To please fans of both fall and Halloween, the October Mystery Box Cupcake Challenge “ingredient” is the color orange, with the requirement that either the color or an orange-colored ingredient appears in the cupcake. However, I was never big on Halloween, having spent nearly all of my childhood in places where it didn’t really exist, and fall just means that my favorite season, summer, is done with.

In the spirit of being in total denial that summer is officially over—what seemed to be our last 95ºF heat wave wrapped up last week—I created the Indian Summer Cupcake. Just like its namesake, this cupcake looks like fall, but feels (tastes) like summer, which to me means: margaritas! There are lots of margarita cupcake recipes floating out there, but it seems like most are just lime cupcakes with the occasional tequila thrown in. Not so with these! They aim to replicate the yummy taste of the real deal.

The secret to a great margarita is five-fold: tequila, lime juice, triple sec, agave syrup, and salt. This cupcake replicates it with a lime-tequila chiffon cake, agave custard filling, orange-triple sec glaze, and a swirl of salted caramel buttercream on top. Here are the recipes:

Lime-Tequila Chiffon Cake
adapted from Joy of Cooking (Scribner 2006)

2¼ cups sifted flour
1¼ + ¼ cups sugar
1 tbsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
5 large egg yolks, room temperature
⅓ cup tequila, room temperature + enough freshly squeezed lime juice to make ¾ cups of liquid (from about 3-4 limes)
1 tbsp grated lime zest
½ cup canola oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
8 large egg whites, room temperature
½ tsp cream of tartar

Preheat oven to 325ºF. Into a large bowl, sift flour, 1¼ cups sugar, baking powder, and salt. Add egg yolks, tequila and lime juice, vegetable oil, zest, and extract. Beat on high until smooth. In another large bowl, with clean beaters, whip egg whites and cream of tartar until the soft peak stage. Gradually add the remaining ¼ cup of sugar. Beat until the whites start losing their gloss. With a spatula, carefully fold in one quarter of the whites into the batter, then fold in the rest. Spoon batter into a paper lined cupcake pan—if you are not using liners, do not grease the pan or the cupcakes won’t rise—each cup should be about three quarters of the way full. Bake for 16–18 minutes.

Makes approximately 28 cupcakes.

Agave Custard

3 large eggs
⅓ cup dark agave syrup
3 tbsp water
6 tbsp unsalted butter, cut into pieces

In a medium stainless steel saucepan, whisk eggs and syrup until the mixture is a light brown color. Add water, butter, and place over medium heat, stirring until the butter has melted. Keep heating, whisking constantly until the mixture begins to thicken and bubble at the edges. Strain through a sieve into a bowl, press plastic wrap to the surface of the custard to keep a skin from forming, let cool and refrigerate until thick.

Fills approximately 28 cupcakes.

Orange-Triple Sec Glaze

1 cup confectioners’ sugar, sifted
2 tbsp triple sec
1 tbsp melted butter
1½ tsp grated orange zest

Mix all ingredients in a small bowl until the glaze is smooth. For a more orange appearance, add 5 drops of yellow and 1 drop of red food coloring.

Glazes about two dozen cupcakes.

Salted Caramel Buttercream

4 egg whites, room temperature
½ tsp cream of tartar
½ cup sugar
¼ cup water
2 sticks unsalted butter, cut into pieces + 1 tsp salt OR 2 sticks salted butter, cut into pieces

Combine sugar and water in a small saucepan over medium heat and stir until sugar has dissolved. Bring to a boil, wash down crystals from the sides of a pan with a moistened brush, and let cook until a deep golden brown color (355–360ºF). Meanwhile, beat egg whites and cream of tartar until soft peaks form. Keep mixing, and in a thin and steady stream, making sure to avoid the beaters, pour in the sugar syrup. Add salt, if using. Keep beating to cool down. Gradually incorporate butter until frosting is smooth.

Makes enough for small swirls of frosting for 28 cupcakes with about a cup left over. 2½, 3 cups total?

Assembly

Using the cone method, fill cupcakes with custard. Turn each cupcake upside-down and dip in the glaze, making sure to shake off the excess before turning right side up—the glaze will drip down otherwise. Chill cupcakes in the refrigerator for about 5 minutes to set the glaze. Top with a swirl of buttercream and a sprinkle of kosher salt, if desired.

The winner of October’s Mystery Box Cupcake Challenge will receive the following prizes:

• a selection of handmade crafts from Angela’s Images
• a $5 electronic gift card from Bake It Pretty
• 2-fold Madagascar vanilla extract & 3 Tongan vanilla beans from Beanilla
• a pack of Sweet Stands cupcake stands from Hello Hanna
• an 8.5"x11" original art print of her or his choice from Lisa Orgler
• a handmade cupcake charm of her or his choice from Miss Kitty Creations
• a prize pack worth $25 from Sweet Cuppin Cakes
• and a selection 3 very sweet children’s books from Tundra Books

As always, a big thank you to all our prize sponsors!

Voting is now open through October 26! Please vote for the Indian Summer Cupcakes, by Olga in the poll on the right hand side. :)

A huge thank you to everyone who voted! I ended up in the top 6 cupcakes and won this month’s competition! ^_^