Sweet Avenue Bake Shop, a pretty cool vegan bakery in Rutherford, NJ, did some liquor-themed cupcakes recently. I had hoped to try Whiskey Sour, but they only had Margarita and Pina Colada when I stopped in. The Margarita cupcake has a tequila-jelly filling, lime icing, a lime wedge, and large sugar (“salt”) crystals. The Pina Colada has a coconut-rum jelly instead with coconut icing and a pineapple-flavored glob on top. They were alright — the cake was supposed to be liquor-soaked, but it did not seem to be. The jelly fillings weren’t hitting the spot for me, either. However, their cake and icing is always wonderful, and I gladly ate these, even if they didn’t quite taste like cocktails. These gorgeous and tasty creations have no dairy or egg products in them. Amazing, right?

Lime icing closeup on a Margarita cupcake

I love big chunky textures at the macro-level.

Sugar crystals in icing

Two body shots if you care, but we’re all here for the icing, right?

Margarita cupcake from Sweet Avenue Bake Shop

Pina Colada cupcake from Sweet Avenue Bake Shop

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