Monday Sweets: Lime Cupcakes

These lime cupcakes almost ended a friendship. A love of dessert and other similar foods was much of why Colleen and I  first bonded in the dorm. Since then, any food difference beyond the few we originally identified threatens such bond, or at least it does so in our sarcastic jabs. In this case, that threat was the lime dessert I was to make for weekend retreat because she does not favor lemon/lime desserts.

I'd pick a chocolate pie over lemon any day, but in August heat a fruity cupcake sounded more refreshing than standard but delicious chocolate or vanilla. I could have made my strawberry, peach, or orange cupcakes but instead followed a little inspiration from the July/August Cooking with Paula Deen to try lime!

BUT I was careful not to make them lime-y, for as little doubt that I had that Colleen would dislike any dessert I made, my pleaser complex and personal distaste toward super-citrusy desserts reigned. The cakes were distinctly lime-tasting but not overpoweringly so, and icing had just a tinge of citrus.

Colleen did in fact eat multiple of these cupcakes and liked them much better than she was expecting, but our dessert bonding that weekend was stronger over our chocoholism in the new chocolate chip cookie recipe I tried.

Lime Cupcakes

Adapted from Magnolia Cupcakes via Kichenlink.com

Makes about 2 dozen cupcakes.

 

1 1/2 cups self-rising flour

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened

2 cups sugar

4 large eggs, at room temperature

1 cup milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 lime

1 recipe Buttercream Frosting

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two 12-cup muffin tins with cupcake papers.

In a small bowl, combine the flours. Set aside.

Grate zest off lime. Set aside 1 teaspoon for the icing. Juice the lime.

In a large bowl, on the medium speed of an electric mixer, cream the butter until smooth. Add the sugar gradually and beat until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the dry ingredients in three parts, alternating with the milk and vanilla. With each addition, beat until the ingredients are incorporated but do not overbeat. Mix in lime zest (all but 1 teaspoon set aside for icing) and juice. Using a rubber spatula, scrape down the batter in the bowl to make sure the ingredients are well blended. Carefully spoon the batter into the cupcake liners, filling them about three-quarters full. Bake for 20–25 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted in the center of the cupcake comes out clean.

Cool the cupcakes in the tins for 15 minutes. Remove from the tins and cool completely on a wire rack before icing.

Prepare Buttercream Frosting. Mix in lime zest. Ice cakes. Garnish with a raspberry or small lime slices.