Need a BIT OF THE TROPICS for a summer dessert? Check out this recipe for Key Lime Cupcakes. Tender moist sour cream and key lime juice baked cupcake brushed with key lime simple syrup and frosted with Key Lime Cream Cheese Frosting. I know thats a lot of key lime, but when you are in the mood for the tropics or the summer heat is a bit much, you can’t get enough of citrus including Key Lime.
How to Make Key Lime Cupcakes
You will need Nellie & Joe’s Key Lime Juice to make these authentic Key Lime flavored. N & J Key Lime Juice can be found in your baking aisle or where bottled lemon juice is found. This juice makes great tangy key lime pies too!
This recipe is from scratch but if you want to use a cake mix you can. Scroll down for cake mix recipe. It is totally different than this home-made from scratch recipe but both are very good.
Butter, eggs, sour cream, two kinds of sugar, flour, baking powder and soda, salt and of course Key Lime Juice makes this cupcake batter smooth and fluffy. The cupcakes bake light in color and more spongy consistency. Just so you know it is a different kind of texture of your cake mix varieties. Butter instead of vegetable oil makes a denser cake. Also the color of the cupcake is more white than yellow or key lime color.
Let’s Make Key Lime Cupcakes
Allow eggs, butter, and cream cheese to soften at room temperature before making the cupcakes.
Preheat oven to 350°F and line two cupcake pans with white or lime green paper liners. I used white. This recipe makes 21 cupcakes. In a medium mixing bowl add flour, baking powder and baking soda with salt. Toss to combine and set aside.
Measure out sour cream and place in separate bowl. In bowl of stand mixer, add softened butter and sugars, beat with paddle attachment for about 1 minute. Scrape down sides of bowl and add eggs, key lime juice and lemon extract, beat to combine.
Add half of the flour mixture and half of the sour cream to the batter, beat to combine, add remaining flour and sour cream, beat to blend. Turn off mixer.
Fill cupcake liners 3/4 full with ice cream scoop. Place cupcakes in middle of oven and bake 20 minutes or until center is done when inserting a toothpick in the center of the cupcakes. Remove from oven. Leave in baking pan while you brush each cupcake with Key Lime simple syrup. This is a mixture of key lime juice and granulated sugar with a tiny bit of melted butter.
Key Lime simple syrup helps infuse more key lime flavor and moistness to the cupcakes as well as helps keep the butter cream frosting on top of the cupcake if you a piping high swirls.
How to Make Key Lime Butter Cream Frosting
In a medium bowl, add softened butter and cream cheese until smooth and creamy. Add 2 cups of the 4 cups of confectioner’s sugar, beat with beater attachment until thick, add additional 2 cups of confectioner’s sugar, beat to blend. Add key lime juice and tiny bit of salt. If frosting is too thick add a bit o cream or milk to loosen it a bit. You want medium consistency for piping swirls. If needed place frosting in refrigerator to chill about 20 minutes before piping cupcakes.
Fill piping bag with large swirl tip and key lime frosting to bag. Pipe large swirls on top of the cupcakes. Garnish with lime zest and small lime cut quarters if desired.
Hope you will try this recipe, it is very refreshing and you probably have most of the ingredients except maybe Nellies Key Lime Juice.
Oh.. if you want to use a box mix check here is the recipe:
1 standard yellow cake mix, 1 small package instant vanilla pudding mix, 4 eggs ½ cup Nellie & Joe’s Key West Lime Juice and ½ cup vegetable oil. Mix to blend two minutes, then scoop into cupcake liners in baking pan. Follow key lime cream cheese frosting recipe listed below.
Either way you make these they are delicious! Enjoy!
Key Lime Cupcakes
Easy to make from scratch Key Lime Cupcakes supremely moist and great way to taste a bit of the tropics. Key Lime simple syrup is brushed over baked cakes to seal in the flavor while Key Lime Cream Cheese Frosting is swirled on top of each cupcake. Lime zest and slice garnishes each cupcake.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 18-20 minutes
- Total Time: 60 minutes including frosting
- Yield: 21 cupcakes 1x
- Category: Dessert-Cupcakes
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
1/2 cup butter, softened (room temperature)
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 cup full fat sour cream
2 eggs, room temperature
5 tablespoons Nellie & Joe’s Key Lime Juice
1 teaspoon vanilla or lemon extract
1–3/4 cup all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
Key Lime Simple Syrup
2 tablespoons Nellie & Joe’s Key Lime Juice
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 tablespoon butter, melted
Key Lime Cream Cheese Frosting
1/2 cup butter, softened
1–8 ounce package cream cheese, softened
4–1/2 cups confectioner’s sugar
2 tablespoons Nellie & Joes Key Lime Juice
1/2 teaspoon lemon extract
1/2 teaspoon salt
Garnish
1 medium lime for zest and to cut into small wedges as the garnish/decor.
Instructions
Cupcakes:
- Line 2 cupcake pans with 21 cupcake liners. Preheat oven to 350°F. Oven rack in middle of oven.
- In medium bowl, measure flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt, whisk together and set aside.
- In bowl of stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, cream butter and sugars until smooth and creamy.
- Add eggs, beat on low speed, scrape down sides of bowl. Add key lime juice and extract, whip on low speed to combine.
- Add half of the sour cream and half of the flour, beat til flour disappears on low speed, add remaining sour cream and flour. Beat to combine.
- Scoop batter into cupcake liners filling 3/4 full. Bake at 350 for 18-20 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean.
- Make simple syrup, in small mixing cup add all ingredients, microwave 25 seconds, stir to blend.
- Remove cupcakes from oven when done and brush warm cupcakes with Key Lime Simple Syrup a pastry brush.
Make Key Lime Cream Cheese Frosting
In bowl of stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, add butter and cream cheese. Beat until smooth and creamy about a minute. Add 2 cups of confectioner’s sugar, beat to blend, mixture will be dry but as it beats it will loosen up. Add remaining confectioner’s sugar, key lime juice, extract and salt. Whip on medium high speed to combine well. Frosting should be medium stiff consistency for piping.
Piping Cupcakes:
Fill disposable piping bag with large star tip # 859. Fill piping bag with frosting. Pipe swirls on top of cupcakes. Grate lime for zest and sprinkle over top of cupcake, add lime triangle as a garnish.
Store cupcakes in refrigerator until serving.
Notes
If you want to freeze cupcakes, do not frost until ready to serve. Frozen cupcakes will be good for 30 days if wrapped securely in freezer bag. Allow to thaw before frosting.
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