White Russian Cupcakes
These White Russian cupcakes are for sure a delightful treat to have! I make them for bowling night as a nod to The Big Lebowski. My boyfriend Jake loves bowling, and I love Jeff Bridges. As faith would have it, we met at a Lebowski Festival a few years back. We both ordered the same drink at the same time! We started talking and found out we were from the same town. The rest, as they say, is love history.
Vodka became my favorite drink early on. It doesn’t have a strong smell, and the taste can be blended easily. I first experimented with it when I was a teen. That’s when I took care of Herman. The son of a bitch was wasted behind the wheel and speeding. He took my mother, so I took care of him. I consider it a fair trade. But enough of stories of old, let’s get into the batter of things. The greatest thing about these cupcakes is that they are made with a boxed cake mix! Just make sure you pay attention to the liquid substitution.
Everybody knows that if you ever want to alter something, you have to master the base recipe. Get to know very well how different ingredients affect the final result. Once you get the base recipe down, you can make quick changes in a snap, and nobody will be the wiser. Chocolate cake and coffee liqueur can make it a Black Russian, orange liqueur, and yellow cake can make it a screwdriver.
The screwdriver was Herman’s favorite drink. The man never locked his doors, so I started sneaking in and upgrading his vodka with bleach. The basic drink recipe changed to a homemade chloroform cocktail in a snap! Once again, you must know how to exchange the liquids so the taste won’t be too harshly altered. For the cupcakes or any kind of boozy cake, I must say, start with substituting a quarter cup of water with the alcohol. You can always soak or glaze the final product with more if you like a more pungent taste.
One of the best parts of eating your alcohol, instead of drinking it, is that you can’t get wasted. I mean, sure, you might get a little buzz. But when you cook it, some of it will evaporate. Still, this is not for children, more for those that are kids at heart. Enjoy and let me know how you like them!
White Russian Cupcakes
Ingredients
For the cupcakes
- 1 box white cake mix
- ¼ cup vodka
- ¾ cup milk room temperature
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- 3 eggs room temperature
For the frosting
- 1 cup softened butter
- 1 lb confectioners sugar
- ½ cup coffee liquor
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
For the cupcakes
- Preheat oven to 350°.
- Prepare a cupcake pan with liners and set it aside.
- In a large bowl mix to combine the cake mix, vodka, milk, oil, and eggs. Make sure there are no lumps in the batter. If beating by hand, mix for about 2 minutes.
- Fill each cup with two tablespoons of batter, or about halfway each. Bake for 15 minutes.
- Remove from oven and let it cool in a wire rack.
For the frosting
- Using a handheld mixer or a stand mixer with the paddle attachment beat the butter at medium speed until creamy.
- Scrape the sides of the bowl, add the vanilla and beat to combine.
- Scrape the sides of the bowl and add some of the powdered sugar. Beat at low speed until combined.
- Scrape the sides of the bowl and add some of the coffee liquor. Beat at low speed until combined.
- Continue to gradually add the sugar and the liquor alternately. Scraping the sides of the bowl each time to make sure ingredients are combined before adding the next.
- Frost cupcakes as desired.
