
Combine all ingredients and beat at medium speed for 5-6 minutes.
Like adult flavored cupcakes? Try these!
