Fiesta Time!

What better way to kick off a weekend than by happy houring with delicious cocktails and good company, you ask? Well, how about celebrating a birthday with great company and cocktail cupcakes?

My assistant and I were thrilled when Kristine requested two dozen cupcakes featuring her friend Chrissie's favorite cocktail -- the fiesta-friendly Margarita -- for her birthday. I dove right into brainstorming mode, and my mind was sent reeling with the possibilities. Did we want to use rum or tequila? Lime juice, lime zest, or a combination of both? Should we pour margarita mix in the batter? A zesty lime buttercream frosting or a naturally tangy cream creese frosting? The possibilities were dizzying (one might say, in a one-margarita-too-many kind of way...), but entirely exciting.

After plenty of brainstorming and some executive-decision-making on Kristine's part, we came up with this little beauty:
Hellooo, cupcake! What we have here is a tequila-lime cupcake brushed with tequila syrup and filled with refreshing lime pastry cream (oh, if only I had a photo of a cut cupcake so that you could see the custardy center colored bright green by a generous heap of lime zest!). The cupcake was then topped with a tangy cream cheese frosting and a sprinkling of course sea salt to capture the flavor of the salted rim on a traditional margarita glass. Topped with a lime wedge, this little cupcake truly embodied the margarita in all its glory: the zip, the zing, and the savory-sweet-and-sour combination of flavors.

But still, I thought it could use a little something-something.
Aha! Now we're talking. So I know that one doesn't drink a traditional margarita with a straw, but this was just so darn cute that I couldn't resist.
Kristine, thanks so much for the opportunity to whip up our first batch of margarita cupcakes. I hope Chrissie enjoyed a very happy birthday and that everyone enjoyed the cupcakes!

P.S. Anyone try sipping out of the straw?