Oreo surprise cupcakes

Almost everyone loves Oreos.  And almost everyone loves cupcakes.  So it's always fun to combine the two into one treat!  Like "Death by Oreo" (mini) Cupcakes....or Triple Oreo Yellow Cake Cupcakes.

This time, I went for what I call "Oreo Surprise" Cupcakes.  From the outside, it just looks like a simple vanilla cupcake with vanilla icing, topped with a sprinkling of some chopped Oreos (I really wanted to finely crush the Oreos and coat the entire dome of icing in Oreo crumbs a la the rainbow cupcakes, but I was too lazy and didn't want to make my food processor dirty, so I just crushed them with a hammer....I'm serious).  But when you bite inside, there's an Oreo in the bottom!  SURPRISE!

The background: I wanted to make a cupcake that was vanilla-vanilla without being boring (if you've read this blog before, you should know how I feel about vanilla).  But I didn't want to lose the vanilla flavor (the triple Oreo yellow cake cupcakes have crushed Oreos in the cupcakes as well as the icing).  So I stuck with the clever idea of using an Oreo in the bottom, but leaving the vanilla/yellow cake cupcake alone.  I have to say the finished product is great if you want to spice up a plain old vanilla cupcake with barely any added energy.  But if you're looking for the super-Oreo-y flavor, stick with the Triple Oreo Yellow Cake Cupcakes (or if you're like me a favor chocolate, the "Death by Oreo" ones).

Cupcakes 
From none other than Smitten Kitchen

I halved the recipe and ended up with 24+ cupcakes

Ingredients:

4 cups plus 2 tablespoons (480 grams) cake flour (not self-rising)
2 teaspoons (10 grams) baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon (5 grams) table salt
2 sticks (1 cup, 1/2 pound or 225 grams) unsalted butter, softened
2 cups (400 grams) sugar
2 teaspoons (10 ml) pure vanilla extract
4 large eggs, at room temperature
2 cups buttermilk (475 ml), well-shaken

24 Oreos (I used double stuffed, since that's what I had)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 2 12-cavity cupcake pans with paper liners.  
Place one Oreo in the bottom of each cupcake liner.

Sift together the dry ingredients EXCEPT for sugar in a medium bowl.
In a large mixing bowl, beat butter and sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer at medium speed until pale and fluffy, then beat in vanilla.
Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well and scraping down the bowl after each addition.
At low speed, beat in buttermilk until just combined (mixture will look curdled).
Add flour mixture in three batches, mixing until each addition is just incorporated.

Bake until golden on top and cooked throughout (the cupcakes took about 17 minutes, give or take a few).

Cool in pan on a rack 10 minutes.

Classic Vanilla Buttercream Frosting
From SavorySweetLife

Ingredients:

1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks), softened (but not melted!)

3-4 cups confectioners (powdered) sugar, SIFTED (I used 3 cups)

¼ teaspoon table salt

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

4 tablespoons milk or heavy cream (I used heavy cream, since thats what I had....and only ended up using 2 Tbsp)

Food coloring, optional

Several Oreos, crushed (or pulverized in a food processor, which was my original goal)

Directions:

Beat butter for a few minutes with a mixer with the paddle attachment on medium speed.
Add 3 cups of powdered sugar and turn mixer to the lowest speed (so the sugar doesn’t blow everywhere) until the sugar has been incorporated with the butter.
Increase mixer speed to medium and add vanilla extract, salt, and 2 tablespoons of cream and beat for 3 minutes. 

If your frosting needs a more stiff consistency, add remaining sugar. If your frosting needs to be thinned out, add remaining milk 1 tablespoons at a time.

Assemble the cupcakes

Pipe vanilla icing onto the cupcakes.
Sprinkle the top of the cupcake with crushed Oreos.

Extra marshmallow-y Rice Krispie treats

I'm not gonna lie: I've been craving a Rice Krispie Treat.  Seriously craving one.  For a few days now.  I even bought marshmallows when I went to the grocery store to buy ingredients for B's mom's birthday cupcakes a few days ago.

So with a few free hours that I had today, I decided to bite the bullet and make them.  Partially because I was still craving one and the other reason was that I was going to be seeing people tonight, and that way I could make Rice Krispie Treats, eat one (maybe two), and then give the rest away - therefore being able to have one without overindulging.  Because frankly, it's very difficult to not eat an entire pan of Rice Krispie Treats (in my not-so-humble opinion).

But I didn't want just a regular Rice Krispie Treats, though, I wanted super marshmallow-y ones, so I played around with the original recipe to create these yummy treats!  I could've added some "treats" to them, like sprinkles, or nonpareils, or something else, but I decided extra marshmallows was the way to go.

Extra Marshmallow-y Rice Krispie Treats
(adapted from the Jet Puffed bag)

Ingredients:

3 Tbsp butter or margarine
1 bag of large marshmallows
4 cups of Rice Krispies

Directions:

Grease a 9 x 9 inch baking pan.  My preference is Pam, but you could also brush it with some melted butter.

Microwave the butter in a microwavable bowl on high until melted (about 45 seconds).
Add marshmallows and toss to coat.
Microwave for 1 minute 30 seconds or until marshmallows are completely melted and mixture is well blended, stirring after 45 seconds.  I recommend using a nonstick spatula or a spatula sprayed with Pam.

Add the cereal immediately, and mix well.
Press into the greased pan.  My go-to way to do it easily is to spray a piece of wax paper with Pam, and use that (Pam-side down) to press it evenly into the pan.
Allow to cool completely.

Cut into squares.
Serve.....if you don't eat them all before the guests arrive.

Double vanilla cupcakes

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: I find vanilla boring.  It might be the one place that B and I disagree when it comes to food.  If given the choice for a "regular" cupcake, he'd choose a vanilla cupcake with vanilla icing.  Me?  I prefer chocolate cupcakes and icing.  But if we have to have a difference in opinion when it comes to food, I guess this is a good one to have.  And it's a good thing that he loves my Samoa cupcakes, because I'd really get bored if I was always making vanilla vanilla cupcakes...

But there's a time and a place for everything, and this is the time for some vanilla cupcakes with vanilla icing.

I know, I know...I've made a variation of this before (like some of those bridal shower cupcakes I made).  But B's mom is in town for her birthday and we're going to celebrate tonight.  At first I asked B if I could bake anything and he said it wasn't necessary.   But that was completely unacceptable, since the first time I met his mom, he made me show her pictures of my cupcakes on my phone.  So the second time I mentioned her birthday cupcakes, I rephrased the question: "I'm going to make cupcakes for your Mom's birthday.  What kind of cupcakes does she like?" The response was vanilla cupcakes with vanilla icing, so that's what I was going to bake!

(Before they were decorated with the nonpareils)

At first I decided I'd use some rainbow nonpareils just to dress up the otherwise monochromatic white-icing-on-pale-yellow-cupcake, but then I decided maybe I'd try to make them a little classier.  I didn't want to use the rainbow sprinkles since I've recently been informed that not everyone loves sprinkles (I still find this a bit hard to believe, but guess I should go with it until I can prove it otherwise).  I ended up deciding on a single royal icing flower with some white nonpariels -- I thought they needed some sprinkles, but didn't want to go too overboard! -- but then decided they were too "blah."  I added some pale pink and yellow nonpareils just for a little oomph.

(All pacakged up and ready for delivery)

Cupcakes (from none other than Smitten Kitchen):

I halved the recipe and ended up with about 22 cupcakes (I overfilled a few - I could've probably gotten a full 2 dozen out of it)

Ingredients:

4 cups plus 2 tablespoons (480 grams) cake flour (not self-rising)
2 teaspoons (10 grams) baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon (5 grams) table salt
2 sticks (1 cup, 1/2 pound or 225 grams) unsalted butter, softened
2 cups (400 grams) sugar
2 teaspoons (10 ml) pure vanilla extract
4 large eggs, at room temperature
2 cups buttermilk (475 ml), well-shaken

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 2 12-cavity cupcake pans with paper liners.  

Sift together the dry ingredients EXCEPT for sugar in a medium bowl. 
In a large mixing bowl, beat butter and sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer at medium speed until pale and fluffy, then beat in vanilla. 
Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well and scraping down the bowl after each addition. 
At low speed, beat in buttermilk until just combined (mixture will look curdled). 
Add flour mixture in three batches, mixing until each addition is just incorporated.

Bake until golden on top and cooked throughout (the cupcakes took about 17 minutes, give or take a few).

Cool in pan on a rack 10 minutes.

Classic Vanilla Buttercream Frosting
From SavorySweetLife

Ingredients:

1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks), softened (but not melted!)

3-4 cups confectioners (powdered) sugar, SIFTED (I used 3 cups)

¼ teaspoon table salt

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

4 tablespoons milk or heavy cream (I used heavy cream, since thats what I had....and only ended up using 2 Tbsp)

Food coloring, optional

Directions:

Beat butter for a few minutes with a mixer with the paddle attachment on medium speed. 
Add 3 cups of powdered sugar and turn mixer to the lowest speed (so the sugar doesn’t blow everywhere) until the sugar has been incorporated with the butter. 
Increase mixer speed to medium and add vanilla extract, salt, and 2 tablespoons of cream and beat for 3 minutes. 

If your frosting needs a more stiff consistency, add remaining sugar. If your frosting needs to be thinned out, add remaining milk 1 tablespoons at a time.

Mini rainbow cupcakes

Remember those super cute rainbow cupcakes I made a while back?  The ones that christened my 6 pound box of sprinkles?  Well, they were a huge hit.  I mean HUGE.  Both in real life and on the JulieBakes Facebook page.  So when I was bored the other day and looking for something to bake, I figured "why not make some mini rainbow cupcakes?"  Because what's cuter than rainbow cupcakes?  Mini rainbow cupcakes.  Because anything mini is just automatically cuter, right?

I know, I know....I could've mixed it up a little, I could've made some vanilla cupcakes....maybe even added some chocolate icing....but I know I'll be making some vanilla cupcakes soon.  And well, I just loved the chocolate cake with the vanilla icing when I made them full-sized, so I went with the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" mantra and kept them as is.

You can barely tell that these are minis....except for the shot of it in the bowl (although I guess, if you want to get technical, you could compare the size of the cupcake to an individual sprinkle).  But these mini cupcakes are two bites of pure deliciousness.  And sprinkles :)

Mini Rainbow Cupcakes

Cupcakes: 

Ingredients:

3/4 cups cocoa powder (I used Dutch press cocoa for super dark, chocolatey cupcakes)

2/3 cups scalding hot coffee

2/3 cups buttermilk

2/3 cups canola oil

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 egg

1 egg yolk

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1 1/3 cup all purpose flour

1 3/4 cup sugar

3/4 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350.
Line mini cupcake pans with liners.

Place cocoa powder in mixer bowl and pour scalding hot coffee over.

Mix on low speed until a thick paste forms and mixture stops steaming- about one minute.  Mine was not thick nor was it a paste, it was actually quite runny.  The cupcakes turned out perfectly deliciously well.

Turn mixer speed to medium.
In a measuring cup, combine buttermilk, egg, yolk, vanilla, salt and oil, and mix lightly with a fork, ensuring yolks are broken.

Slowly pour into mixer.

Stop mixer and scrape bottom well to loosen any caked on cocoa.

Reattach and turn mixer to medium, letting run one minute.

Stop mixer again.

Sift together dry ingredients and pour into wet mixture.

Mix on low speed until just combined.

Remove bowl and use scrape down the sides of the bowl, ensuring everything is mixed.

Scoop cake batter into prepared pans, filling cups 2/3 of the way.

Bake in the middle of the oven for about 10-12 minutes, rotating halfway through (I don't rotate them....shhh, don't tell).

Cupcakes are done when the centers spring back when you touch them.

Remove cupcakes from oven.

Let cool completely. 

Vanilla Buttercream:

Ingredients:

1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks), softened (but not melted!)

3-4 cups confectioners (powdered) sugar, SIFTED (I used 3 cups)

¼ teaspoon table salt

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

4 tablespoons milk or heavy cream (I used heavy cream, since thats what I had....and only ended up using 2 Tbsp)

Food coloring, optional

Directions:

Beat butter for a few minutes with a mixer with the paddle attachment on medium speed. 

Add 3 cups of powdered sugar and turn mixer to the lowest speed (so the sugar doesn’t blow everywhere) until the sugar has been incorporated with the butter. 
Increase mixer speed to medium and add vanilla extract, salt, and 2 tablespoons of cream and beat for 3 minutes. 
If your frosting needs a more stiff consistency, add remaining sugar. If your frosting needs to be thinned out, add remaining milk 1 tablespoons at a time.

Assembly:

When the cupcakes have cooled completely, pipe the icing on top, be sure to make a big mound of icing on the cupcake.
Fill a bowl with rainbow sprinkles.
Roll the sides of the iced cupcakes in the sprinkles.
Take some sprinkles in your hand and gently top the cupcakes with sprinkles, making sure that the entire icing is covered in sprinkles.
Shake off any extra sprinkles that have not adhered to the icing.

Chocolate covered Oreos

Almost every time I go into the baking store, I end up leaving with (at least) one thing I didn't anticipate buying when I walked in.  The last time was no exception (I left with two "surprise" purchases).

B and I got a later lunch near the store, and after lunch we parted ways...him to run some errands, me to run some errands of my own, including a trip to the baking store to buy some cupcake containers for the Margarita Cupcakes for Cinco de Mayo.

While inside, something ended up catching my eye, and I came across some chocolate-covered Oreo molds.  They looked like regular chocolate-making molds, but instead had deep circular wells with little designs at the bottom. And one of them had onesies!  It was a sign, since a good friend of mine had recently told me she was expecting. So I picked up the mold and figured I'd end up putting it to good use to make treats or favors for her baby shower (it's going to become part of a long standing tradition of me baking for her life events, like her bridal shower, bachelorette party, her WEDDING cupcakes, her first anniversary, her 30th birthday (these AND these)...and several other birthdays...but I digress).

But the other day she found out she's having a girl!!  So when we made dinner plans with another friend on Sunday night for Monday, I came in from my Mother's Day celebration and whipped up a few of those chocolate covered Oreos with pink onsies on them to bring to dinner (I even made one for her to bring home to her husband).  * P.S. I'm totally going to spoil that little girl :). *

I think they ended up turning out adorable!  The coating of chocolate is a little thicker than I'd generally put on a hand-dipped chocolate-covered Oreo, but I love the look of the chocolate onesie on it (my other option was to hand dip Oreos in chocolate and then adhere one of these sugar onesies.  

(Of course, as is the case with all of our lives, we got busy and dinner got pushed back...but these were too cute not to share [dont worry - I already showed them to her first ;-)])

Carrot cake cupakes

For Mother's Day, the response to "Can I bake anything?" was 8 simple words: "Carrot cake mini muffins, chocolate iced banana cake."  Though that's not what I ended up bringing.  I just twisted the requests a little, but am super happy with the finished results.

First up was the variation on the "chocolate iced banana cake."  The version I made was a Banana Bundt Cake with Chocolate Ganache Drizzle.  It was amazing!  You can read all about it here.

Second up was more of a minor tweaking of the request.  See, my aunt asked for Carrot Cake Mini Muffins.  But I originally read that as mini carrot cake cupcakes.  So I set out to bake some of those.  I had to find a new recipe, since as much as I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE my carrot cake recipe, it never seems to bake up well into cupcakes.  It's such a shame since I love the cake so much, but I needed to find a new recipe.  In the past, I had been put off by carrot cake recipes that called for crushed pineapple, but that changed recently when I bought a carrot muffin on my way home to my parents, and it had pineapple in it....and it was delicious!  So I had done a lot of searching for carrot cake cupcakes (thanks, Pinterest!), and had narrowed it down to two recipes.  Ultimately, I ended up choosing this one.  But I digress...

See, she wanted mini cupcakes, er, muffins.  But I halved the recipe, and still had a ton of batter!  Plus, the mix-ins (hand-shredded carrots and the jumbo raisins I had chosen to use) were kinda large and I was afraid you'd get no "cupcake" in mini form.  So, I decided that (despite how much I love all things mini), I needed to go with full-sized cupcakes.  I was supposed to get a dozen from half the recipe.  I got a dozen and STILL had leftover batter, so my aunt got her wish, and I baked up a few (....16!) mini cupcakes for her, too!

I chose to make these nut free for two reasons.  First off, my cousin is deathly allergic to all nuts and also peanuts.  As a rule, I never bake anything with nuts if she will be there.  So no nuts in these cupcakes.  BUT....I also don't usually like nuts in my baked goods (the exceptions are generally carrot cake and zucchini bread....and very infrequently in banana bread), and I wanted these to be on the lighter side, so I subbed in raisins for the nuts.  I think there would be nothing wrong with you at all if you decided to add half nuts and half raisins (as in, I might actually do that the next time I make them).

Carrot Cake Cupcakes
from Deliciously Sprinkled

Ingredients (for 24 full-sized cupcakes):

4 large eggs
3/4 cup canola oil
1/2 cup apple sauce (I used unsweetened)
1 cup golden (light) brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp nutmeg
3 tsp (1 Tbsp) ground cinnamon
3 tsp (1 Tbsp) vanilla extract
3 cups grated carrots (hand grated....trust me.  Freshly hand-grated.  Don't buy the pre-shredded carrots)
1 cup crushed pineapple, drained
1 cup chopped walnuts (like I said above, I subbed in 1 cup of raisins...but no one would fault you (or me, in the future) for using 1/2 cup each of chopped walnuts and raisins)

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350F.
Line cupcake pan with liners.

Using an electric or stand mixer, mix the eggs, canola oil, applesauce, brown sugar, and sugar until smooth.
In another bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, nutmeg, and cinnamon until combined.
Slowly mix in dry ingredients until no clumps remain.
Stir in vanilla, carrots, pineapple, and chopped walnuts (or raisins, or both).

Pour batter into the pans, about 3/4 the way full (I'd do about 2/3 of the way full...I filled mine 3/4 of the way, and a few of them baked over).
Bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean (mine took 18 minutes).
Allow to cool before frosting.

(The original recipe had a cream cheese icing recipe in it.  However, I love my cream cheese icing, and chose to use it on these cupcakes.  It went perfectly!  See below for my recipe, or use the recipe from the original cupcakes by clicking the link above.)

Cream Cheese Icing
(I got this recipe from Epicurious years ago, and committed it to memory....which is a good thing because the original is nowhere to be found on the website now!)

Ingredients:

3 8-oz packages of cream cheese, at room temperature
1/2 stick butter, at room temperature
3-4 cups of powdered sugar
Vanilla, to taste

Directions:

Blend cream cheese and butter.
Add vanilla to taste.
Add powdered sugar, about 1/2 cup at a time, until desired sweetness and consistency (I usually end up with about 3 cups of powdered sugar).

Assembly

I piped the icing onto the cooled cupcakes, and topped with a royal icing carrot.
If using nuts in the cupcakes, rimming the cupcake with chopped nuts would look nice, too (that's what I do with my full-sized carrot cake).

Banana cake with chocolate ganache

This year my aunt is hosting Mother's Day.  Instead of showing up with a cake without any warning, I decided to email her ahead of time to offer up some home-baked goods.  I had no idea what I was going to make, but I wanted to ensure that she didn't want me showing up empty handed.  She replied to my email, and not only did she want me to bring something, she had specific requests!  Namely some "carrot cake mini muffins" and a "chocolate-iced banana cake"  (my aunt's two favorites).  This should come as no surprise considering that I made banana cupcakes with chocolate icing for Mother's Day last year, and the year before I made a cute little centerpiece with banana cake-chocolate icing cake balls!  Listen, it is, after all, their day (my mom, my aunts, my grandma...and all the other mothers out there), so they should get the desserts that they want, right?

But not wanting to acquiesce so easily, I decided I'd make a riff on the "chocolate-iced banana cake" request and instead make a banana bundt cake with a chocolate ganache drizzle.  Besides the fact that I'm on a bit of a bundt cake spree lately (there was the red velvet one from when B's brother was visiting, and the daiquiri one, too), I also find them a bit easier to transport since they don't seem as fragile as a regular ole layer cake.

I made the cake exactly as the directions stated, and then just had to adjust the baking time to account for the fact that I was making a bundt cake and not a 9 x 13 cake.

"Best Banana Cake"
From Inside BruCrew Life

Ingredients:

1/2 cup shortening
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
2 cups flour
1/2 cup buttermilk
3 brown bananas, smashed

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350F.
Grease baking pan.

In a large mixing bowl, cream together the shortening and sugar until fluffy.
Add the eggs, salt, and vanilla until creamy.
"Smash" the bananas, or rather mash them.  I found a fork worked fine.
Stir in the bananas.
Sift the flour, cinnamon, and baking soda together and add to the banana mixture, alternating with the buttermilk.

Place the batter into the prepared pan.
Bake at 350F for 45 minutes (for bundt cake).

Let cool completely on a wire rack.
Transfer to a serving plate.
Drizzle with chocolate ganache (recipe follows).

Chocolate Ganache
From Alton Brown
(I quartered the recipe, since I just wanted to glaze the cake with the ganache.  It made just under a cup of ganache...and it was more than enough!  If you want your cake to have more glaze, half the recipe.  I cannot imagine needing the full recipe, which makes 3.5 cups of ganache)

Ingredients (for the full recipe; I quartered it):

16 oz bittersweet chocolate (I used semisweet), chopped fine
16 oz heavy cream

Directions:

Place the chopped chocolate in the bowl of a food processor.

Heat the heavy cream in the microwave for 3-4 minutes on high, or until it just begins to simmer (which is what I did, since I had 1/4 of the cream).  Be careful not to let it boil over.
Pour the cream over the chocolate and let sit for 2 minutes.
Process by pulsing several times until chocolate mixture is smooth.

Use as is for glazing (which is what I did).

*If you wish to make a lighter frosting (which wouldn't work for this cake, but would work if you made it into a flat cake or layer cake), allow it to come to room temperature (about 2 hours).
Once at room temperature, place in the bowl of a stand mixer and whisk on high for 2-3 minutes.

Margarita cupcakes

Cinco de Mayo is here!  I pinned a margarita cupcake recipe over two years ago, but never made it, and it's been nagging at me ever since.  I guess the past two years I didn't make it to any Cinco de Mayo festivities, but this year is different...trivia night at my friend's bar just happens to be on May 5th, and so I figured why not bring some festive treats?

I had also been eyeing these adorable sugar decorations that I was sure would be cute on any Cinco de Mayo treat, and so I actually thought ahead and placed the order ahead of time (that was the same order that resulted in my 6 pounds of rainbow sprinkles and these adorable rainbow cupcakes).  Honestly, how cute are these decorations?

So the only thing I had left to do was bake up some margarita cupcakes and decorate them with these beauties!  One might assume that this was a lofty goal, considering there is currently a lime shortage (did you know that?  There's a legit lime shortage right now.  You can read about it here and here...I know I already mentioned it in another post, but this is a big deal, people!  Margaritas on B's roof deck this summer may be in jeopardy!).  But fret not, I was able to obtain a few limes and the cupcakes went along without a hitch (except for the icing, which was totally my fault...see below)!

 

Margarita Cupcakes
(Cupcake recipe from Tide and Thyme)

I got 26 cupcakes from this recipe.

Ingredients:

For the Cupcakes:

3 cups flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 cups sugar
4 eggs, at room temp
3 limes, zest and juice
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 cup buttermilk

1/4 cup tequila (or half tequila/half orange liqueur, optional)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325F
Prepare muffin tins with paper liners or baking spray.

Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt together and set aside.

Cream butter and sugar on high until pale, light, and fluffy (about 5 minutes(
Add eggs, 1 at a time, mixing thoroughly before adding the next.
Add the lime zest and lime juice.
Add vanilla.

Turn the mixer to low.
Add the dry ingredients in three batches, alternating with the buttermilk in two batches.
Mix only until just incorporated.
Fill each muffin cup about 3/4 cup full (I bought a new cupcake scooper the other day and it was SO perfect at filling the cups evenly, with the right amount, and without a mess!)

Bake for 25 minutes or until a skewer shows only moist crumbs attached (mine took 22 minutes).
Rotate the pans at the halfway point (I always skip this step).

Allow cupcakes to cool completely in the pans before removing.
While the cupcakes are still warm, brush the tops with tequila (or the tequila/orange liqueur mixture), if desired.

Margarita (Tequila-Lime) Icing

(I am SO embarrassed to say that I tried making the icing that the recipe originally came with, but I was distracted and never changed from the whisk to the blade attachment and my icing fell flat.  Since I had little time and nowhere near enough ingredients to make a second batch, I doctored up an old vanilla buttercream recipe and made it into a margarita/tequila-lime icing.)

Ingredients:

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened (NOT melted)
3-4 cups powdered sugar, sifted
1/4 tsp table salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
1.5 Tbsp tequila
2 Tbsp freshly squeezed lime juice
2-4 Tbsp milk or heavy cream (I used heavy cream since, believe it or not, I didn't have milk in the apartment)
Food coloring, optional (I actually debated using green food coloring, but decided against it last minute)

Directions:
Bear the butter for a few minutes in a mixer with the paddle attachment on medium speed (I used a hand mixer, since my stand mixer bowl was dirty from the botched icing recipe).
Add 3 cups of powdered sugar and turn the mixer to the lowest speed until sugar has been incorporated with the butter.
Increase mixer speed to medium and add vanilla, tequila, lime juice, salt, and 1 Tbsp of cream and beat for 3 minutes.
If your frosting needs a more stiff consistency, add remaining sugar; if it needs to be thinned out, add the remaining milk or cream 1 tablespoon at a time.

Decorations: 

lime zest and wedges, for topping
or really cute cinco de mayo sugar decorations
fleur-de-sel, for garnish

Assembly:

Frost the cooled cupcakes with the buttercream as desired.  I used a new tip I bought the other day, an Ateco 828 tip.

Garnish as you see fit: the original recipe recommends lime zest, lime slices, and fleur-de-sel.  Or you can use cute little sugar decorations (see above).

* I chose to decorate half with fancy salt and lime zest (I left off the lime wedges since I was afraid they may affect the icing since they were sitting for 24 hours), and the others with the sugar decorations. *  

Personally, I thought they came out pretty cute!!