Margarita Cupcake Recipe!

I know what you're thinking "Finally!" I got this recipe from the awesome cookbook Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero.
Cupcake Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup freshly squeezed lime juice
• 1 1/2 teaspoons finely grated lime zest
• 1 cup soy milk or rice milk
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 2 tablespoons tequila (100% agave, no worm!)
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Icing Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup margarine, softened
• 1 tablespoon soy milk or rice milk
• 3 tablespoons lime juice
• 1 tablespoon tequila (since I made these for work, I omitted the tequila)
• tiniest drop of green food color you can manage (optional)
• 2 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted
• generous pinch to 1/8 teaspoon kosher or coarse salt (optional)

Cupcake Directions:

1. Preheat over to 350F. Line muffin pan with cupcake liners.
2. In a large bowl, beat together lime juice, zest, soy milk , canola oil, tequila, vanilla and sugar. Sift in flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Mix until batter is smooth.
3. Fill liners three-quarters of the way full and bake 20 to 22 minutes until a toothpick inserted through the center of one comes out clean.
4. Transfer cupcakes to a cooling rack and let cool completely before frosting; allowing cupcakes to set for an hour or two helps the flavor to develop fully.

Frosting Directions:

1. Blend margarine with a fork until soft and fluffy, then stir in soy milk, lime juice, tequila, and food coloring if using (the effect is just to give the icing a very pale green tint, even lighter than "mint" green).
   
2. Sift in 2 cups confectioners' sugar and blend (if you have an electric mixer, using it on low speed helps), until creamy and smooth.
3. If frosting is a little too liquidy for your taste, sift in the remaining confectioners' sugar, one tablespoon at a time, until a thick but spreadable consistency is reached. Refrigerate until ready to use.
   

To Assemble:

1. Spread icing on cupcakes, spreading all the way to the edges, then roll just the outer edges of cupcake in sugar crystals or sprinkle them on the edges by hand.
2. I topped mine with gummy worms as a joke since bad (and non-vegan) tequila sometimes has a worm in the bottom of the bottle! Surfsweets makes vegan-friendly gummies that would be perfect for this :D

It works best if you have large grain sugar, but I just had the regular stuff, and the frosting absorbed most of it :P The frosting also thickens up to create a nice glaze. The only complaint I got about these cupcakes was that they needed more tequila!

Stay Spooky,
Gothcupcake