After an exhaustive (in a good way) search for margarita cupcakes on flickr, I noticed that tons of people were crediting “VCTOTW” as their recipe source, which was a bit perplexing at first. Google came through as always though and quickly helped me decipher the strange code – which turned out to be shorthand for the title “Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World“.

I’m not a vegan myself, but I did notice that this book happens to have a shiny 5-star rating from over 200 reviewers on Amazon (in addition to great reviews on this particular recipe), and I’m definitely intrigued…

All 4 of the margarita cupcake images pictured here credit VCTOTW as their recipe source (get the recipe below) – but a couple of the bakers that aren’t vegan substituted real butter & milk for the shortening & soymilk. Bottom line – make the recipe work for you – and ENJOY!!

Pictured at top: Margarita Cupcakes by LaundryGirlPhotog. Pictured above, clockwise from left: Mucho Margarita Cupcakes by Seitti; Margarita Cupcakes by Crumbs&Pixels; Margarita Cupcake by t.sullivan photography.

MARGARITA CUPCAKES

(from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World)

You’ll Need:

• 1/4 cup lime juice
• 1 1/2 tsp lime zest (1 lime)
• 1 cup soy milk (plain or vanilla)
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 2 tsp tequila
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 1/3 cup all purpose flour
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Fill a 12-cup muffin tin with liners.
2. In a large bowl, mix together lime juice, lime zest, soy milk, oil , tequila, vanilla and sugar.
3. In a small bowl, mix together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Add to lime mixture and stir until just combined. Divide evenly into muffin tins.
4. Bake for 20-24 minutes, until a tester comes out clean and the cakes spring back when lightly pressed.

Turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely before frosting.

TEQUILA AND LIME FROSTING

*** TEQUIA

You’ll Need:

1/4 cup butter or nonhydrogenated shortening, softened
1 tbsp soymilk
3 tbsp lime juice
1 tbsp tequila
2+ cups confectioners’ sugar
coarse sugar for “rims”

Directions:

1. Cream together shortening, soymilk, lime juice, tequila, and 2 cups of confectioners’ sugar. Add in more sugar as needed to make frosting stiff, but spreadable.

2. Spread on cupcakes and roll the edges in a small amount of coarse, colored sugar (poured into a small bowl, so it’s easy to direct it).

*****