Mojito Cupcakes

With all the warm(er) weather that we’ve suddenly been blessed with, I’ve found myself fantasizing about summer lately…sangria, gardening, barbeques – I even went out and bought some flowery short-sleeved dresses today.

What else reminds me of summer? Mojitos. Mind you, I am guilty of drinking them year-round…but they’re just so much better on a hot summer day.

I’ve wanted to make mojito cupcakes for awhile now. I’ve seen recipes floating around the internet and with a friend’s housewarming party over the weekend, I thought it was a perfect time to try them out and use my friends as my favorite food-loving guinea pigs.

These cupcakes are unique and delicious. Plus they have booze in them. So I suggest you go make some the next time you are, like me, having pre-summer mojito cravings.

Mojito Cupcakes
(Adapted from Alpine Berry’s recipe)

Ingredients:

1½ cups all-purpose flour
1¼ tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup mint leaves, loosely packed
3/4 cup whole milk, hot
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
grated zest of 2 limes + the juice
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 tsp white rum

Directions:

Preheat to 350F.

Add mint leaves to the hot milk, and let steep for 10-15 minutes. When steeped, pour milk through a fine-mesh sieve into a small bowl and press liquid from mint leaves. Discard leaves and allow milk to cool slightly.


Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

In a large bowl, beat butter on medium speed until creamy, about 30 seconds. Add sugar and continue beating until light and fluffy, 3-5 minutes. Scrape the sides of the bowl occasionally.

Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Mix in lime zest, juice, vanilla and rum.

On very low speed, add flour mixture in 3 additions, alternating with milk and ending with flour, mixing until just incorporated.


Fill paper-lined muffin cups half full. Bake until cupcakes spring back when touched, 18-22 minutes. Allow to cool in pan for 5 minutes. Remove cupcakes from pan and cool completely.


I iced these with a mojito buttercream recipe I found here, though I ended up adapting it so much to my tastes that it really didn’t resemble that recipe at all by the end and I don’t really have a set recipe for it. However, I basically just added more mint and lime until it finally tasted like a mojito to me – so use that recipe as a guideline.