Ever wish you could have your mojito and eat it too? Well look no further than these mojito cupcakes topped with tangy rum frosting! These cupcakes are perfect for a bachelorette party, summer cookout, or just whenever you're craving a refreshing mint mojito. They are light, fluffy, and have them most amazing mojito flavor!
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Why You'll Love These Mojito Cupcakes!
- Perfect adult birthday cupcakes - Does anything say happy birthday like an alcoholic cupcake?? Yeah, didn't think so.
- Lots of real rum flavor - The cupcakes are brushed with extra rum and then topped with a flavorful white rum frosting!
- Tangy cream cheese frosting - The cream cheese frosting has white rum, mint, and lime juice and tastes just like a mojito!
- Super easy to make and decorate - These mojito cupcakes are incredibly easy to make and are just garnished with fresh mint, lime slices and zest.
If you want more boozy desserts, you might also like these margarita cupcakes or these rosé wine cupcakes!
Ingredient Notes
You just need a few ingredients to make these mojito cupcakes!
Cake Flour - I always use cake flour in my cupcakes because it makes them super soft and tender, but all purpose flour also works great!
Plain Full-fat Yogurt - I love adding yogurt to baked goods because it keeps them super light and moist! You can also substitute sour cream or whole milk instead.
Mint Extract - This is optional because you're already using fresh mint in these cupcakes, but for extra flavor you can add a little mint extract! You can find mint extract next to the vanilla at the grocery store or online! Just note that mint extract is very strong, so you only need a little bit for great mint flavor!
Lime Juice - I highly recommend using fresh limes for the best flavor! But you can always substitute with a little bottled lime juice if necessary.
Lime Zest - Don't skimp on the lime zest in these cupcakes! Lime zest adds that wonderful lime flavor without making them too sour! You need the zest from about two limes for these cupcakes.
White Rum - You can use any type of white rum to make these cupcakes (I recommend white rum so that you don't get any extra color added). If you like coconut rum or vanilla rum, those will work too! Just use your favorite brand!
The complete list of ingredients and amounts is located in the recipe card below.
How to Make Cupcakes
Preheat the oven to 350°F and line a 12 cup pan with cupcake liners.
Finely chop the fresh mint and add to the granulated sugar along with the lime zest. Then use your fingers to gently massage the mint and lime zest into the sugar. [This is optional, but helps infuse the oils into the sugar for more flavor.]
Whisk the cake flour, baking powder, and salt together in a large bowl.
In a separate bowl, whisk the melted butter and flavored sugar.
Add in the eggs, vanilla, mint extract, and lime juice and whisk until fully combined.
Stir in about half of the flour mixture. Then stir in the yogurt, white rum, and the rest of the flour mixture and mix until fully combined. The batter will be thick.
Pour about ¼ cup of batter into each cupcake liner (they should be about halfway full).
Bake at 350°F for 18-22 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean.
Remove from cupcake pan and let cool on wire rack. Let cupcakes cool completely before frosting.
Optional: pour 1 tablespoon of white rum into a small bowl and using a pastry brush, lightly brush the tops of the cupcakes with rum before frosting.
Frost cooled mojito cupcakes, then garnish with fresh mint, lime slices, and, lime zest.
Tips for the Best Baked Goods
Use room temperature ingredients! Always make sure ingredients like butter, eggs, milk, yogurt, etc. are at room temperature before baking (unless the recipe indicates otherwise)! This ensures they'll incorporate into the batter more easily and leads to overall better texture. Remove all ingredients from the fridge 30 minutes to an hour before baking for best results.
Measure your flour correctly! It's most accurate to use a kitchen scale, but if you're measuring by volume you want to spoon and level! Fluff up the flour a bit with a spoon, and then spoon flour into the measuring cup. Once it's overflowing, use the back of a knife to level it off. Don't ever pack flour into the measuring cup or you'll end up with way too much! Improperly measured flour can lead to dry, dense baked goods. [Measure cocoa powder the same way!]
Use an oven thermometer! Just because your oven says it's 350, doesn't mean it is! If you oven hasn't been calibrated recently, it can be as much as 30 degrees off, which will negatively affect all baked goods from cakes to macarons! An oven thermometer is the easiest/cheapest way to ensure your oven is always at the proper temperature.
Make sure you baking powder is fresh! Baking powder is important for helping baked goods rise properly, but it has a relatively short shelf life once opened, so it's one of the few items I never buy in bulk! To test if your baking powder is still fresh, add a small amount to boiling water. If it bubbles it's still good to use, but if not it's time to toss it!
Cupcake Decorating Tips
- Make sure you let the cupcakes cool completely before frosting!!
- For extra mojito flavor, you can use a pastry brush to lightly brush a little bit of white rum on top of the cupcakes before frosting!
- For these big beautiful cream cheese frosting swirls on these mint mojito cupcakes, I use the large round tip from this decorating kit. The tips are much larger than standard sizes and so fun for decorating cupcakes!
- After frosting, garnish with fresh mint, lime zest, and lime slices if desired!
Recipe FAQ's
These cupcakes will last in the fridge for up to 3 days. However, they taste best when served at room temperature! I like to let them sit at room temperature for about an hour before serving. But I recommend waiting to top with mint, lime zest, and lime slices until immediately before serving!
Just a little, but yes! The alcohol in the cupcakes does cook off, but there is rum in the frosting too so these cupcakes should only be served to people over 21.
Yes! Instead of using rum in the cupcakes and frosting, you can substitute rum extract. The flavor won't be quite the same but they're still good! Use 2 teaspoons of rum extract in the cupcake batter and 1 teaspoon of rum extract in the frosting.
Tips for Success!
For best results I always recommend using weight measurements (especially when baking) because it's the most accurate. Kitchen scales are super affordable and also reduce the number of dishes you have to do! However, all my recipes also include US customary measurements for convince. Use this chart to convert measurements for common ingredients!
Substitutions: In all my recipes, I've included substitutions that I know will work, but I cannot guarantee results if you substitute ingredients that I have not recommended. [For example, granulated sugar and honey are indeed both sweeteners but they have very different properties so they can not always be swapped 1:1. Using honey in a cookie recipe that calls for granulated sugar will yield a giant mess.] In the recipe card you'll find links to the specific ingredients/brands that I use.
A note on salt: I almost exclusively use Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt because it's the best all-purpose salt for cooking and baking. If you're not using kosher salt, consult this handy guide for a conversion chart! When in doubt, if you're using table salt just reduce the amount by half for baked goods. When cooking, I prefer to under-salt because you can always add more! If you've over-salted, adding a little bit of acid (like lemon juice) can help.
More Cupcake Recipes You Might Like!
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Recipe Card
Mojito Cupcakes
Ingredients
Cupcakes
- 1 tablespoon lime zest
- 2 teaspoons fresh mint, finely chopped
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup unsalted butter, melted
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 2 teaspoons lime juice
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon mint extract, optional
- 1 ½ cups cake flour, substitute all purpose flour
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ cup plain full-fat yogurt, substitute sour cream or whole milk
- 2 tablespoons white rum
Frosting
- 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
- 4 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
- 4 cups powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoons white rum
- 1 tablespoon lime juice
- ½ teaspoon mint extract, optional
- pinch kosher salt
Garnish
- 1 tablespoon white rum
- fresh mint
- lime slices
- lime zest
Instructions
Cupcakes
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and line a 12 cup pan with cupcake liners.
- Finely chop the fresh mint and add to the granulated sugar along with the lime zest. Then use your fingers to gently massage the mint and lime zest into the sugar. [This is optional, but helps infuse the oils into the sugar for more flavor.]
- Whisk the cake flour, baking powder, and salt together in a large bowl.
- In a separate bowl, whisk the melted butter and flavored sugar.
- Add in the eggs, vanilla, mint extract, and lime juice and whisk until fully combined.
- Stir in about half of the flour mixture. Then stir in the yogurt, white rum, and the rest of the flour mixture and mix until fully combined. The batter will be thick.
- Pour about ¼ cup of batter into each cupcake liner (they should be about halfway full).
- Bake at 350°F for 18-22 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean.
- Remove from cupcake pan and let cool on wire rack.
- Let cupcakes cool completely before frosting.
- Optional: pour 1 tablespoon of white rum into a small bowl and using a pastry brush, lightly brush the tops of the cupcakes with rum before frosting.
Frosting
- While the cupcakes are cooling, make the frosting.
- In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the softened butter and cream cheese until completely smooth. Then add in the powdered sugar and beat on slow until combined.
- Slowly add in the lime juice, mint extract, rum, and salt until fully combined. Then beat the buttercream for 3-4 minutes on high speed until light and fluffy.
- Frost cooled mojito cupcakes, then garnish with fresh mint, lime slices, and, lime zest.
Notes
Nutrition
The nutritional information on this website is only an estimate and is provided for convenience and as a courtesy only. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Sam says
The flavor was milder than I would have expected, especially the frosting. The frosting tasted like plain cream cheese frosting (which was wonderfully fluffy, not too tangy and not too sweet, and recipe makes more than enough to generously frost 12 cupcakes). Rum flavor was undetectable. Would make again, but with modifications based on personal preference.