First Thursday Cupcakes

For a friend's First Thursday art showing I was generously allowed to bake a couple things for people to enjoy along with the art. I wanted to make the Rogue Chocolate Stout cupcakes that I've made many times in the past and something new. I happened upon a lime cake recipe adapted from Martha Stewart that looked pretty good after Collin suggested making margarita inspired cupcakes. I added a bit of buttercream made with tequila and lime juice and voila: A margarita cupcake.

Here's the lime cake recipe: http://annies-eats.com/2010/05/04/margarita-cupcakes/

We tried a bit of fleur de sel too and it was a bit too strong. Already kind of a savory cake. At least in comparison to my usual baked goods. But never the less, the salt would have made it a bit more margarita-y. The Rogue cupcakes are one of my favorites. The combination of rich chocolate stout and sour cream make these cakes super moist. I was going to do a Bailey's buttercream on these but at the last moment in a weak moment of auto pilot I made chocolate buttercream which I'm convinced I could make in my sleep now. Along with any other buttercream for that matter. Sooooo they turned in to Rogue Chocolate Stout Cupcakes, instead of Irish Car Bombs. Still good. And still a crowd pleaser.

The margarita cupcakes were definitely different. They had a distinct sour flavor from the lime juice and the buttermilk and although this doesn't happen to be my personal preference in flavors, it seems that many people really enjoyed them. Even preferred them. For the frosting, I did a simple buttercream but instead of adding vanilla, I added about 3 tablespoons of tequila and about the same of lime juice and enough whipping cream to make it nice and smooth and combined. I rarely use a recipe for buttercream. It's nice to just wing it. If you're using good flavors, you really can't mess it up, at least in my experience. 

Aside from the fact that I made way too many mini cupcakes, they seemed to be enjoyed and the people at my lab seemed to enjoy them even more so the next day. The rogue cupcakes are a for sure winner and the margaritas might just stick around and make another appearance, even though it wasn't my favorite. Still nice to test out new and interesting flavors. I'm always surprised at how different people's preferences are in sweets. It's definitely a good thing though. If we were all the same, I'd be making millions of of coconut cakes (my fav) and that would get quite boring after awhile, even for me. 

Photos by Collin Monda.