Absinthe Cupcakes: Brought to You By the Green Fairy

The Green Fairy Presents: Absinthe Cupcakes

Prepare for a fantastical journey of taste like none you have experienced before.

What The Fairy’s Friends Said About Absinthe Cupcakes

The Green Fairy’s Only Friend who Had Tried Absinthe Before: Liked the flavor but was disappointed that he didn’t get drunk from the cupcake. (You can definitely taste the absinthe, but sorry, they won’t make you drunk.)

My Pregnant Friend: “This is the closest I’m going to get to alcohol for a while!” She liked them, but thought the texture was too thick.

My Friend who Puts Much Thought Into His Reviews: “I love the texture. It’s very filling so I could stop at one, but it’s so good I could have two or three.”

Groom 2.0: Groom 2.0 was under the influence of the sick fairy so he couldn’t taste anything.

I loved these cupcakes. They had the texture of cornbread (you’ll see there is actually cornmeal in them) and the mild, yet definitive flavor of spice cake but with totally different spices than you would find in a typical spice cake. The topping is simply sugar and absinthe. Some thought there was too much sugar. Some thought there was too little sugar. Some wanted normal frosting. I thought the balance was just right.

I don’t like licorice nor did several of my tasters and we still enjoyed these absinthe cupcakes. People say absinthe tastes like licorice and it does have a small resemblance to it, but it is not the same taste.

The Absinthe Cupcake Recipe

I got the recipe from David Lebovitz. He made these as a cake and I converted them to cupcakes. I reprinted the recipe with my changes below.

• 1 1/4 t anise seeds
• 1 1/4 C flour
• 1/2 C cornmeal
• 2 t baking powder
• 1/4 t salt
• 8 T unsalted butter
• 1 C sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1/4 C whole milk (I used heavy whipping cream because that’s what I had on hand)
• 1/4 C absinthe (I used Absente from Buy Absinthe Alcohol. For more on using and buying absinthe, read this.)
• 1 small orange

In a mortar and pestle or a spice grinder, grind the anise seeds until relatively fine. Whisk together the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, salt, and anise seeds. Set aside. Beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time until they are incorporated. Mix together the milk and absinthe with a small handful of orange zest (Use more if you want the orange flavor to shine more. I used about 1/2 t.) Stir half the dry ingredients into the beaten butter. Then add the milk and absinthe mixture. Stir in the remaining dry mixture, being careful not to over mix.

This recipe should make 12 cupcakes. They hardly rise at all so you can fill your liners almost all the way to the top. Bake for 30 min at 350 degrees.

The Absinthe Glaze Recipe

• 1/4 C sugar
• 1/4 C absinthe

Stir the sugar and the absinthe. You do NOT want the sugar to dissolve in the absinthe. As you can see in the picture, the glaze had big sugary clumps. Poke holes in the cupcakes and drizzle the glaze into the holes and all over the tops of the cupcakes. All of the glaze should be used when you are done.