0 Mojito Cupcakes

I wanted to bake something out of the ordinary using the leftover ingredients from our office’s "Margaritas and Mojitos" happy hour. I decided to create a mojito cupcake by making some simple modifications to the lime tea cupcake recipe . By steeping the milk with mint instead of tea leaves and adding a dash of rum, I was able to capture the flavors found in a mojito: lime, mint and rum.

My first attempt was not quite successful. I found some small party cups at a local party supply store and thought they would make cute cupcake liners. I filled each cup ¾ full as directed in the original recipe. Unfortunately, this was too much for the cups to hold and the batter overflowed. Unattractiveness aside, the cupcake did taste like a mojito.

I used the same modified recipe for my second attempt. I tossed out the party cup idea (too hard to get the baked cupcake out of the cup) and went with traditional cupcake liners making sure to fill the liners no more than halfway. The recipe yielded 12 regular sized cupcakes and 20 miniature cupcakes.

I frosted the cupcakes with a swirl of lime cream cheese frosting. Although the frosted cupcake tasted good, the cheesiness of the frosting detracted from the mojito theme. In the future, I think I will top them with a mint whipped cream or a rum-infused glaze.

Mojito Cupcakes
makes 18 regular cupcakes

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup mint leaves, loosely packed
3/4 cup whole milk, hot
1/4 pound (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temp.
1 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
grated zest of 2 limes
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp rum (optional)

Preheat to 350F.

Add mint leaves to hot milk. Let steep for 10-15 minutes. Pour milk through a fine-mesh sieve into a small bowl. Press liquid from mint leaves. Discard leaves and allow milk to cool slightly.

Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat butter on medium speed until creamy, about 30 seconds. Add sugar and continue beating until light and fluffy, 3-5 minutes. Scrape the sides of the bowl occasionally.

Add eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition. Mix in lime zest, vanilla and rum (if using).

On very low speed, add flour mixture in 3 additions, alternating with milk and ending with flour, mixing until just incorporated.

Fill 18 standard muffin cups half full. Bake until cupcakes spring back when touched, 18-22 minutes. Allow to cool in pan for 5 minutes. Remove cupcakes from pan and cool completely.