And the “Gold” in the title is referring to our friend, Mr. Tequila. Yep, these babies have a little nip or two in them. Of course, the hooch will evaporate during the baking process, but the flavor that you get will inspire you to get out your maracas and fire up the Mariachi Band! But wait, that’s not all. This recipe also calls for some Grand Marnier, too. Thus, the “Grand”. It just keeps getting better and better. Right? If you are worried about the tea-totalers in your life, don’t. If you keep your lips zipped, they will never know. They’ll only think they are the best cupcakes ever! MM found this recipe in New Mexico Magazine. He came into the study, handed me the magazine and pointed . . . well, there could have been a little *grunt* in there, too. When our eyes met, he had his little sneaky-kinda grin going on and I just knew this cupcake was going to be on our dessert menu for the evening. I won’t keep you waiting any longer. Grand Gold Cupcakes 3/4 cup (12 tablespoons) unsalted butter, room temperature 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar 3 teaspoons finely grated orange peel 2 large eggs 1 1/4 cups self-rising flour, divided 1/4 cup buttermilk 3 Tbsp gold tequila 2 Tbsp Grand Marnier Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Insert paper liners in 12 muffin cups. In large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat butter, 1 1/2 cups sugar, and 3 teaspoons orange peel until blended, then beat until fluffy and pale yellow. Add eggs, one at a time, beating to blend after each egg. Beat in half of flour. Add buttermilk, tequila, and Grand Marnier. (I cheated a bit here. I didn’t have any Grand Marnier, so I substituted 1 Tbsp of whiskey and 1 Tbsp of Vanilla. Worked beautifully!) Beat to blend. Beat in remaining flour. Divide batter equally among the 12 cups and bake for about 20 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted comes out clean. Let cupcakes cool while preparing the Lime Zest Icing. Oh yeah, it gets even better! Lime Zest Icing 3/4 cup powdered sugar 1 package cream cheese (8 oz) 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice 1 tsp finely grated lime peel 1 tsp vanilla extract 1/4 cup whipping cream In food processor, blend sugar, cream cheese, lime juice, lime peel, and vanilla; then pulse. Blend […]
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