Strawberry-Lime Stuffed Cupcakes, Oh My!

This cupcake definitely caught my eye when I found it on the Food Network web site...I just had to try this. And, it was no small effort! First, you need to make extra-large cupcakes to get that strawberry in there. In fact, I used my new "Texas"=sized (XXXL) Cupcake tin! I was pretty sure that no one would actually appreciate eating a cupcake that large, at least in my family...except maybe James or John.

So, I only made two of the jumbo cupcakes and the rest I turned into the mini-byte-sized cupcakes. With these I just used the frosting on top and a small piece of strawberry on top of that. This frosting...by the way...is so tangy...it is only confectioner's sugar, lime zest, fresh-squeezed lime juice. It was sooooo good, we ate it out of the bowl!



It was such a beautiful day today that we ate lunch on the deck for the first time this year. Layla joined us, of course. I haven't told you yet, but Layla, Nigel, Harry and Chuck had a photo session with Amanda Jones. She was here in the DC area for three days and we went on Friday morning. Here are some photos I shot of the photo shoot. It was awesome and we can't wait to see the proofs.

The recipe for the Strawberry-Lime Stuffed Cupcakes is below. Have a great week and don't forget to eat a cupcake every day!

FLASHBACK: Last year at this time, we were making Chocolate Caramel Walnut Cupcakes.

Rock On!

CQ

Here's the recipe from the Food Network Kitchens:

Strawberry-Lime Stuffed Cupcakes
makes 6 jumbo cupcakes

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon fine salt

2 large eggs, room temperature

2/3 cup sugar

3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1/2 cup milk

Icing:

1 1/3 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted

1 1/2 tablespoons finely grated lime zest

2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice

1 drop green food coloring

6 large ripe strawberries, hulled

Green sanding sugar

Fresh mint leaves or candied leaves

Equipment: 6-cup jumbo muffin tin

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line the muffin tin with cupcake liners.

Whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt together in a medium bowl.

In another medium bowl, beat the eggs and sugar with an electric mixer until light and foamy, about 2 minutes. While beating, gradually pour in the butter and then the vanilla.

While mixing slowly, add half the dry ingredients, then add all the milk, and follow with the rest of the dry ingredients. Take care not to over mix the batter. Divide the batter evenly in the prepared tin.

Bake until a tester inserted in the center of the cakes comes out clean, about 30 minutes. Cool cupcakes on a rack in the tin for 10 minutes, then remove. Cool on the rack completely.

For icing: Mix the confectioners' sugar and lime zest in a medium bowl. Add the lime juice and mix with an electric mixer to make a firm but pourable icing. (If needed, add up to 1 teaspoon more juice, but take care if the icing is too loose it doesn't set properly.) Add food color to make a pale pastel green icing.

To assemble: Remove cupcake from its liner. Cut and remove a strawberry (coned) shaped portion of cupcake from the top of each cupcake, leaving about 1/2 to 1-inch of cake in the bottom. Stuff each cake with a strawberry and cover with a little bit of cake. Spoon and spread icing over the top of the cupcakes. Sprinkle with green sanding sugar. Top with small mint leaves or candied leaves.