Tequila Sunrise Cupcake

yield 12 cupcakes

Cupcakes

5 oz flour
20 g cornstarch
1 c sugar
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 c canola oil
1/4 c whole milk
4 oz pureed orange (mandarin oranges work great)
2 large eggs, room temp
1 tsp tequila

Preheat oven to 350°F and prepare a cupcake pan with cupcake liners.

Sift the dry ingredients together.

Put all the wet ingredients in a bowl and whisk together. Add the wet to the dry and combine thoroughly.

Scoop into cupcake liners about 3/4 full. Bake for 20 min, or until a toothpick inserted comes out with a few crumbs.

Tequila Soak

1/8 cup tequila
1/8 cup sugar

Mix well and heat over med until sugar completely dissolved. Cook for about 5 more minutes to slightly thicken. Let cool completely and after the cupcakes are filled (before frosted), brush the tops with the simple syrup.

Cherry Compote

18 cherries
2 tsp tequila
sugar to taste

Small dice the cherries. Put in a pot with tequila and sugar. Cook over med heat until cherries soft and mixture thick.  If needed, thicken further with a corn starch/grenadine slurry. Cool completely before using.

Frosting

8 oz  unsalted butter, room temp
3.5 cups powdered sugar
1 tbsp tequila
1 tsp finely grated orange zest
2 tsp fresh squeezed orange juice
5 tsp grenadine
orange food color
12 maraschino cherries
12 quarter slices of orange

Beat the butter until smooth.

Add about half of the powdered sugar and mix until smooth.

Add the tequila and mix until smooth.

Add the remaining powdered sugar and mix until smooth.

Divide the frosting in half. Add the orange zest and juice to one half and the grenadine to the other.

Add some orange icing color to the orange frosting, if desired.

Put each of the two frostings into two piping bags, then place both piping bags into one larger bag fitted with a large closed star tip. Pipe swirls of frosting on top of each cupcake, then top them with a cherry and quarter slice of orange.