Strawberry Margarita Cupcakes (gf, df)

I’m sorry for slacking the past few months… School has started, I had to close up my bakery, AND I got married (3 months after getting engaged)…. I meant to post this back in March but it never happened. Here it goes. This is a recipe I used to use for my bakery. It’s my most requested and is absolutely delicious….

Alcohol + Cupcakes = Pure Awesomeness

I posted the recipe for my Tequila Lime Buttercream almost two summers ago, and it is one of the most frequented pages on my blog. What’s not to love above alcohol infused frosting? Exactly.

Tequila is my alcohol of choice. That and gin, but noone wants a pine scented cupcake… or do they? Maybe for Christmas. 🙂

I made these bad boys for Cinco de Mayo, I thought I’d share my recipe for my favorite Margarita cupcake. It’s perfect for everyone 21 and older.

I used my own gluten free version of the Sprinkle’s Strawberry cupcake as the base for this cupcake and topped it with a strawberry margarita buttercream. If you want a non-alcoholic version of this cupcake, you can just omit the tequila and it will still be a hit. Light and summery.

Strawberry Margarita Cupcakes

Whatcha need:
Preheat oven to 350

• 1/3 cup of pureed frozen strawberries (defrost about half of a bag of frozen strawberries and puree them in your food processor- save the leftover puree for your frosting!)
• 1/2 cup brown rice flour
• 1/2 cup white rice flour
• 1/2 cup sweet rice flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon xanthan gum
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup soy milk, or your favorite milk (dairy or non)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 stick (1/2 cup) non dairy butter, softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 2 egg whites
• 1/4 c tequila (for an alcoholic version)- for after they are done baking
• 2 Tablespoons lime juice

Prep a muffin/cupcake tin with cupcake liners. This recipe will make about 14-15 cupcakes.

In a small bowl, mix together your tequila and lime juice. You will baste this mixture on your cupcakes right when you remove them from the oven.

Whisk together your dry ingredients (brown rice flour through the salt). Set aside.

In a different small bowl, mix your strawberry puree, soy milk, and vanilla. Set aside.

Yea, I know we’re using up all of your bowls, but…. In a different large bowl, with your hand held mixer cream your butter and sugar (about 2 minutes) . Scrape down the sides of the bowl to make sure everything mixes together.  Add your full egg and beat until incorporated. Scrape your bowl. Beat in one egg white until incorporated. Add your last egg white and beat until it’s incorporated. Scrape down the sides of your bowl.

Remember the bowl of dry ingredients and your bowl of strawberry mixture? We need those now. Carefully mix in half of the dry mixture into your sugar/butter/egg mixture. Make sure it is fully incorporated. Mix in the strawberry/milk mixture completely. Then, add the remaining dry ingredients.

Once everything is mixed together, scoop your batter into the prepared cupcake liners- about 2/3 full. Bake for 15-19 minutes. In my commercial kitchen, it takes almost 19 minutes but at home it only takes 17. Clean toothpick= perfection. Don’t overbake or the bottoms will turn brown.

Remove the cupcakes from the tin after a couple of minutes, and put them on a cooling rack. Immediately use your basting brush and baste the cupcakes with the tequila/lime mixture. Don’t drench them, but be liberal enough with the mixture so that it soaks into the cake a little bit. Yum!

Let your cupcakes cool and then top them with your favorite frosting (the strawberry margarita frosting ROCKS, recipe below)

Strawberry Margarita Frosting:
1 stick (1/2 cup) of dairy free butter, softened
Scant 1/2 cup shortening
1-3 Tablespoons of strawberry puree
1-2 Tablespoons of lime juice
1-2 Tablespoons of tequila
Powdered sugar (1/2 to 3/4 of the bag)

Now, I’m sorry that my measurements aren’t exact. However, this recipe is fairly flexible and you can make it to suit your taste.

Start by creaming your butter and shortening in a stand mixer. Let your mixer run on high for 1-2 minutes until the butter and shortening have creamed together and look smooth and creamy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and make sure everything is fully incorporated and whipped together. Noone likes chunky frosting people!

Turn your mixer off and add a little less than half of the bag of powdered sugar. Here is the only tricky part: it’s better to add a little at a time (powdered sugar, then liquid, then powdered sugar, then liquid… etc) so that the frosting doesn’t separate.

Turn your mixer on low and let the butter/shortening mix with the powdered sugar. It will be very dry, but let it mix the best it can. Keep the mixer on and add 1 or 2 tablespoons of the strawberry puree. Mix it on medium. If the frosting is still really dry, it’s okay to add some of the tequila and lime juice. Start with 1 tablespoon. Mix on high. The goal is to whip everything. Taste your frosting. Not sweet enough? Add more powdered sugar. Not enough tequila or lime? Add more. Just make sure that before you add more liquid, your frosting is dry enough to handle it.

I love to whip my frosting for 2-5 minutes so that it’s nice and fluffy.

Pipe it onto your cooled cupcakes. Decorate accordingly.

Bonus points if you create fondant sombreros. 🙂

PS: If you don’t want alcohol in your frosting, then just use the strawberry puree, lime juice, and you could also use a little soy milk instead of tequila.

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