Tuaca Lemon Drop Cupcakes

Happy Birthday, Beth!  Today we are celebrating my manager's birthday by inventing a cupcake in honor of her favorite shot:  The Tuaca Lemon Drop!  The things we do for the people we love, right?  Alcohol in the workplace is perfectly acceptable in a baked good.  And is it really taboo if it's a vanilla citrus liquore?  That's like saying Bailey's and coffee isn't a breakfast drink!

As I'm sure you already know, Tuaca Lemon Drops are served in a shot glass rimmed with sugar and a lemon.  Sometimes the sugar is on the lemon.  I used this theme and whipped up a fluffy, moist batch of my absolute favorite lemon cupcakes in the entire world.  Then I made a Tuaca glaze and after poking holes in the cooled cupcakes, drizzled the glaze on top and let it set for about 15 minutes.
My Tuaca Buttercream frosting is a standard buttercream recipe with Tuaca instead of milk.  I added a bit more until I could taste the Tuaca, then frosted my Cupcakes of Awesomness with a Wilton 1M tip and coarsely chopped Lemonheads and sprinkled them on top.  Then I stuffed one down my gullet.

Tuaca Lemon Drop Cupcakes
1 box vanilla cake mix 4 egg whites 1/4 cup oil 3/4 cup buttermilk 1/3 cup lemon juice 3/4 cup sour cream 1 tsp vanilla zest from 3 lemons
Take out 2 sticks of butter to soften well ahead of time, and set aside for later.  Preheat oven to 350.  Put 20 - 24 cupcake liners in muffin tins.  In a large bowl, combine liquid ingredients and whisk gently.  Add cake mix and stir with a fork until combined.  Pour into muffin tins, filling 3/4 full.  Bake at 350 for 15 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean.  (Do not overbake)
3 Tbsp Tuaca 1 tsp lemon zest 1 cup powdered sugar
As the cupcakes cool, combine Tuaca and lemon zest in a small bowl and whisk gently.  Add powdered sugar and whisk until no lumps remain.  When cupcakes are cool, use a toothpick to poke about 10-15 holes in the top of each cupcake.  Eyeball about 1/2 teaspoon and drizzle on each cupcake, spreading gently, avoiding the edges (for appearance's sake).  As the glaze soaks in, prepare your buttercream. 
2 sticks unsalted butter, softened well 1/2 cup plus 1 Tbsp Tuaca (or to your taste) 2 tsp vanilla 6 cups powdered sugar
In a mixer, stir butter until creamy.  Slowly add vanilla and 1 cup powdered sugar until combined.  Alternate powdered sugar and Tuaca, mixing well after each addition.  I asked Matt to taste-test the frosting before I added the last Tbsp of Tuaca, and I asked him what it tasted like.  He said powdered sugar, and could not identify any other flavor.  When I added just 1 Tbsp more, he said it was fantastic and noticed the difference right away.  You can add powdered sugar and Tuaca until the taste is right to you.  Just keep in mind that the cupcake is very lemony and you don't want it to overpower the Tuaca flavor.
Frost your cooled cupcakes, then sprinkle with coarsely chopped Lemonheads.
Lemon Cupcake by Your Cup of Cake Tuaca glaze inspired by Your Cup of Cake Tuaca Buttercream is a Katie Kay Original