Horchata Cupcakes (Cheat Day)

My friend Nat came to spend the weekend with me and nothing reminds me more of her than horchata. So together we made these horchata cupcakes. They were simply decadent!

Horchata is a traditional Mexican beverage made with rice. It is flavored with lime and cinnamon and sweetened with sugar. Originally horchata was made with the chufa nut and sometimes melon or squash seeds. The rice, nuts or seeds are ground and mixed with water to make a milky looking drink. Since it does not contain milk, it will not spoil as easily as a dairy containing beverage. The origins of this drink stem from Egypt where they originally used the chufa nut to make horchata. During ancient times, the drink made its way to Spain. When the Spaniards brought the drink to Mexico, the natives used rice to make the drink.

Horchata is easy to make but you do need to start the day before you plan to make cupcakes because it needs to soak overnight. Fortunately the prep work is less than 5 minutes!

Horchata
1/2 cup uncooked rice
2 cups water
1 tsp. vanilla
2 tbsp ground almonds
1 whole cinnamon stick
1/3 cup sugar

Mix all ingredients in a pitcher. Let it soak overnight. Blend the mixture to break up the rice (it won’t blend all the way). Strain the mixture and throw away the rice. Your horchata is ready!

Horchata Cupcakes (~12 cupcakes)
1/4 cup butter
3/4 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups  flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cup fresh Horchata
1 egg
1 egg white

Preheat oven to 350*. Cream together the butter and sugar. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Add the egg and egg white to the butter mixture.  Alternately add the flour mixture and horchata to butter mixture, beginning and ending with the flour. Mix until combined. Fill cupcake tins 2/3 full and bake for 22 minutes, or until they pass the toothpick test.

Horchata Frosting
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup shortening
3 cups powdered sugar
1 1/2 tbsp fresh horchata
dash of salt

Cream together the butter and shortening. Add in the salt. Slowly add the horchata. You can choose to add it gradually as you add the powdered sugar. Add the powdered sugar one cup at a time, allowing each cup to be mixed in before adding the next. After you frost the cupcakes, sprinkle some cinnamon on top. Ole!