My friend Mike and I go out for burritos & margaritas ('ritos & 'ritas) about once a month, so when his birthday arrived, I wanted to make a cake that related, somehow. (Actually, I think I promised him a cake-filled burrito baked into a cake...) A burrito cake seemed out of my skill/patience level, so margarita cake it was! Is such a thing possible? Of course, and of course the PPK girls have mastered it in Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World. But, even though I love Mike, and cake, and margaritas, I was only feeling ho-hum about this endeavor: I guess I'll bake some cake.. But a birthday and a recipe this good deserve something special, over-the-top, and a little bit trashy! And so..
I baked the cake into margarita glasses. Safety Alert: I had no idea if this would work, and no idea if it would work for anyone else. I picked out sturdy looking glasses at the thrift store, so maybe they were sturdy or maybe I just got lucky. This might be really dangerous! But it worked perfectly. I stuck a cookie sheet in the oven, filled each glass and set it carefully on the sheet, and baked them for a bit longer than the recipe said (because they were each about the size of 2 or 3 cupcakes).
These are truly margarita cupcakes- there's tequila in the cake and the frosting (the cake is obviously cooked but the frosting is not), and the zest & juice of a million limes. I just bought 2 tiny bottles of tequila from the corner store, using the darker tequila in the cake and the lighter in the frosting. Why? Whim. When I use my darling but far-from-industrial-strength mixer, buttercream never comes together perfectly. It was a bit more wet than fluffy, but it tasted sooooo good. I spread a thin layer on the top of each cake, mixed together lime zest, sugar, and kosher salt, and made a "salted rim" on the outer edge of the frosting.
Since I was taking these to a surprise party, I wrapped each in cellophane and tied on uber-cheap green ribbon from the dollar store.
And then put each one in a sparkly hologram clashing green gift bag from the dollar store, threw in some crinkle-cut paper "easter grass", and tied on a compostable fork (just in case). Still, something's missing...
Of course, glitter tattoos and skull stickers for all, from the quarter-machines at the corner of Valencia & 16th. Possibly the most wholesome tequila-&-tattoos birthday celebration ever.
You are so goshdang smart! These are awesome!
Posted by: Crystalina | October 05, 2011 at 11:02 AM
I love these! And so brave to bake the glass. I would have been panic stricken. Wish I could see you think weekend. Have fun with my boy!
x
Posted by: Jen | October 05, 2011 at 06:59 PM