April Cupcake of the Month

Key Lime Cupcakes

Makes 18 cupcakes

Cupcake Ingredients:

1 cup butter, softened

1 cup sugar

2 cups self-rising* flour

4 eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

*The self- rising flour is key. If you just use all-purpose flour (which you can) you will end up with a denser smaller cupcake. The self-rising flour makes it rise and lighter.

Filling Ingredients:

1/3 cup key lime juice

14 oz. can condensed milk

*I would half this recipe because I had a lot of leftover filling but it you want a lot of filling in each cupcake use the given amounts.

**You can find key limes a specialty grocery market and sometimes a normal grocery store. Instead of trying to find key lime juice I bought key limes and juiced them by hand. It took a little longer but that is because these limes are the size of a quarter!

Meringue Ingredients:

3 egg whites

1/4 tsp. cream of tartar

1/3 cup sugar

Cupcake Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare muffin pans with baking cups or spray. Place all the cupcake ingredients in a large bowl, and beat with an electric mixer until smooth and pale (2 to 3 minutes).

Spoon the batter in the cup and bake for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven, cool for 5 minutes then, remove the cupcakes from the pan and place on a rack to finish cooling.

Directions for Filling/Meringue:

Combine lime juice and condensed milk in a small bowl. Remove the center of each cupcake and spoon the filling in the hole. For the Meringue, beat eggs and cream of tartar until peaks form. Add 1/3 of the sugar and beat for a minute. Continue until all the sugar has been added. Pipe the Meringue on each cupcake and put in a preheated, 450 degree oven for 5 minutes, until golden brown.

*Instead of putting the frosted cupcakes in a 450 degree oven, I just put the oven on Broil and bake the cupcakes for 1 to 2 minutes, until golden brown. This way is much faster and gives the meringue a better color. 

Bake On! Until next month!