Cocktail Cupcakes Part 1 - Mojito Cupcakes

This weekend, I organized a 30th birthday for one of my oldest and dearest friends.

It was a slumber party.

Yup. Like, a real, live, slumber party just like when we were kids. Except there was booze. And we didn't even have to try and sneak it out of anyone's dad's liquor cabinet.

And, I have to say, it was LOADS of fun and very easy on the budget, as far as birthdays go! The birthday girl chose a handful of her closest girlfriends; we rented a couple of hotel rooms in a location central to (almost) everyone's city of residence; everyone left their partners and progeny and home; we rocked some SWEET pajamas; and danced ourselves silly until the hotel security guard told us we had to be quiet.

I got together with, Crystal, one of the other ladies attending the party to plan desert, which, of course, needed to be fantastic. Crystal is a trained pastry chef and master chocolatier, so, needless to say, I had baking stage fright like whoa. We decided on a boozy, girly, shot themed desert menu, consisting of mini/shot sized cocktail flavored cupcakes, and pudding shots served in chocolate glasses. I made the cupcakes, Crystal made the shots and shot glasses. Let's talk about how good these pudding shots were, ummkay??? Take a look!

 
Check out Crystal on the news being interviewed about chocolate AND check out her website where she sells her own cakes and cakeballs.

For my part, I created cupcakes in four flavors: Mojito, Amaretto Sour, Irish Cream, and Chocolate Cinnamon Stout made with Guinness.

I'm going to post the recipes for all four cocktail cupcakes, starting the mojito cupcakes. Before we start, I'll state for the record that almost all the booze in these cupcakes bakes off, with the exception of a very small amount in the icing, so they are friendly for almost all crowds despite their over-twenty-one appearance.

(For a printable version of this recipe, click here)
Mojito Cupcakes - The Recipe (Yield 24 standard cupcakes or 4 dozen minis)
Adapted from the Magnolia Vanilla Cupcake recipe posted on the Food Network.

Cupcakes:
1 1/2 cups self-rising flour
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
2 cups white sugar
4 large eggs, at room temperature
2/3 cup milk
1/3 cup dark rum

Icing:
1/2 cup butter or shortening (I used shortening)
1/2 teaspoon lime zest
1 teaspoons finely chopped mint
3 cups powered sugar
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 tablespoon dark rum
Few drops green food color

Step #1 - Preheat the over to 350* F.

Step #2 - In a small bowl, combine both flours.

Step #3- In a large bowl, use a mixer to cream the butter until it is smooth. Then add in the sugar and beat until it is fluffy (about 3 minutes).

Step #4 - Add the eggs to the sugar/butter mixture, one at a time, beating well after each egg.

Step #5- Mix together the rum and the milk. I just mix them right in my measuring cup to avoid creating extra dishes.

Step #6 - Add the four mixture and the milk/rum mixture to the egg/butter/sugar mixture. Alternate adding four with adding liquid, starting and ending with the flour.  Make sure you mix it thoroughly; don't leave lumps.

Step #7 -Spoon batter into cupcake pans lined with papers. Fill cups about 3/4 of the way full.

 

Step #8 - Bake at 350*F. For minis, bake for 7-10 minutes; for standard sized cupcakes, bake 17-20 minutes. Do not let these get too brown; remove them from the oven when they are set and a tooth pick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove them from the baking pan as soon as they are cool enough to handle. Finish cooling on a wire rack. I recommend covering them with wax paper and/or a tea towel while they cool. This helps prevent them from drying out.

For the Icing:
Mix all ingredients with  a mixer until well combined. You can add a few drops of food coloring if you want. I added only one small drop to give them a tint of green. If you are piping the icing onto the cupcakes as I did in the pictures, you may want to double the batch. If you are spreading it on with a knife, this should be plenty to frost the whole batch.

Up next will be the Guinness cupcakes, so stay tuned!


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