Don’t Cupcake and Drive – 5:00 Fridays TM

My colleague’s daughter made cupcakes for a fellow colleague’s birthday. Being a sweet tooth kind of girl, I had to of course have one, even if that meant inviting myself into his office and asking him to open up the cupcake tray for me to taste one. Luckily, this colleague is a friend so he obliged, though he did roll his eyes and perhaps made some snorting piggy sounds. He knows I can smell sugar from three zip codes away. Well, these cupcakes were darling little things with slices of orange adorning the white frosted tops. They were probably meant to be two-bite goodies, but I gluttonously inhaled one in one delectable bite. I barely exhaled before eating the next. I just had to have to recipe. Imagine my delight when I found out that BEER is the secret ingredient! So today I bring you Caitlyn, who graciously shared the recipe and wrote today’s guest post. Cheers. And bon appetit!

In Caitlyn’s words:

I was “pinteresting” Blue Moon cupcake recipes for a Super Bowl party and came across a perfect blog post recipe.

I was sold at the word “easy.” And trust me…they are too easy. I bake cupcakes (more often than I should) and I like to have a recipe as a guideline but I always end up modifying it. So here is Brittany Herself blog’s recipe (with my personal baking notes):

Cake Supplies:
1 boxed cake mix (yellow or white)—I used white—(and get the ingredients from there…oil, eggs, water)
1 bottle of Blue Moon—I went ahead and bought a six-pack
1 tsp- orange zest
Cupcake liners
Frosting:  (All of my frosting is modified depending on how it’s coming together.)
5 cups of powdered sugar—give or take
½ cup of butter, soft/melted
4 tbsp of Blue Moon
2 tbsp of orange juice—I used fresh squeezed from the leftover garnish.
Garnish: (You long time readers know how I love a garnish! – Ilina)
1 orange
½ cup of Citrus Vodka—I didn’t use this (But I totally would! -Ilina)
Tip:  You’re going to prepare the boxed cake mix exactly like the directions, the difference is that you are going to substitute the water with beer.

1. Open two bottles of beer.  Drink one, and let the other sit until it is less foamy. (Caitlyn is my kind of girl. -Ilina)
   
2. Pre-heat the oven per the cake box instructions
3. Prep garnish.  Slice the orange into small pieces, place in a bowl, and cover with Mandrin Vodka (I wish I had done this.)
4. Mix the cake batter, replacing the water with beer, and add in 1 tsp of orange test.  Fill the cupcake liners ¾ full.  These cupcakes will rise.
5. Bake to the low end of the box baking instructions. I baked mine for 15 minutes on 325 degrees.
6. Assemble the frosting: mix the powdered sugar and melted butter in a large mixing bowl.
7. In a small bowl, mix the 2 tbsp orange juice and 4 tbsp beer, slowly add that to the sugar while mixing on low until you get your desired frosting consistency.
8. When the cupcakes are done, let them cool before frosting. Garnish with the vodka infused orange slices.

I decided to make my cupcakes bite-size so they would meet the “finger food” criteria for the party.  Needless to say, the batter allowed for 48 fluffy, “drunk” cupcakes. I was able to make them in less than 45 minutes and barely missed kick-off to the game. By the end of the third quarter, all of my cupcakes were gone. I will definitely make these again…next time, standard cupcake size with the vodka oranges!
Also, don’t limit yourself to just Blue Moon (my personal favorite)!  There are plenty of recipes for all different types of drunken cupcakes out there.