It should be said that, while intoxicated, I tend to do strange things. I embrace it. Last night I got off work at about 2pm and, since I work at a bar, I figured I'd stick around for some sweet tea vodka & lemonades, which turned into jager and so on. Safe to say, by the time Benny came to meet me at 8pm, I was finished for the night.
HOWEVER. On the way home, I had a sudden terrible urge to make lemon curd and so I took a jaunt to our neighborhood mexican grocery store. I woke up this morning to a fridge full of citrus fruits. I had 10 lemons, 15 limes, and a bunch of bananas. (Which cost me $4 total, thankyouverymuch)
Now. I see this kind of a thing as a challenge. I had so many culinary plans this morning. I spent at least an hour staring at Martha Stewart's lemon desserts section on her web page. (You have to see this.) I decided I'd take an outing to try to find caster sugar and take advantage of $2.99 vanilla beans at World Market. (That's for two. Vs. the $12 for 1 vanilla bean Jewel offers) Of course, this turned into another shopping trip ending in, among other things, new pastry bags and a big huge bunch of cherries from Aldi for only $2! (Those'll be part II) The lemons have been put on the back-burner.
I've still been meaning to use the mint, and therefore the limes, so that's were the inspiration for the cocktail in my previous post originated.
But I hadn't had enough lime for today, so I found this recipe from The Doctor's Dishes, Desserts, & Decors. I halved the recipe, which yielded about 7 cupcakes. Absolutely perfect to satisfy that cupcake/lime craving without having a ton of extra cupcakes around the house. (It was also just enough that when a few people came by tonight, I was able to feed them cupcakes. These were a hit)
An added bonus: I love an opportunity to use food coloring, and maybe have overdone it but I love the way the coloring turned out! - Not to mention the flavor. Perfectly tart, perfectly oh-so-sweet frosting and just on the whole wonderfully refreshing.
LIME CUPCAKES WITH CREAM CHEESE & LIME FROSTING
from The Doctor's Dishes
from The Doctor's Dishes
CUPCAKES
3/4 cup all purpose flour
1 cup self-rising flour
1/2 cup salted butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
3 tablespoons fresh lime juice (1 med/lg lime's worth)
1 tablespoon finely grated lime peel (approx 1 lime)
1/4 teaspoon neon-green food coloring
3/4 cup buttermilk
Preheat oven to 350°F. Line standard muffin pan with 12 paper liners.
Whisk both flours in medium bowl. Beat butter & sugar in large bowl until creamy. Beat in eggs 1 at a time, then next 3 ingredients (batter may look curdled). Beat in flour mixture in 3 additions alternately 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 to 25 minutes. Cool 10 minutes. Remove from pan; cool.
FROSTING
1 8-ounce package cream cheese, room temperature
2+ cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1 tablespoon finely grated lime peel
1/2 teaspoon lemon extract
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice.
Beat all ingredients in medium bowl until smooth. Spread or pipe over cupcakes.
[Notes:
-I skipped on the self-rising flour and used this little handy tip
-I halved the recipe but used the same amount of lime zest and juice, making the cupcake more tart. Which balanced perfectly with the sweetness of this amazing frosting.
-The Doctor and I agree: This recipe makes more frosting than you'll need! But you can use it with something else, its so good! - My guests took care of that problem for me.]
Recipe Soundtrack: Animal Collective. Anything by Animal Collective. (Its a frantic dance kinda day!)
ENJOY! These are fantastic.
3/4 cup all purpose flour
1 cup self-rising flour
1/2 cup salted butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
3 tablespoons fresh lime juice (1 med/lg lime's worth)
1 tablespoon finely grated lime peel (approx 1 lime)
1/4 teaspoon neon-green food coloring
3/4 cup buttermilk
Preheat oven to 350°F. Line standard muffin pan with 12 paper liners.
Whisk both flours in medium bowl. Beat butter & sugar in large bowl until creamy. Beat in eggs 1 at a time, then next 3 ingredients (batter may look curdled). Beat in flour mixture in 3 additions alternately 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 to 25 minutes. Cool 10 minutes. Remove from pan; cool.
FROSTING
1 8-ounce package cream cheese, room temperature
2+ cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1 tablespoon finely grated lime peel
1/2 teaspoon lemon extract
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice.
Beat all ingredients in medium bowl until smooth. Spread or pipe over cupcakes.
[Notes:
-I skipped on the self-rising flour and used this little handy tip
-I halved the recipe but used the same amount of lime zest and juice, making the cupcake more tart. Which balanced perfectly with the sweetness of this amazing frosting.
-The Doctor and I agree: This recipe makes more frosting than you'll need! But you can use it with something else, its so good! - My guests took care of that problem for me.]
Recipe Soundtrack: Animal Collective. Anything by Animal Collective. (Its a frantic dance kinda day!)
ENJOY! These are fantastic.
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