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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.

Three Margarita cupcakes in green polka dot cupcake liners

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.
A vanilla cupcake with a bite missing

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.
An unwrapped Margarita cupcake with a vanilla lime 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.
A close up of a frosted margarita cupcake in a green polka dot liner

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.

Three Margarita cupcakes in green polka dot cupcake liners

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

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A close up of a frosted margarita cupcake in a green cupcake liner

Margarita Cupcake Recipe

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star 4.5 from 2 reviews
  • Author: Julianne Dell
  • Prep Time: 30 minutes
  • Cook Time: 15 minutes
  • Total Time: 45 minutes
  • Yield: 24 cupcakes
  • Category: Cupcakes
  • Method: Oven
  • Cuisine: American

Description

This homemade Margarita Cupcake recipe is a tequila spiked cupcake loaded with lime and topped with a lime infused frosting.


Ingredients

For the cupcake

  • 2 cups granulated sugar
  • ½ cup vegetable oil
  • 3 large eggs
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • ½ cup light sour cream
  • 2 limes, zested
  • ¼ cup lime juice (approximately 2 limes)
  • 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
  • 3 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • ½ cup tequila (I use clear)
  • ½ cup milk (I use nonfat)

For the frosting

  •  2 cups (4 sticks) unsalted butter
  • 56 cups powdered sugar
  • 1 ½ tablespoons tequila
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 teaspoon lime juice
  • 1 lime, zested
  • Pinch of salt
  • Sanding Sugar for garnish

Instructions

For the Cupcakes

  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a cupcake pans with cupcake liners. Zest and juice the limes.
  2. In a large mixing bowl, combine the sugar, vegetable oil, eggs and vanilla extract. Beat on medium speed until the eggs and oil are well combined and fluffy. Scrape down the bowl as needed. Next mix in the sour cream and lime zest and beat until well combined.
  3. 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.
  4. Using a large cookie scoop, divide the batter evenly, filling each liner 2/3 full. Careful not to overfill. Bake at 350°F for 14-16 minutes. Test the cupcakes for doneness by inserting a toothpick into the center of the cupcake. If the toothpick comes out clean, the cupcakes are done. Cool Completely.

For the Frosting:

  1. Cut the butter into pieces. Using the paddle attachment, whip butter for 5-7 minutes, scraping down the bowl occasionally. Beat until butter look light in color.
  2. 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.
  3. Once the last of the powdered sugar has been added, increase speed to medium-high and beat for another 3-5 minutes to whip additional air into the frosting.
  4. Decorate the cupcakes with a 1M piping tip and sprinkle with sanding sugar. 


Nutrition

  • Serving Size: 1 cupcake
  • Calories: 434
  • Sugar: 46.6 g
  • Sodium: 120 mg
  • Fat: 21.1 g
  • Carbohydrates: 59.7 g
  • Fiber: 0.5 g
  • Protein: 2.7 g
  • Cholesterol: 65.7 mg

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3 thoughts on “Margarita Cupcake Recipe”

  1. It tastes just like a margarita! Unfortunately even after following the recipe and baking times to a T, they were very dry and dense and not quite what we expected.






    1. Julianne - Beyond Frosting
      Beyond Frosting

      Thank you Elizabeth for sharing. Dense, yes. The cupcake is similar to a sponge cake. But dry? They definitely shouldn’t be dry! How long did you bake them for?