Blue Moon and Corona Cupcakes

With citrus at its prime this month, these cupcakes are the perfect combination of the seasonal fruit and the upcoming seasonal event - the Super Bowl.  Everyone around here is very excited for the game since Connecticut people tend to be either Patriots or Giants fans, but personally I'm excited because it means the end of football season is near!  Maybe I can actually get Ryan to hang out with me on Sundays again :)  So if your football enthusiasm is anything like mine, consider making these beer-infused cupcakes to celebrate instead.  If I can't enjoy watching the game, at least I can enjoy the food that surrounds it!

I could have used some Budweiser and Coors Light for these cupcakes if I wanted to be truly Super Bowl-esque, but Corona Light and Blue Moon are my favorite so I went with selfishness instead.  Plus I wanted to incorporate a complimentary fruity frosting, and since Corona is always served with a lime wedge and Blue Moon with an orange, they were the perfect lagers for the job!  I used my favorite cream cheese frosting spiked with some lime and orange zest and juice and it was a great compliment to the boozy cupcakes.  The beer flavor doesn't always survive the baking process very well, so I just poked some holes in the cupcake tops and brushed a little beer on each to increase the flavor.  Worked out wonderfully in the end, thanks to Miss Make for the inspiration!

Since the beer, zest, and citrus juices are added to the cupcakes at different times throughout the batter-making process, I couldn't just split the cake batter and mix in Corona/ lime in half and Blue Moon/orange in the other half - it involved a little more work than that.  I actually whipped up the two batters separately, so if you're looking to save some time just choose one flavor combination to work with.  I was more partial to the Blue Moon and orange combo, but probably because I've always favored orange-flavored goodies.  Plus I also love the stark blue and orange contrast and think it pops incredibly.  If you wanted to omit the orange slice and add red sprinkles instead of orange, they'd be perfectly festive for your favored Super Bowl team!

Blue Moon and Corona Cupcakes

Recipe adapted from Miss Make

For the beer cupcakes: 

3/4 cups butter, at room temperature

1-3/4 cup sugar

2-1/2 cup flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

3 eggs, at room temperature

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp orange or lime zest

1 cup Blue Moon or Corona beer, plus more for brushing on tops

1/4 cup milk

Orange/lime wedges and sanding sugar for garnish

- Preheat oven to 375 degrees and line 24 muffin tins with cupcake liners.

- In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt.

- In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes.

- Add eggs, beating after each addition then add the vanilla and zest.

- Combine milk and beer and alternatively add this mixture and the flour mixture to the butter/sugar mixture with the mixer on low speed, starting and ending with the flour.  

- Fill the cupcake liners 2/3 full and bake for 18 minutes, or until cake tester comes out clean.

- When cupcakes are done, poke holes in the tops of the cupcakes with toothpicks and brush some beer on each while still warm.  

For the citrus cream cheese frosting:

12 oz cream cheese, cold

6 tbsp butter, at room temperature

1 tbsp freshly squeezed orange/lime juice

1 tsp orange/lime zest

4 cups powdered sugar

- Cream together the cream cheese and butter in an electric mixer until smooth and creamy, about 2-3 minutes.  

- Add the citrus juice and zest and gradually add the powdered sugar until well-combined.  Beat until smooth for about 2 minutes.

- Load frosting in a piping bag fit with a large star tip and pipe cupcake tops once cooled.  

Recipe yields 24 cupcakes.