I'm Growin' Older But Not Up

You will know when he's coming to town. The fans will start to "flock" to a nearby outdoor arena parking lot. They are mostly middle-aged, wearing brightly colored Hawaiian print shirts, flower leis, pirate eye patches, grass skirts, coconut bras, their heads adorned with stuffed parrots and sharks, beers and margarittas in hand. They will congregate outside of their decorated vehicles, BBQing Cheeseburgers in Paradise and taking group shots of Tequila, blasting that tropical music and reminiscing about their youth when they used to do this very same thing every year in homage to one of the greatest fun-loving and sun-loving musicians of all time. I am of course describing the yearly Jimmy Buffet concert and his devoted fans.

We call ourselves Parrotheads and there's nothing better for us than leaving our stressful, corporate lives behind to drink some beer and fantasize about a different life on a Carribean shore.

Jimmy came to town on May 19th to one of my favorite venues, The Concord Pavillion (technically the Sleep Train Pavillion but I don't believe in that stuff). In addition to my usual tailgate contribution of Surfers on Acid, I decided some Parrothead-appropriate cupcakes were in order. I decided on the following recipe from the Sweet Treats Cupcake of the Month Club and they were just delicious! Everyone loved them. I was a little skeptical that the batter did not include any eggs (it's a vegan recipe), it was more runny than most cake batter that I've used for cupcakes, but the result was a delicious, exceptionally moist cake, and the Tequila Lime Frosting was so yummy!

Here's the recipe, I'm not Vegan so I made some changes:

Margarita Cupcakes

1/4 cup lime juice

zest of 1 lime

1 cup soy milk, plain or vanilla (I used whole milk)

1/4 cup vegetable oil

2 tsp tequila (omit it for non-alcoholic cupcakes)

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup sugar

1 1/3 cup all purpose flour

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 350F. Fill a 12-cup muffin tin with liners. In a large bowl, mix together lime juice, lime zest, milk, oil, tequila, vanilla and sugar. In a small bowl, mix together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Add to lime mixture and stir until just combined. Divide evenly into muffin tins. Bake for 20-24 minutes, until a tester comes out clean and the cakes spring back when lightly pressed. Turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely before frosting.

Tequila Lime Frosting

1/4 cup butter, softened

1 tbsp soy milk (again, I used whole milk)

3 tbsp lime juice

1 tbsp tequila (omit it for non-alcoholic cupcakes)

2+ cups confectioners’ sugar

coarse sugar and salt for “rims” (I skipped the salt)

Cream together non-hydrogenated shortening, soy milk, lime juice, tequila, and 2 cups of confectioners’ sugar. Add in more sugar as needed to make frosting stiff, but spreadable (I probably ended up adding about 3 ½ cups). Spread on cupcakes and roll the edges in a small amount of coarse sugar and salt (poured into a small bowl, so it’s easy to direct it).

Please share with all your brightly decorated friends and family...