Cupcake Party!

My aunt and I got together this week to make cupcakes. We have a pretty successful symbiotic relationship: I lend my baking skills and cupcake making experience, and she provides the ingredients and access to a spacious, well stocked kitchen. We each picked one cupcake recipe. I chose this Tiramisu Cupcakes recipe and she chose a recipe for Coco Loco Tequila Cupcakes from a Tequila cookbook that she has.

I liked the Tiramisu cupcakes the best...coffee and rum just don't stand a fighting chance next to coconut. (Although the Coco Loco Tequila Cupcakes did make me like dried coconut, one of my least favorite foods.)

Here are some before and after shots for your viewing pleasure:

Tiramisu Cupcakes

One rum-infused white cupcake, baked and ready for surgery.

Working with the knife in a completely vertical position, I inserted it about 3/4 of the way into the cupcake and cut a somewhat large circle. Then, I removed the center piece by gently pushing the blade of the knife against the outer edge. It popped out pretty easily; I just used my fingers to remove it completely once it came loose.

After adding the coffee-rum syrup to the center, filling it with the rum infused cream cheese icing, and replacing the top it looked like this:


And here's another one, a little top heavy with the luscious icing:

Coco Loco Tequila Cupcakes

I followed the recipe pretty closely. The only alteration that I made was that I used about 2 tsp of fresh ginger (instead of 2 tbsp), which I think was just perfect. Any more would have over powered the coconut flavor. In the future I think that I will skip adding the coconut milk in the icing...it made the icing a little too runny for my preference. Besides, the coconut extract and shredded coconut add a lot of coconut flavor. I used a rubber spatula to apply the icing and then sprinkled shredded coconut over the top.

All I can say for both is Yum! Both are excellent choices if you want to make a good impression or indulge in some decadent treats.