Cubicle kitchen: Whiskey Sour Cupcakes

I like to think of these as part of my rule-bending baked goods collection.  Because in my office, as I'm sure in most, you can't bring alcohol.  Unless it's a special morale-boosting event sponsored by department heads complete with beer and wine.

Now, I'm not a big drinker.  Some wine or a beer with dinner or a fancy drink with a cherry at happy hour.  Always assuming there are enough calories left in the day.  Otherwise, I've just personally never seen the point in being drunk.  Anyway, for happy hour, I've always been partial to Amaretto Sours.  Because sweet and sour are more appealing to me than the actual potency of the drink.  But amongst the random alcohol selection I was looking to use up (because we weren't drinking it), there was no amaretto.  So, whiskey it was.

No one turned down these corporate-policy-ambiguous Whiskey Sour Cupcakes.  Hopefully I didn't contribute to any poor afternoon decision-making in meetings after klatch, but you would need to put yourself into a sugar coma before you could make yourself drunk on these.  Having said that, though, they have a distinct smell and taste of alcohol.  Which is the point, being cocktail-inspired cupcakes after all.  The lemon in the cupcake is just a complement to the whiskey, but the frosting helps amp up the citrus and mellow out the alcohol.

Whiskey Sour Cupcakes
Adapted from bethcakes: Whiskey Sour Cupcakes

Ingredients
Cake:

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 cup butter, room temperature
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 3/4 cup whiskey
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 2 teaspoons lemon zest

Frosting:

• 3/4 cup butter, room temperature
• 1/2 Tablespoon lemon juice
• 1/2 Tablespoon grenadine
• 1 teaspoon lemon extract
• 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°.
2. Sift together flour and baking soda in a separate bowl and set aside.
3. In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar.  Add eggs, vanilla, and whiskey and mix until combined.
4. Incorporate the flour mixture.  Add the lemon juice and zest.
5. Fill liners 2/3 full.  Bake for 15-17 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  Allow to cool before frosting.
6. Cream butter.  Add lemon juice, grenadine, and extract.
7. Incorporate powdered sugar until desired consistency.
8. Frost cakes.