Most of the time I select recipes to blog that sound good to me. However, every once in a while I find one that sounds so unusual that I’m not 100% sure about it. These Moscow Mule Cupcakes are one of those recipes. I do love a Moscow mule, and I do love a cupcake, but together? Vodak, ginger beer, and lime in cupcake form? This is either going to be really good or absolutely terrible. I’m leaning toward really good, especially after looking at the author’s beautiful photos. But there’s only one way to know for sure, and that’s to bake some cupcakes.
These Moscow Mule Cupcakes are so fun – just like the cocktail! A moist ginger cupcake is topped with a ginger-lime frosting and I love them so much!
The Ingredients
This recipe meant a trip to the grocery store and a trip to the liquor store, as well as a look-see at my pantry. I had a few of the dry goods, and I even had a few eggs in my refrigerator.
That left me to shop for some extra powdered sugar (the frosting needs six cups), some shortening, butter, and ginger beer. I decided to spring for Fever-Tree since A.) the liquor store had it, and B.) I really like their tonic water.
Even if the cupcakes don’t work out, I’ll be able to make myself a Moscow mule or two as consolation. That reminds me, I’ll need to pick up a couple of extra limes…
The Process
The biggest issue I have with baking is remembering to set out the eggs and butter so they come up to room temp. I actually remembered to do that one Sunday, so I spent the afternoon baking and decorating. Here’s how my time was spent:
- 21 minutes to prep the cupcakes
- 17 minutes to bake and make the frosting
- 4 minutes to cool in the pan
- 10 minutes to frost and garnish
- 52 minutes total (not including time to cool on wire racks)
Making the Cupcakes
Like all cupcake recipes, I started out with making the cupcakes. This recipe was written out so nicely that I didn’t have any trouble following along. I really appreciated that since I’m not the greatest baker!
After the oven and muffin pan were set up, the next step was to cream the butter and sugar for 3-4 minutes. I got the rest of the ingredients ready to go while the stand mixer was going, but it did take me an extra minute or two. Oh well, better over creamed than under.
The rest was very easy. I didn’t have any trouble knowing when to add ingredients or how much, and my batter came together perfectly. There did seem to be a lot of it, though, and my muffin tin cups were almost completely filled.
The recipe does say it makes 12-15 cupcakes, but my tin only holds 12. Fortunately, there was no overflowing, and I ended up with 12 cupcakes that were just a little taller than the pan. Perfect for frosting!
Making the Frosting
I did a quick clean up of my stand mixer while the cupcakes were baking, then I got started on the frosting. This part was just as easy as the cupcakes, and I didn’t have any trouble getting the frosting mixed up.
I did end up adding about 2 tablespoons of additional ginger beer to get the right consistency, but I think I could have added a little more. That wasn’t apparent until I started piping on the frosting and noticed air bubbles in the buttercream. Thinning it with a little more ginger beer would probably have helped the texture, but at least they didn’t affect the taste. Live and learn!
Putting it All Together
I left the cupcakes to cool in wire racks while I washed up, and they were room temperature by the time I was finished. I didn’t time this, but I’d say it took 10-15 minutes. Not long at all.
I had my piping bag loaded up with the frosting, so all I had to do was slice up a lime and pull off a few small mint leaves. It’s been ages since I’ve piped frosting, but it came back pretty fast! I did have to redo a couple, but this recipe made more than enough frosting for that.
In fact, I usually end up doubling frosting recipes so I don’t run out, so I was really pleased to have extra leftover. Placing the lime slices was easy, but I did have to use a toothpick to press the end of each mint leaf into the frosting. I think they came out pretty good, though!
