Because Sometimes You Just Want Booze In Your Cupcake - Three Olives Loopy Vodka Cupcakes

Hello LilyOnTheLam.Com Readers:

It's cupcake time!  Today's blog post is about "The Loopy Jason Cupcake - a double-frosted cupcake consisting of an almond and Three Olives Loopy vodka flavored cupcake with Three Olives Loopy vodka glaze and then topped with a Cream Cheese and Three Olives Loopy vodka butter cream frosting."  Excited? 

Today's blog post could not have happened without inspiration from three gentlemen - F&G who bought me my very first taste of Three Olives Loopy (like Kellogg's Froot Loop cereal-flavored) vodka and Mr. Jason - who when I whined that I wanted a cupcake, sent me a link to a cupcake recipe containing vodka.

Being half-Polish, I frankly am surprised that I haven't put vodka in my cupcakes a long time ago.  I have used Bailey's Irish Cream in frosting and I drink copious amounts of vodka in a mad variety of flavors.  How did I not ever think of putting together vodka and cupcakes?  (Maybe because I drink too much and my creative brain cells have long since left the playground.)

But perhaps one creative brain cell stuck around because when I looked at the link Mr. Jason sent me, I thought "sure vodka in a cupcake would be good (why not?), but LOOPY VODKA in a cupcake - now THAT would be really something!"  Like MacGyver with a paper clip and some bubble gum, I set off searching the internet for various boozy cupcake recipes and any recipe imitating a Kellogg's Froot Loops cereal flavor.  I was on a MISSION!

I posted on Facebook that I would not only perfect a cupcake with Three Olives Loopy Vodka but that I would name it in honor of Mr. Jason, my cupcake muse.  And ladies and gentlemen, that was how the LOOPY JASON CUPCAKE was born!

Now before I give you the details on how to make Loopy Jason cupcakes, let me tell you a little about the man behind the inspiration for this cupcake.  

I have known Mr. Jason for many, many years. (and no, he doesn't require anyone to call him Mr. Jason, nor do I refer to him to his face as Mr. Jason - but for some reason [perhaps too many vodka cupcakes] I feel like calling him Mr. Jason today.  And no, he's not a dog groomer or a hairstylist in Beverly Hills.)  I first met Jason (ahem - Mr. Jason) in La La Land -- yes, Los Angeles, California.  Jason was splitting his time between an apartment in New York City and a house near Venice Beach.  I was living in a one bedroom apartment in Hollywood that had nightly transvestite hooker action in the alley.  I split my time between horror and dodging crackheads.

Jason has one of those personalities where everyone just wants to hang out with him.  I'm pretty sure he was a priest or cult leader in a former life as I instantly feel calm and zen when I am around him.  Kind of a beatnik, modern day laid back just cool dude.  And he can cook!  I, like many people, just think that Jason is the bees' elbows.  People just want to be around him.

Oh and by the way ... do you want to know something else about Jason?

I hate him.

Yes, don't tell Jason, but I hate him.  

Why, you ask?  

After such praise and insect appendages and cult leader status?  

Yes, yes and yes.  I hate him.  

And lean in closer, because I'll tell you the two reasons I absolutely hate Jason.

Number one -- he's a savant.  Do you know how on occasion you may get an itch to try something new?  Like you decide you want to try pottery, so you take some clay and after much concerted effort you make ... ta da, a round ball!  

Well with Jason, when he gets an itch to try something he goes from amateur to masterpiece creator in about 1.3 seconds.  

Oh Jason wants to try sculpting?  How did that go?  Oh a garage full of museum-quality pieces on the first try.

Oh, Jason wants to try his hand at woodworking?  I did woodworking in 6th grade.  Do you know what I made?  A cutting board - 2 pieces of wood fused together.  And a bookstand - 3 pieces of wood fused together.  

Do you know what Jason made for his very first woodworking project?  A gigantic king-sized bed frame - reminiscent of something you would see at some ridiculously ritzy $1000 a night eco-lodge in the middle of a rainforest.  

Jason is so good at everything he decides to try on a whim that I just want to choke the life out of him.  

After he makes me a house full of furniture, that is.

Number Two --  The second reason why I hate Jason is because he works in New York City at an office where they have every beverage known to man or beast.  My company won't even pay for my internet and Jason has 900,000 beverages at his disposal each and every day.  

People, beverages are important.  And I'm not just talking about "Oh you have BOTH Pepsi and Coke products?"  No, I am talking about: 

"Hey Jason, I had this wild peyote-induced hallucination where I rode a pegasus to a forest inhabited by gnomes and they served this crystal clear nectar that they plucked from giant Avatar the movie-like flowers, fermented for 100 years and then served lightly carbonated.  Do you have any of that on hand?"

"Sure Lily, do you want the soursop flavor or the jackfruit flavor?"

"WHAAAAAT?  I thought they discontinued the soursop flavor because it causes seizures in giraffes?"

"No, they just told uncool people that so the cool people would have an ample supply."

"I KNEW IT!  Wait, does this mean I'm not one of the cool people?"

"Ummm... uhhhh... hey, did you want this drink on ice?  We have crushed, shaved, cubed and a guy in the back who will carve little ice heads shaped like the members of The New Kids On The Block."

I hate you, Jason.  I hate you and your savant ways and your unlimited supply of magical drinks.  Beverages are important and in this life Jason obviously has an incredible store of beverage karma.  While I, on the other hand, get giddy if I have a Smartwater every now and again.

Now some of you out there may be thinking: "Hmmm Lily, your `hatred' actually sounds like textbook jealousy."  To which I would respond "Shut up, Dr. Freud- nobody asked you!"

Is it no wonder that Jason the savant would also be the ultimate cupcake muse?  So while I hate Jason, I love that he inspired me to actually use my oven ... In Florida ... In the summer.  That takes a lot of chutzpah, moxie and a lot of desire to have booze in my food.

Jason had sent me the link to the Chocolate Vodka Raspberry Rock Star Cupcake.  I took one look at the recipe and knew it was too much work for a lazy baker like me.  I needed something much easier and this is what I came up with ...

(P.S. Three Olives Vodka sent a blogger a bottle of S'mores vodka and she made cupcakes with it.  I want Three Olives Vodka to know that they can send me free vodka any time they want ... I am here, ready willing and able to accept free vodka.  My absolute favorites are the Loopy vodka, of course - but I also keep a bottle of Three Olives root beer vodka in my freezer at all times.  The darling little Ybor City bar Fume Bella [Beautiful Smoke] turned me on to Three Olives root beer vodka in their root beer highballs and I have been a fan ever since!)

Loopy Jason Double Frosted Vodka Cupcakes:
Makes 24 cupcakes

For my base cupcake recipe, I started with a modified version of TheBakingRobot.com's Cake Vodka Cupcakes.  I am not going to repost his/her/robot's recipe here in my blog because I don't own it and I do believe in blogger etiquette.  And I hope anyone who wants to try my Loopy Jason cupcake recipes will credit LilyOnTheLam.com appropriately.  (Thanks!)

- Cake Vodka Cupcake recipe

Lily's modifications - I followed the recipe except I put in 2/3 of a cup of Three Olives Loopy Vodka instead of the 1/2 cup of cake-flavored vodka and 1 1/4 tsp. almond extract instead of the vanilla extract.  I used Hello Kitty cupcake wrappers, because they're incredibly cute.  

TheBakingRobot.com says to mix the batter until it is just combined.  I totally overmixed and had dense cupcakes because of it.  So next time I am paying better attention to TheBakingRobot.com!  Live and learn!

My recipe made 24 cupcakes, TheBakingRobot.com's makes only 16, so not sure how that happened.  I use a standard size cupcake pan.

After filling the cupcake tins 2/3 full I sprinkled each cupcake with either True Lime or True Lemon crystallized juice.  (So 12 of my cupcakes had lime topping and 12 had lemon.)  If you are using the packets (versus the shaker bottles) of True Lime and True Lemon, I used about 1/2 a packet per cupcake.  It makes a slight crunchy cupcake top with a burst of citrus that adds to the Froot Loop-like taste.

I baked the cupcakes for about 21 minutes - I should have only baked them for about 18 minutes.  The browning of the True Lemon and True Lime is a bit deceptive, so test with a toothpick in the center of a cupcake to see if the cake is fully cooked.    

The lightly browned True Lemon or True Lime crystals made a bit of a crust on top.  I should have taken a toothpick and poked holes about 3/4 inch deep into each of the cupcakes before I did this next step.

Loopy Vodka Glaze:

I took two cups of powdered sugar, three True Lime packets, one True Lemon packet and 1/2 a cup of Three Olives Loopy vodka and mixed well to make a vodka and sugar glaze.  I drizzled a small spoonful of glaze over each cupcake while it was still slightly warm.

I did this for two reasons - my cupcakes were overcooked, so I wanted to add some moisture back in to the cupcake.  This is to give it a kind of rum cake feel where the cake is saturated with alcohol.  

I also wanted to replicate that sugar-sweet citrus POW! of flavor that kids' sugar-frosted cereals give.  

If you are watching your calories, stop eating cupcakes.

Ooops, I mean if you are watching your calories, just brush the tops of the warm cupcakes with Three Olives Loopy Vodka instead of the sugar glaze.

I then let the cupcakes completely cool and let the glaze harden.  

Loopy Vodka Cream Cheese Butter Cream Frosting:

While the cupcakes were cooling,  I took a recipe for White Russian Cream Cheese Frosting from CulinaryConcoctionsbyPeabody.Com.  I swapped out the 2 Tbsp of Kahula and 2 Tbsp of Vanilla vodka with 5 Tbsp of Three Olives Loopy Vodka.  I also added 2 packets of True Lime.  

I put the finished buttercream frosting in the refrigerator for about two hours before using to let the flavors develop and the butter cream to set.  I also tried my best to not stop by the refrigerator frequently to stick my finger in the frosting bowl.

Please note - while supposedly the alcohol content of the vodka cooks out of the cupcake as it is baking, the glaze and butter cream frosting have straight vodka in them with all of its lovely alcohol content in tact.  In other words, 21 years old and up age limit for these cupcakes.  Don't give them to your children, please!

After frosting the glazed cupcakes with the cream cheese butter cream, I tried my hand at decorating.  I smashed some Kellogg's Froot Loops cereal and dusted the top of a cupcake with the crumbs.  I found however that this made a giant mess when I tried biting in to the cupcake.  So I prefer just a couple Froot Loops on top for style purposes and a cleaner looking cupcake.  Just because your cupcake is boozy, doesn't mean it needs to be sloppy.  Or at least that has always been my life's motto.

So how did it taste?  Really sweet and citrus-y with a Loopy vodka kick.  It's like you put a splash of vodka in your morning breakfast cereal.  (Frankly something I consider from time to time ...)

The almond cupcake balanced the rich sweetness of the glaze and the cream cheese butter cream.  It definitely had that "This is too sweet to be a part of my balanced morning breakfast" feeling that I get when I eat sugared cereals.  If I had not over-mixed and over-baked the cupcake batter, this would have been an A+ recipe!

And there you have it - LilyOnTheLam.Com Readers - The Loopy Jason Cupcake - a Three Olives Loopy Vodka cupcake!  Try out the recipe and let me know what you think in the comments section!

P.S. Three Olives, I'm serious - send me some free vodka.  ;)