I’m a Northern girl through and through. Born and raised in good old Boston, I never had a sip of sweet tea growing up. Sweetened ice tea, sure, but I don’t think I had even heard of sweet tea until college. While my childhood was otherwise pretty ideal, it was seriously lacking in the sweet tea department. And the grits department. And the catfish department. But don’t worry, I wasn’t deprived of fried chicken. And there’s no way you’ll ever find me complaining of my New England fare consisting of lobster, baked beans, and maple syrup (but not all at once).
But then I grew up, fell in love with vodka (t’was a lifelong romance), and discovered sweet tea vodka. Mixed with a little bit of water, lemon, and ice; sweet tea vodka totally hits the spot when it’s sweltering out and you want to sit outside in a big hat with a plate of hush puppies. Just kidding; I never had a hush puppy either.
My current obsession lies with Firefly Sweet Tea Vodka. To be honest, I’ve never had any other variety… But do I really need to? It’s pretty inexpensive and absolutely delicious and refreshing. But instead of making a cocktail for this Cocktail Friday, I decided it was time for some baked goods. And since I loved my margarita cupcakes so much, I decided to try a sweet tea vodka cupcake. You only live once.
And you should, too. Because they’re delicious and will still leave you more than enough sweet tea vodka to enjoy a glass or two while baking. But you should probably put it in a mason jar. Because that’s how they do it in the South, right?
Sweet Tea Vodka Cupcakes (makes 12 cupcakes):
- 1 stick butter, room temperature
- 1.5 C powdered sugar
- 3.5 T lemon zest
- 2 large eggs
- 1 1/4 C self-rising flour (or regular flour with 1.5 t baking powder and 1/4 t salt)
- 1/4 C milk
- 2 T lemon
- 2 T sweet tea vodka (I recommend Firefly)
- 1 batch sweet tea vodka frosting (see recipe below)
(pre-heat oven to 350 degrees)
Combine butter, powdered sugar, and lemon zest in the bowl of an electric mixer.
Beat until fluffy.
Add eggs, one at a time, beating to blend.
Mix in half the flour. Then add the milk and lemon juice. Then mix in the other half of the flour until just combined.
Pour batter into a lined cupcake tin, almost all the way to the top.
Bake the cupcakes at 350 degrees for 16-20 minutes, until cooked through and slightly golden at edges.
Let the cupcakes cool in the pan for a few minutes before moving to rack to cool completely. When cool, brush lightly with about 2 T of sweet tea vodka. I did two layers. Obviously.
While the cupcakes are cooling, you can make the frosting. It’s a pretty simple buttercream frosting with sweet tea vodka, lemon juice, and lemon zest added in.
Sweet Tea Vodka Frosting (makes enough to frost 12 cupcakes):
- 1 stick butter, room temperature
- 3.5 C powdered sugar
- 3 T sweet tea vodka
- 1 T lemon zest
- 1 T lemon juice
In a mixer, combine the butter and powdered sugar until fluffy.
Add in sweet tea vodka, lemon zest, and lemon juice and combine.
If you need to add more powdered sugar to reach your desired consistency, you can.
Pipe frosting on to cupcakes. Or slather it on with a knife. Or eat a scoop out of the bowl. Because it’s that good.
You can top the cupcakes with whatever you want. I decided a lemon wedge was appropriate. And some lemon zest. And a little straw so you can slurp it all up (not really though… I don’t think the cake will go through the paper straw).
The perfect summer drink! Er, cupcake.
Seriously though, this is basically a summer cocktail in cupcake form. The vodka is definitely not over-powering at all; but there’s a touch of tea and a whole lotta lemon involved.
It doesn’t get much better than this on a summer evening. Maybe a side of fried chicken would have been appreciated, but I wasn’t complaining.
Actually, the only thing better than a sweet tea vodka cupcake? A sweet tea vodka cupcake with a GLASS of sweet tea vodka to wash it down. It is Cocktail Friday, after all. Enjoy!
What will you be sipping on this weekend?
[Sues]
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I’ll be sipping on something, ANYTHING, to help me forget this horrendous week of 2,500 miles of driving across barren, rural American countryside =) Hey, since I’ll be back in the South, it could very well be Firefly vodka!
(These look delish…not like I’ve ever not wanted to bake anything immediately that you’ve posted!)
These cupcakes are so fun, love it!
wow, you are so creative! I love this idea!
The office all agreed that these were amazing. When I brought the extras into the office yesterday they disappeared within seconds. Also the pictures look amazing.
LOVE Firefly Sweet Tea Vodka. I have the raspberry one in my freezer right now!
Wow, those look gorgeous!! I’ve had sweet tea vodka before… YUM!! I can imagine how wonderful these little cupcakes were!!
too fun! i was also raised in boston, never heard of sweet tea ’til i moved to nashville, + blogged about a sweet tea dessert a few weeks ago (a sweet tea tart with a gingersnap crust). we loooove firefly sweet tea vodka around here -normally mix it with lemonade or fruit tea + serve it on the rocks. i’ll definitely be making these soon!
quite possibly the best cupcake idea ever!! im working at a winery this weekend so i bet you can probably guess what ill be sipping on
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DEAR GOD YES. You just made my day. I love sweet tea vodka, and I can’t wait to make these.
you can probably guess what I’ll be sipping on
i pretty much always have a bottle of this at my bar too – in the summer! it’s the absolute best!
yum!! i can’t wait to try these. i LOVE me some firefly vodka! and i guess i am spoiled because their distillery is right down the road from my house!
@Lindsay- Lucky!! If I lived near the distillery, I’d probably move in
WOW! These look professionally made and I love to bake! i am definitely going to try this out because I enjoy entertaining and this would look so adorable for my next soiree at my place!
love these!!! I found this because FireFly Re tweeted in on twitter!! Great cupcakes!!
wow! These sound absolutely amazing!
I have half a bottle of Firefly in out liquor cabinet…hmmmm…..
Firefly is the best brand of the sweet tea vodkas. We’ve tried three brands, and it beats them all. Great cupcake idea!
So cute! I love all your alcohol-laden cupcake ideas.
I didn’t realize you could buy Firefly up here….must go look!
Your cupcakes are very adorable! I was recently at a party where Firefly sweet tea vodka and lemonade were mixed for a spiked arnold palmer. Very tasty and refreshing!
You are hilarious! My Sister&Bro-in-law had Firefly as one of the signature drinks at their wedding. I forwarded this along
Yum! Those look so delish.
EVERYTHING tastes better in a mason jar. I’ve never had any of the other brands, but I reckon Firefly is the best because they make it just down the road from me on Wadmalaw Island in SC
hey ladies,
I do a VERY similar cupcake in my cupcakes and cocktails class at bcae! I might try out your frosting next time. Firefly and lemonade is my go-to summer drink. XOXO,
Dustin
I am seriously deprived since I’ve never had sweet tea and never even heard of sweet tea vodka! Your cupcakes are just adorable.
these cupcakes are so pretty! they go perfectly with my fave drink lately – an arnold palmer (with sweet tea vodka of course!)
First time I heard of Sweet tea Vodka too! I love the cupcake presentation. Very cute.
I would have never thought! LOVE it. They look/sound de-lish. I’m now going to have to break down and make cupcakes.
Will I ever get out of the kitchen??
These look delicious, although I’ve never tried sweet tea vodka, not sure if I can even get it in Ireland! We’ve been making peppermint and lime ice tea recently, maybe I’ll give that a go in cupcake form. With a bit of gin of course!
A-amazing idea! From Atlanta (live on SoCal now) and always yearn for more and more sweet tea creations. So excited to make this….soon. Maybe for our Labor day bbq! p.s. I’ve caught my hubs checking out your blog. He says “oh you left it up so i just browsed around.” yeah right, hehe! Love it!
Love this idea…need to make them! They are so cute!
So cute! Would think of candying the lemon slices to sweeten it up even more!
More sensational photography…great job, Sues!
the stripey straws! the vodka! i’m swooooning. love love love.
Such a creative cupcake idea!! Yes I too just discovered sweet tea vodka like last year
Delish. And those cupcakes sound amazing!
The cupcakes sound incredible with the sweet tea vodka in the batter and the frosting, neat!
I know I already commented and drooled all over he place about these BUT! Just poppin by to let you know I gave you a silly little award thing–one of those “accept this award and pass it on!” kind of deals. Check out my blog to pick it up!
Being a born and bred northerner as well, I have a serious lack of sweet tea in my life. Time to bake some cupcakes!
Great idea!! I’ll need to get my hands on this vodka… and these cupcakes!
As a girl who rarely sweetens her iced tea, I feel like sweet tea has the ability to kill me, haha. I AM intrigued, however, but its use along with vodka in these cupcakes. Where there is vodka, that’s where you’ll find me (I’m Armenian, you know).
haha, i’ve yet to try the vodka… but perhaps i’ll start with a cupcake
This looks AMAZING, can’t wait to try making these tasty treats!
That’s it – I’m promptly marching my stilettos to the State Store and picking up a bottle of Sweet Tea Vodka. This recipe looks amazing!
I tried this recipe last night and these cupcakes are FANTASTIC!! Yum!! Keep up the wonderful recipes!
WOW! I’ve never seen this recipe before. This looks amazing. How did you come up with this!!!
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