This one’s for Mom.
I wanted to post a recipe that I know she loves, but one that she doesn’t make for herself. I sifted through my cookbooks and recipe files for a treat that is truly special to her and makes her smile.
These Lime Baby Cakes are it.
They have my mom written all over them.
Green is even her favorite color.
See her green dress?!
And the flowers on her lapel?
Dad always gave Mom a corsage to wear to church on Mother’s Day morning.
I always liked that.
For absolutely everything, Mom, thank you.
I love you.
Happy Mother’s Day.
Mother’s Day 1976
These vibrant green cupcakes are fun, ultra tasty, and addictive. The buttermilk makes the cake dense and moist. And the creamy frosting is the perfect contrast to the zing in the cake. They work marvelously together.
I first made these for a friend’s party where a selection of smaller 2-bite desserts was served. The original recipe is for regular size cupcakes, however, I adapted it to make “baby” cakes. The little cupcakes went over so well, I’ve never made them any other way. If you want to make 12 regular size cupcakes, just cut all the cupcake ingredients in half. You will probably need to bake them a bit longer, too. Leave the frosting measurements the same.
Ingredients
- 3-1/2 c. all purpose flour
- 2-1/4 tsp. baking powder
- 3/4 tsp. kosher salt
- 1 c. unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 2-1/2 c. sugar
- 4 large eggs, at room temperature
- 5 T. fresh lime juice
- 2 T. finely grated lime peel
- 1/2 tsp. neon-green food coloring (found in the baking aisle of grocery store)
- 1-1/2 cups buttermilk
- 8 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature
- 1-1/2 c. powdered sugar
- 1/2 c. unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1 T. finely grated lime peel
- 1/2 tsp. vanilla
Preparation
Preheat oven to 350°.
A couple notes: I prefer to use flexible silicone mini muffin pans with no paper liners for this recipe, but you can also prepare metal mini muffin pans with paper liners. The silicone muffin pans I used are here. Also, I found that there are different sized mini muffin pans out there, so your yield and baking time may vary a bit. The silicone pans I used yield a little bigger mini cupcake than others, which I also happen to like.
Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt in medium bowl and set aside. In a large bowl, beat butter until smooth. Add sugar and beat to blend. Beat in eggs 1 at a time, then the lime juice, lime peel, and food coloring. Batter may look curdled, but that's just fine. Beat in the flour mixture alternately with the buttermilk, in 3 additions. Spoon batter into liners, about 2/3 full. Bake cupcakes until tester inserted into center comes out clean. This took about 20 minutes for me, but it will depend on the size of your tins, so pay close attention to your baking time. Cool 10 minutes and remove from pan. Cool completely before adding frosting.
Beat all ingredients in medium bowl until smooth. With a medium-large plain round tip, pipe frosting onto cooled cupcakes, or simply spread it on with a knife. Sprinkle a bit of fresh lime zest over tops, if desired.
Source
heavily adapted from bon appetit, original recipe from Buttersweet Bakery in Atlanta
Love those Key Lime Baby Cakes! I enjoyed the comments you wrote too, and thanks for your kind words. We got a charge out of that picture, as it brought
back a lot of good memories.
I made your Key Lime baby cakes for card club last night. They were yummy. Thank you for sharing the recipe. I got a ton of compliments. I think I could have eaten that frosting by the spoonful! (Okay, so I did eat it by the spoonful!)
These are adorable and perfect for spring!
These are reallly cute!!!
I love the color.
greets!
bigFATcook recently posted..Wizard Of Oz Cakes
Hi! I’m in love with all things Key Lime! Question: The recipe calls for lime juice. Is that a real lime, or key lime juice? I live in South Florida, so it’s really easy to get. Thanks for the fun idea!
Hi Brooke! The original recipe called for key limes. I have made it both ways, but wrote the recipe for regular limes, as they are just easier to come by up here in the north. By all means, use your fresh key limes…wish I had some out my back door, too!
These are adorable! Love the unique color. Not one you see often in baked goods.
Katie @ Creature of Habit recently posted..The Saturday Routine
Thanks, Katie – so nice to hear from you! They are really fun. People are always curious to try them, and usually end up really liking them. They are a favorite around here!
these will be on every dessrt bar I do in the future! especially the purple/lime wedding in May 2013!!!! thanks
The recipe looks awesome and I’m going to try it tonight! Question though, do you think it would work with lemon the same way, maybe just dial back the amount of lemon juice/zest used? My mom is a HUGE fan of any dessert that’s lemon and I was thinking of trying that (and coloring them yellow) for Mother’s Day…she would love how cute these are too. What do you think?
I am going to try that also, Sara. Why wouldn’t it work for lemon lovers?
I’ve been testing recipes for my sister’s wedding next June and made these for the first time today. They’re delicious! For her semi-formal reception, I think the lime green popping out from beneath the white frosting will be super cute. Thanks for the recipe!
Ooooh !!! These mini cupcakes looks so cute and super delish , love the recipe and the post
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Oh, Brenda, these are delicious. I made them tonight to test them out for an order for this weekend because the customer had requested something “key-limeish”. These are perfect!
Natalie @ Cooking for My Kids recently posted..Teacher Appreciation 2012: Day 4
Yay! I’m so glad you liked them, Natalie.
These are great! I love the color, it’s perfect for my sister’s baby shower, and she loves cream cheese frosting as well. The only problem is I don’t think she’s a big fan of lime flavored desserts. If I left out the lime and added vanilla do you think they would taste good? Sorry to be manipulating what sounds like an amazing recipe!
Hello Jaime – I do think these cupcakes would taste good with vanilla and no lime. The green color, however, doesn’t fit the flavor, but if you’re just trying to color coordinate for the shower, I think that’s reason enough to try it. If you do this, please let me know how it goes!
These were very good and got an overall rating of 3.5 out of 5 stars! The only thing I noticed is that the cake turned slight brown around the edges. Why does that happen? or is it only me?
I am definitely going to try out this recipe for the lime baby cake!
I love the color of them! They look fresh and vibrant. Could I ask are they soft and spongy too?
Regards,
Karl
what a lovely tribute to your mom ~ these cupcakes are soooo cute and they look so tasty! I can’t wait to try this recipe out!