In Philly (and most likely across the majority of the country), the heatwaves continue to hit us with vengeance. I have walked home from the train drenched in sweat waaaaay more times than I’d care for, and August hasn’t even begun.
Luckily for me, I can text Ray as I step off the train platform and 10 minutes later when I walk through the door, I have a mojito in my hand. Let me tell you … that is a WONDERFUL thing.
My favorite mojitos are made with coconut rum and are muddled with mint from my garden. Since we don’t have a true muddler and Ray thinks using the back of the spoon is only so-so in extracting the mint oils, I recently made creme de menthe, which has been an excellent substitute for mint straight off the plant (and making the creme de menthe still used only a small portion of my mint plant’s weed-like bounty).
And because I’ve been sipping on a lot of mojitos, I figured it was time for a mojito cupcake. I used my regular vanilla recipe as a base and tweaked it after looking at blogs like Brown Eyed Baker for some inspiration in regard to mint-lime-rum application and execution.
Ingredients
Directions
For the cupcakes, first steep the mint in the buttermilk. To do that, first bruise the mint with the back of a spoon or muddler if you have one. Then, warm the buttermilk in a saucepan over low-medium heat--you want it to be barely simmering. Remove the buttermilk from the heat, add the mint, cover and steep for 15 minutes.
Once you've finished steeping, strain the mixture using a fine mesh sieve or cheesecloth and discard the mint leaves. If the buttermilk looks a bit broken up, don't fret. Give is a quick whisk and set aside.
Heat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and position the racks toward the center. Line cupcake pans with papers.
Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt together. Set aside.
Zest the lime into the sugar and rub it in until you can smell the lime.
Whisk the eggs for 20 seconds, then add the sugar with lime zest to the bowl and whisk an additional 30 seconds until thick and frothy.
Add the oil, rum bakery emulsion and lime extract and beat until combined. Alternate between flour and buttermilk, mixing well.
Divide the batter between the wrappers in cupcake tins and bake for 18-20 minutes. Cool on a wire rack completely before frosting.
Stir together the rum, lime juice and creme de menthe (or you can steep mint leaves in the rum, similar to the mint steeping for the cupcakes ... just double the amount of rum and use 1/4 cup of bruised mint leaves).
Brush the rum-lime-mint mixture onto the top of the cooled cupcakes. This amount allows you to do 2-3 passes. Wait a minute or two between brushings to let the liquid soak into the cake.
For the frosting, beat the butter until light and fluffy. Add 1 cup of sugar, beating until combined. Add the rum, rum bakery emulsion and lime extract. Finally, add the remaining sugar gradually and whip until light and fluffy.
Pipe onto the cupcakes with your favorite piping tip. Garnish with a piece of sugared lime zest or a mint sprig and some sanding sugar (it looks like mini ice cubes to me!).
https://cupcakefridayproject.com/2012/07/mojito-cupcakes/
July 20, 2012 at 12:49 pm
Yum. I love mojitos – and these were a fitting and delicious cupcake-shaped tribute. I didn’t get a ton of mint flavor but the rum/vanilla/lime was fabulous. Another home run. When are you opening a bakery, already???
July 20, 2012 at 12:54 pm
As soon as I win the lottery
I was concerned about the mint flavor…because too much mint could ruin the flavor, so I didn’t go hog wild. Now I know I should have upped it a bit. Maybe steeped 1.5-2 cups of mint in the buttermilk and increased the creme de menthe in the liquid brushed onto the cupcakes.
And to be honest, the mojitos that Ray has been making lately haven’t had much mint in them, so I guess I haven’t missed it. But glad you enjoyed!
July 23, 2012 at 3:52 pm
I thought these were really good. The mint was a little light, but the lime and rum popped really nicely. When you go into the fruity flavors, especially lime, you give it a nice edge in the flavor that I’ve just never seen in other cupcakes.