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Citrus Cocktail Cupcakes are boozy and sweet. Made with coconut rum, orange liqueur, and lime juice, they're the perfect dessert for a fun girls night in.
I'm working through lots of fears and perfectionism right now all brought up by my nasty little ego after a conversation about being vulnerable and putting your work out into the world before it's perfect, ironically enough. Do I have the courage to expose my stuttering imperfections? Well, it's happening, so I guess I just haven't given myself the option to back out. Make sure you're subscribed to The How to Be Awesome Podcast if you want to weigh in on whether or not I'm a blithering idiot.
The truth is, some things that look easy are actually really hard. Trusting your own voice, believing in your own abilities, and knowing that you will succeed can be pretty tricky for a lot of us, myself included. Putting yourself out there to be ridiculed, or worse, ignored, can keep you up at night. Maybe I should care less about whether or not people like what I create. I'm working on it.
What makes Citrus Cocktail Cupcakes so awesome?
The good news is that some things that look hard are actually really easy. Take these Citrus Cocktail Cupcakes for example. A fluffy white cake spiked with coconut rum and orange liqueur is topped with a billowing swirl of sweet, boozy citrus frosting flavored with lime juice and more orange liqueur. They're absolutely delightful, and they look so pretty. Trust me, if I can make these look cool, you can definitely do it.
The trick to getting that stripy effect in the frosting is almost too simple. All you need is a little bit of gel food coloring, a small paint brush, a piping bag, and a Wilton 1M piping tip. My frosting had a pale orange color already from the blood orange liqueur I added, but if you wanted to add some color to your frosting as well, that would be fine. I just used a small paint brush to paint two stripes (you could do more) of orange gel food coloring inside of the piping bag before adding the frosting. Then you just squeeze it out in a swirl and watch the magic happen. It's gorgeous.
How to make Citrus Cocktail Cupcakes
This is a pretty straight forward cupcake situation. You're going to cream together butter and sugar with an electric mixer, beat in an egg, some milk, and some booze, then add your standard dry ingredients and mix everything together until it's nice and smooth. Fill your cupcake papers about two thirds full, then bake for about 18 minutes.
The frosting is nothing tricky, either. Beat together butter and cream cheese, then add in your powdered sugar. Put a tea towel over your stand mixer (if you're using one) to avoid a cloud of powdered sugar billowing across your kitchen. Then we'll add in some lime zest and juice along with a bit more orange liqueur for a subtle citrus hit. Then frost and decorate your cupcakes as you like. Scroll up if you missed the bit where I talked about how to get that cool stripe effect.
FAQ
Any spirit that's flavored with orange will do. I probably wouldn't use blue curacao, but if you want blue cupcakes, go for it. I most commonly use triple sec, but this time I happened to have blood orange gin on the bar. Cointreau or Grand Marnier would also be lovely.
Make it magical
Coconuts, with their nearly impenetrable shell, are commonly used for protection magic. They're also associated with water, the moon, and feminine energy. I also read that coconut is good for chastity, so maybe don't serve it on a date. For information about other ingredients in this recipe, check out my Kitchen Magick page. (Source: The Road Goes Ever On)
Go ahead and show off a bit, kids. Take a risk. Put yourself out there. Even imperfect Citrus Cocktail Cupcakes are still pretty awesome. The same goes for you.
Looking for more awesome cupcake recipes? Try some Better Than Sex Cupcakes or some simple Semi-Homemade Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcakes.
PrintCitrus Cocktail Cupcakes
Citrus Cocktail Cupcakes are boozy and sweet. Made with coconut rum, orange liqueur, and lime juice, they're the perfect dessert for a fun girls night in.
- Prep Time: 30
- Cook Time: 25
- Total Time: 55 minutes
- Yield: 12 cupcakes 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baked
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegetarian
Ingredients
For the cupcakes
- 1-½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1-¼ teaspoons baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup sugar
- ⅓ cup (2.6 ounces) unsalted butter, softened
- 1 egg
- ½ cup milk
- 1-½ tablespoons coconut rum
- 1 tablespoon orange liqueur
For the frosting
- 4 tablespoons (2 ounces) butter, softened
- 4 ounces cream cheese, softened
- Zest of one lime
- Juice of one lime
- 1 tablespoon orange liqueur
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- Orange food coloring, optional
Instructions
For the cupcakes
- Preheat oven to 350 F (175 C) and line your cupcake pan with 12 liners.
- Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt in a small bowl. Set aside.
- Cream together butter and sugar by mixing with an electric mixer on medium high speed for at least 3 minutes. Turn the mixer down to low and mix in the egg, milk, rum, and orange liqueur. Your mixture may look curdled. Relax, it'll be fine.
- With your mixer on its lowest setting, slowly add in the dry ingredients and mix until just combined.
- Fill your cups about two thirds full with cake batter and bake 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
- Remove the cupcakes to a wire rack after about 5 minutes. Allow the cupcakes to cool completely.
For the frosting
- In a large mixing bowl, beat together butter and cream cheese with an electric mixer until smooth. Mix in the lime zest and juice and the orange liqueur.
- Slowly add in the powdered sugar a half cup at a time until smooth. Turn your mixer up to high for about a minute to make sure everything's light and fluffy. You can also mix in some orange food coloring if you like a bit of color. Or create a stripe effect by painting a few lines of orange food coloring inside your piping bag.
- Frost your cupcakes in your favorite way. I used a Wilton 1M tip.
- Store your leftover cupcakes in the fridge if you have a warm kitchen. Otherwise, an they'll be fine in an air tight container for a few days.
Keywords: Citrus, Cupcakes
If you make this recipe, be sure to leave a rating and a review to help other readers find this post. Thanks so much!
Kaili says
These sound absolutely heavenly! And that orange stripe is perfect!! I love that tip and am definitely going to try it!
Renee says
Thanks so much. I'm a terrible decorator, so it has to be simple if I'm going to do it at all. I hope you give it a try.
Aya says
These look classy! I love the colors of the cream cheese frosting. Will give this a try with gluten free flour.
★★★★★
Renee says
Ooh, I'd love to know how it goes with gluten-free flour. Good luck!
Lauren Klein says
First off, citrus and cupcakes is a flavor combo I never even considered-YUM THEN you go and add liqueur? BIG FAN. Sounds perfect fun a summer weekend!
★★★★★
Renee says
We're just over here living our best boozy cupcake lives. 😉
Kristy says
Citrus is perfect for this time of year and who doesn't like a spiked cupcake. Will add these to the list of recipes to make soon.
Renee says
Thanks so much! I hope you love them.
Leina says
These cupcakes are absolutely gorgeous! I'll be trying these soon!
Renee says
Thanks so much! I hope you love them.