Corona Cupcakes with Vanilla Bean Lime Frosting

HAPPY Cinco de Mayo! And happy Derby Day too! I have a busy day ahead that includes visiting with some of my favorite people. Since I will be seeing one set of friends this morning and another for dinner this evening, I decided on baking a last minute batch of cupcakes to bring along to both events. I already made these this morning so you have plenty of time to do the same if you're looking for a last minute "Cinco de Derby" treat.

Being that Corona and lime seemed fitting today, that's the theme I went with. The outcome tastes great, especially the FROSTING. (Yes I just had one for breakfast. So did my husband.) Enjoy!

Corona Cupcakes with Vanilla Bean Lime Cream Cheese Frosting

For the cupcakes:
1 box french vanilla cake mix
4 eggs
1 stick melted butter
1 bottle Corona
3 limes, zested and juiced

For the frosting:
(Note: I used a LOT of frosting as I was going for a Georgtown Cupcake look. You could easily get away with cutting this in half to frost 2 dozen cupcakes.)
8 cups confectioner's sugar, sifted
2 packages Neufchâtel cheese, softened (or cream cheese)
1 stick butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste (or vanilla extract)
2 limes, zested and juiced

For the cupcakes: Preheat oven to 350. Mix the cake mix with the eggs. Add in melted butter. Pour in bottle of Corona and finally the lime zest/juice. Mix each ingredient until combined. Bake for approximately 22-26 minutes. Allow to cool. Yields 24 cupcakes.

For the frosting: Mix all ingredients together. Beat for at least three minutes until the icing is fluffy.

Pipe the frosting onto the cupcakes as desired. (I made a few quick fondant toppers but a little slice of lime would look great too!)

Have fun this weekend!

Cookie Cupcake Toppers

Two weekends ago we attended our friends' son's baptism. The guest of honor's mom mentioned that she would be making cupcakes for the luncheon afterward, so I asked her if I could make some cookie cupcake toppers for them. She agreed and I got to work! I baked mini cookies onto toothpicks so we could easily slide them into the red velvet cupcakes. For the cookies, I focused on initials, monograms and crosses.

In the end the display made for a cute centerpiece at a very nice event.



Thanks for a wonderful afternoon H family!