Minature Key Lime Cupcakes

Time files so quickly and this is our 13th bake-along with my two brilliant baking buddies, Lena, from Frozen wings and Joyce from Kitchen Flavours. These bake-alongs have been great opportunities for me to broaden my baking horizon. I really enjoy baking for all our past bake-alongs and love sharing our baking ideas and recipes with my friends.

The book, Bon Appetit by Barbara Fairchild is recommended by Lena when she first bought this book. These cupcakes are the first item that I've baked this gigantic book.

When I first read the recipe, I had a short list of dos and don'ts for these cupcakes.

• I didn't like the idea of my lime cupcakes to be too green in colour but conversely, I want my lime cupcakes to have a greenish lime identity.
• I want these cupcakes to be light and refreshing...just like a typical fizzy lime drink would taste.
• I want to have attractive cupcakes but didn't want the cupcakes to be overwhelmed with decorations. Just simple and pretty.

Eventually, this is what I did...

My key lime cupcakes were baked in smaller bite-sizes. Inspired by light and fizzy cocktails with sugars coated on the rims of the glasses, my cupcakes were served with a lighter version of cream cheese frosting and lightly decorated with well-infused lime sugar on the rims of my cupcakes.

I'm happy with the way that I made these cupcakes...

 

Decorating these mini cupcakes...

A closer-look of my lime sugar

Here's the recipe from the book, Bon Appetit by Barbara Fairchild
(with my modification in blue)

make 12 standard size cupcakes

Cupcakes
1 cup unbleached all purpose flour
3/4 cup self raising flour
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/4 cup sugar
2 large eggs
2 1/2 tbsp fresh lime juice
1 tbsp finely grated lime peel
1/4 tsp neon green food colouring (optional - I didn't add this)
3/4 cup buttermilk

Frosting (please see below for my modification)
1 1/2 powdered sugar
1 8 ounce package Philadelphia-brand cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 tbsp finely grated lime peel
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 12 standard (1/3 cup) muffin cups with paper liners. Whisk both flours in medium bowl to blend. Using electric mixer, beat butter in large bowl until smooth. Add sugar; beat to blend. Beat in eggs 1 at a time, then lime juice, lime peel, and food colouring. if using. (Batter may look curdled.) Beat in flour mixture in 3 additions alternatively with buttermilk in 2 additions. Spoon scant 1/3 cup batter into each liner.

Bake cupcakes until tester inserted into center comes out clean, 20-25 min. Cool 10 min in pan. Remove cupcakes from pan; cool completely.

Frosting: Using electric mixer, beat all ingredients in medium bowl until smooth. Spread over cupcakes.

For my mini-sized cupcakes:

• I have used 1/2 of the cupcakes recipe to bake 21 of these mini-sized cupcakes.  
• The cupcakes were baked at 160°C (fan forced) for 12-15 min.

Extra light cream cheese frosting for 21 mini cupcakes:
1/4 cup powdered sugar
80g Philadelphia-brand extra light cream cheese, room temperature

Lime sugar:
1/2 tsp finely grated lime rind
3 tbsp caster sugar
a tint of green colouring gel (I use Wilton brand)
All well-mixed and rubbed with finger tips and well-infused for more than 24 hrs

To assemble:
Spread the cream cheese frosting over the completely cooled cupcakes and coat the rim of the icing with the lime sugar.

Happy Baking
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