It's Cinco de Mayo!!!

Time to break out the tequila, salt, and lime!! Well, any time is a good time for that, but especially today!

Here's a recipe for Margarita Cupcakes from RecipeGirl.com! I haven't tried the recipe yet, but they sure look yummy!!

(picture courtesy of recipegirl.com)

Margarita Cupcakes

Cupcakes:

9 oz. liquid Margarita mix (a little over a cup)

3 oz. tequila (a little less than 1/3 cup)

¾ ounce Grand Marnier

1 box white cake mix

3 large egg whites

2 TBSP vegetable oil

1 TBSP lime zest

Lime Buttercream Icing:

2 sticks unsalted butter (1 cup), at room temperature

5 to 6 c. powdered sugar

2 TBSP fresh lime juice

1/8 tsp salt

1 tsp grated lime zest

green food coloring, if desired

small lime slices for garnish, if desired

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line two dozen cupcake tins with paper liners.

2. Prepare cupcakes: Whisk together margarita mix, tequila and Grand Marnier in a small bowl. Measure out 1¼ cups for the recipe; pour the rest on some ice and drink it while making the cupcakes.

3. In a large bowl, blend cake mix, egg whites, vegetable oil, lime zest and 1¼ cups of the margarita mix from step 1. Blend on low for about 30 seconds and then increase speed to medium and blend for two additional minutes. Batter will be slightly lumpy.

4. Spoon the batter into cupcake liners (about ¾ full). Bake for 20-25 min, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Let cupcakes cool for about 10 minutes in the pans, then remove them to a rack to cool completely.

5. Prepare icing: Once cupcakes are completely cooled, prepare the icing. Place butter in a large bowl and beat with electric mixer until butter is fluffy. Add 5 cups of powdered sugar, salt, lime juce, and lime zest. Mix until thick and creamy. Add more powdered sugar until the frosting is of a good spreading (or piping) consistency. Mix in a tiny amount of green food coloring or gel paste if you’d like the frosting to have a green tint. Ice cupcakes in whatever manner you prefer… spreading or piping the frosting. Use small lime slices as garnish.

Yield: About 24

Cooking Tips

*Don’t worry too much about exact measuring for the margarita mix/tequila/Grand Marnier. Just eyeball it and measure out the 1 1/4 cups that you’ll need for the recipe.

**If you just spread frosting on the cupcakes (rather than piping), you’ll probably have a bit of frosting leftover.

***If you prepare these a day before, it’s best to place them into a covered container and refrigerate them. Remove them to room temperature a couple of hours before serving. Of course, they’re best if eaten the day they’re made.

And take a peek at this Pomegranate Margarita!!

 (picture courtesy of Corinna B's World)

Pomegranate Margarita

2 cups of Pomegranate Juice

1/2 cup lime juice

2 tablespoons triple sec

2 tablespoons pomegranate liqueur

1/2 cup Cruz tequila

margarita salt

limes to garnish

Pour the pomegranate juice into ice cube trays and freeze until solid. Put the frozen cubes into the blender, leaving out one for each glass. Add tequila, triple sec, pomegranate liqueur and lime juice. Blend until slushy.

Slice one of the limes and run it around the rim of the glass, then salt the rim.

Put a pomegranate cube into each glass, pour the slushy margarita mix over top, and garnish with a twist of lime.