Margarita Cupcake Recipe

This homemade Margarita Cupcake recipe is a tequila spiked cupcake loaded with fresh lime juice and lime zest. It’s topped with a tequila lime-infused frosting.

Easy Homemade Margarita Cupcakes with Tequila Lime Frosting

Summer should be a margarita in one hand and a cupcake in the other while sitting next to the pool. Ya, feel me? Besides prosecco, margaritas are my go-to drink when I’m out to dinner. I just love the salty, tangy combination.

These homemade Margarita Cupcakes are tequila spiked cupcakes loaded with lime and topped with a lime-infused frosting.

There are plenty of margarita cupcake recipes for you to choose from, but I’d have to imagine the other ones aren’t quite as moist as this one. My cupcake is denser and resembles a sponge cake. It’s an adaption from my vanilla cupcakes, which are my absolute favorite.

Important Recipe Ingredients

• Tequila: I prefer to use a clear (Blanco) tequila as opposed to a golden tequila but either one would work.
• Fresh Limes: You’ll need a couple of fresh limes both for lime juice and lime zest
• Sour Cream: This helps keep the cupcakes super moist, so don’t skip this. You can use plain or Greek yogurt instead if needed.

How to Make Margarita Cupcakes

This recipe comes to requires very little effort to put together!

• Prep: Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a cupcake pans with cupcake liners. Zest and juice the limes.
• Beat the sugar with wet ingredients: Beat together the sugar, oil, and eggs until light and fluffy. Then add the sour cream and lime zest.
• Combine the dry ingredients and add the remaining liquid: In a separate bowl, combine the dry ingredients. Then combine the lime juice and tequila together. To the batter, add half of the dry ingredients and half of the tequila mixture and beat just until the flour starts to combine. Add all the remaining ingredients and beat until well combined. Use a spatula to scrape down the sides of the bowl and stir the batter from the bottom to the top to ensure it’s well mixed.
• Fill the pans: Using a large cookie scoop, divide the batter evenly, filling each liner 2/3 full. Careful not to overfill.
• Bake: Bake at 350°F for 14-16 minutes or until the cupcakes are baked through. Cool completely before frosting.

Tequila Lime Vanilla Frosting

One thing that’s different about my frosting recipe is it starts with cold butter. It allows you to have more control over the texture and consistency of your frosting. However, this means that you will spend more time beating the butter until it resembles a whipped consistency. You can find a full tutorial of this technique I use for my vanilla frosting.

Ingredients

• Cold unsalted butter
• Powdered Sugar
• Pure Vanilla Extract
• Lime Juice
• Lime Zest
• Salt- just a pinch

How to Make the Frosting

• Beat the butter: Cut the butter into pieces, about 1 tablespoon in size. Using the paddle attachment, whip butter for 5-7 minutes, scraping down the bowl occasionally. The butter should be super fluffy and you can easily run a knife through it.
• Alternate adding the sugar and liquid: Alternate adding 2 cups of powdered sugar at a time with the liquid ingredients: tequila, vanilla extract, lime juice followed by the lime zest. Ensure the powdered sugar is well combined, and whip for 1-2 minutes before adding more powdered sugar.
• Beat at a high speed: Once the last of the powdered sugar has been added, increase speed to medium-high and beat for another couple of minutes to whip additional air into the frosting.
• Decorate: For these, I used a 1M piping tip and some green polka dot cupcake liners. I also garnished them with some coarse sugar crystals (which are basically clear sprinkles) to resemble the salt you might find on the rim of your margarita.

More Margarita Cupcake Ideas

These cupcakes are amazing on their own, but if you’d like to switch it up, you can try these ideas.

• Fill with fruit: These would be so amazing with a strawberry filling or swap out the strawberries for raspberries instead
• Change the frosting: Sticking with a fruit theme, you can try it with a strawberry whipped cream which is much less sweet than this American buttercream.
• Add some orange flavor: Change out the lime zest in the frosting for some orange zest instead. The flavor combination is bound to be delicious!

Storing Frosted Cupcakes

These can be kept at room temperature for up to 3 days if stored in an airtight container. If you live in a hot or humid climate, then I would suggest refrigerating the cupcakes in an airtight container.

They are best when served at room temperature, so be sure to allow time for them to come back to room temperature before serving.

These cupcakes can be frozen frosted or unfrosted. Either way, make sure they are cooled completely and freeze in a freezer-safe airtight container. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator and then serve at room temperature.

Whether you’re celebrating Cinco De Mayo or just your average Wednesday, this Margarita Cupcake recipe is a crowd-pleaser.

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