MOJITO! (Shout It From The Rooftops!)

Mojito, baby!

One of my favorite things in the world is a big ice cold mojito. And, I must say, I make the best mojito in the whole world. Ask anyone.

So, of course, the natural progression to that would be me thinking I could make the best mojito CUPCAKE in the world. I scoured the internet for a mojito recipe, but could only find a vegan one. And let's face it, I personally want to kill as many animals as I can with my cupcakes, so that was out.

I kid, I kid.

Kinda.

So I decided to close my eyes and pretend like I knew what I was doing....and make up my own recipe.

Well...ok. That's a little bit of a lie. I took a recipe I already had and added/subtracted things from it...and then hoped for the best. And ya know what? It turned out GREAT!! I was highly impressed with myself, seeing as it was my first try.

They were domed and then fell a little bit, but still taste amazing. IMHO.

So here it is. The new love of my life.

Mojito Cupcakes

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
zest & juice of one lime
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs, room temperature
3/4 cup self-rising flour
1/2 cup plus 2 tbsp all-purpose flour
4-5 tbsp milk
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp mint extract
2 tsp finely chopped mint (I used fresh leaves)
2 tbsp Bacardi Limon Rum



Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cream butter, mint leaves and zest until smooth. Gradually add sugar. Beat 3 minutes or until fluffy.

Add eggs, 1 at a time. Squeeze lime juice into a 1/2 cup measuring cup. Add enough milk to fill to the top. Pour into small mixing bowl. Add vanilla, mint extract and rum, and combine.

Combine flours together. Alternate adding parts of flour mixture with liquid mixture, mixing as you go.

Fill baking cups up to 1/2 full.

Cook 15 minutes. Rotate pan and cook another 5-10 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean.



Minty Lime Buttercream

2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup butter flavored shortening
3 cups confectioners sugar, sifted
zest & juice of 1/2 lime
2 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 tsp mint extract
1/2 tsp butter flavor
1/2 tsp diced mint (I used fresh leaves)
1/2 cup heavy cream
3 tbsp all-purpose flour

Mix cream & flour well. Heat in microwave 45 seconds. Set aside to cool.

In large bowl, mix butter, shortening, mint leaves, zest, lemon juice, vanilla, mint extract, and butter flavor. Using mixer, beat on low. Add confectioners sugar in 4 parts, mixing well after each addition. Beat on medium until fluffy, about 5 minutes.

Add cream mixture and beat for about 10 minutes.

Final Step : make out with whoever made these for you.
If that's you...then come make out with me.