Key Lime Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

Cupcakes! Who doesn’t love a good cupcake? Be honest, we all do. I tend to look for the strange ones and they have all been pretty darn good. Ask my coworkers; I use them as my guinea pigs for new sweets. Here is one of them…. Key Lime Cupcakes. If you love key lime pie, you will love these. Tangy and sweet, refreshing, and unexpected.

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Key Lime Cupcakes

1 ¾ c. flour
½ tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. salt
1 stick (1/2 cup) cool unsalted butter, cut into 8 pieces
1 ¼ c. sugar
2 large eggs (room temperature)
2 ½ Tbsps. key lime juice
1 Tbsps. key lime zest
1 drop green food coloring paste
¾ cup buttermilk (room temperature)

Preheat oven to 350F. Line a muffin tin with 12 paper liners. Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt three times, set aside.

Using a mixer with the paddle attachment, beat the butter on low until it’s softened a bit. Add the sugar and increase the speed to medium. Beat until fluffy, about four minutes. Add one egg at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the lime juice, zest, and food coloring and beat until mixed. (The mixture will look curdled.) Add the flour in three additions, alternating with the buttermilk, beginning and ending with the flour, scraping down the bowl as necessary. Mix on low until just combined. Fill each cupcake liner 2/3 full. Bake 20-25 minutes. Cool completely and frost with cream cheese icing.

1 stick cool unsalted butter, cut into 8 pieces
8 ounces cream cheese (room temperature), cut into 8 pieces
2 ¼ c. powdered sugar, sifted
1 Tbsp key lime zest

Using a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter on low until it’s softened a bit. Increase speed to medium and add the cream cheese one piece at a time. Reduce speed to low and slowly add powdered sugar until combined. Beat in zest.

German Chocolate Cake with Coconut Pecan Frosting

My husband, Nate, loves this stuff. I remember the first time I made it, I was up all night because I had 1, yes 1, round pan. So I would bake one until it cooled enough for me to remove it and then add the batter for the next. Needless to say once he found out how long I had been up to make it for him, he loved it that much more. So moral of this story is..... have 3 round pans. When I ice this I add some between the layers and then just pour the rest of the icing over the top so that it runs down the sides and looks irregular and beautiful. I have also made cupcake before from this and it made way too many so I suggest cutting the recipe in half and baking until a toothpick comes out clean (start checking about 15 minutes) Yummy!!!

German Chocolate Cake and Coconut Pecan Frosting

Cake

½ c. boiling water

4 oz. baking German chocolate

2 c. sugar

1 c. butter, softened

4 egg yolks

1 tsp. vanilla

¼ tsp. almond extract

2 ½ c. all-purpose flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

1 c. buttermilk

4 egg whites, stiffly beaten

Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease 3 8-inch round pans and line the bottom of pans with parchment paper. Pour boiling water on chocolate, stirring until chocolate is melted; set aside and cool. Mix sugar and butter in a large mixing bowl until light and fluffy. Beat in egg yolks, one at a time. Beat in chocolate, vanilla, and almond on low speed. Mix in flour, baking soda and salt alternately with buttermilk, beating after each addition until batter is smooth. Fold in stiff egg whites. Divide the batter between the 3 greased and lined pans. Bake 35-40 minutes. Cool and top with Coconut Pecan Frosting

Coconut Pecan Frosting

1 c. sugar

½ c. butter

1 c evaporated milk

1 tsp. vanilla

3 egg yolks

1 1/3 c. flaked coconut

1 c. chopped pecans

Mix sugar, butter, milk, vanilla, and egg yolks in medium pot. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally until thick, about 12 minutes. Stir in coconut and pecans. Beat until spreading consistency.

Layer with frosting between layers and pour the rest over the top.