key lime cupcakes.

rage! rage! against the (cupcake) of the light!

I have a confession to make. I really, really, really used to hate key lime pie. Used to. It was way too sour for my poor little taste buds and the tartness combined with a graham cracker crust always made my throat achingly dry. It burned my salivary glands! My tongue was tender for days after! Key lime pie, however, is my mother's favorite dessert and thus, throughout my childhood, I had many a run-in with the devilish tart. And none of them, not one, changed my attitude toward the stuff. 

But! One of my good friends had a birthday last week and in an attempt to make a sweet to share that I'd never made before, I decided to face my fears head on. Key lime cupcakes, it was. And were they ever. I got more compliments from these babies than I ever have from my usual homemade-bread-and-hummus combo. I had one guy track me down at the party to shake my hand, he loved 'em so much.

Consider me a changed woman.

Key Lime Cupcakes  

(adapted from Ming Makes Cupcakes)

1 c. flour

1/2 c. graham cracker crumbs

1 c. sugar

1/4 tsp. salt

1 1/2 tsp. baking powder

1 stick of butter, room temperature

2 eggs

1/2 tsp. vanilla

1/2 c. milk 

Mix the dry ingredients together. Beat in the butter, then sugar and mix thoroughly. Beat in the eggs, vanilla and milk. Pour into cupcake liners, placed in a cupcake pan. Bake at 400 degrees for about 15 - 20 minutes. 

For the frosting:

4 oz. cream cheese

1/2 stick of butter, room temperature

2 c. confectioner's sugar

2 tbs. key lime juice

Mix together until nice and smooth. Frost the cupcakes, add a sprinkling of crumbs and a lime slice.

[Note: my oven is super finicky -- I found that I only needed to bake these for about 15 minutes, then let them sit on the (cool) range for another three as they finished baking from the heat of the pan. Oh! And I eyeballed the tablespoons of key lime juice. Those suckers are damn hard to squeeze out an even 2 tablespoons.]