18 July 2007

what's cooking wednesday...cupcake edition

every summer, while we are on break from homeschooling, i seem to inadvertantly pick a "kitchen theme"...a food or ingredient that i latch onto early in the season & without actually deciding to, gravitate toward it all summer, both in recipe searches & in actual experiments. This summer it is cupcakes!
do not ask me why!

in early june i made a cupcake recipe for a dinner party that would allow further use of my culinary lavender, which i had successfully incorporated into ice cream. i honestly did not expect much from that endeavor. in fact, i have not a photographic record of it! however, our small group **devoured** those tasty little lavender/lemon-type filled cupcakes. hmmmm...must make again! the experience spurred more cupcake action & flavors, much to the delight of my family & those with whom we party in the 'hood!

today, i present another of my summer cupcake experiments...

Key Lime Cupcakes

for the Key Lime Cake...
*beat 1 stick (8 T.) softened, unsalted butter on high for ~30 seconds
*add 1 c. sugar & zest of 4 key limes (or 1 regular lime), beat on high for 3 minutes
*Add 2 large eggs (at room temp.), one at a time, beat ~30 seconds each
*Mix 1 1/3 c. flour, 1/2 t. baking powder, 1/2 t. baking soda, & 1/8 t. salt together
*Mix 1/4 c. milk & 1/4 c. key lime juice** together
*Add 1/3 flour mix to the butter/sugar/egg mix, beating til combine
*Add 1/3 milk mix to the butter mix, beating til combined
*Repeat above additions, alternating between flour mix & milk mix - ending with flour mix
*Spoon batter into cupcake liners
*Bake at 350 for 20-22 minutes (until cake tester comes out clean)
**side note...i use Nellie & Joe's Key Lime Juice & i substituted coconut milk (NOT coconut cream!) for the regular milk - awesome success!!
for the Key Lime Cream Chesse Icing...

*Bring 2 packages (16 oz.) cream cheese & 1 stick (8 T.) unsalted butter to room temperature
*Beat at medium speed until creamy
*Add 4 c. confectioner's sugar, beat until combined
*Add 1/2 t. key lime juice & zest from 2 key limes, beat until combined
*Spread or pipe onto cooled Key Lime Cupcakes
*Top each with a gorgeous raspberry & enjoy!!

4 comments:

Michelle | Bleeding Espresso said...

You're killing me here! Neither limes nor raspberries are easily accessible here! Argh!

Enjoy some for me please :)

qualcosa di bello said...

i would suggest a substitution of lemon juice/zest (i *know* how scrumptious those southern italian lemons are!) & any appropriate berry you can find. unfortunately i enjoy these a little bit too much!

MommaBoo said...

My brother-in-law is a key-lime fiend.

His birthday is in August. Guess what he's getting?


Gosh, those sound yummy!

Shan said...

I triple love cupcakes, but usually stick to the chocolate variety. Will have to give this a go. I love lime in the summer time. Thanks.