Ever since Bramble Berry was a wee thing, I've celebrated employees' Bramble'versaries by baking something that they would like. Some things are a hit (Choco Salted Caramel Beer Cupcakes), some things were just a 'nice attempt' (Bacon Caramel Cupcakes). In this case, Kelsei has been with Bramble Berry for a year as a fulltime Puller. This means that she walks up to 3 miles a day in our warehouse pulling your orders. Her favorite dessert is Key Lime Pie so I decided to make a Key Lime Cupcake (which falls strongly into the 'Hit' category).
This recipe is a bit complicated but totally worth it. There are graham crackers ground up into the cupcake batter and a key lime pie filling swirled in throughout the cupcake. If that's not enough craziness in a cupcake, you pop the cupcake tops off and fill them with a lime pudding! Whooosh!
Makes 30+ cupcakes.
Step 1 - Make the Cupcake Batter
• 1/2 Cup butter (room temperature)
• 1 Cup sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1 Cup milk
• 1 Cup flour
• 1 1/2 Cup graham cracker crumbs
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 5 egg yolks
• 14oz sweetened condensed milk
• 1/2 Cup lime or key lime juice
Preheat your oven to 350; line your cupcake pans with cupcake liners.
Beat the butter until creamy (about 30 seconds). Add the sugar and mix for approximately three minutes until it is lighter and more fluffy. Add the eggs and mix on medium for an additional 3 minutes.
Grind the graham crackers up into tiny bits (they're headed into the batter). I used a food processor but you could smoosh 'em with a rolling pin or a meat masher thingy.
Sift the dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt) if you're really into absolute precision baking. I'm not (I figure this much sugar and butter in a recipe is enough to make anyone overlook a few mini lumps).
Add a bit of this into the butter mixture, mix up, add some milk, add some more dry, add some milk and keep this up until it's all in there. Mix until it's all combined.
Now it's time to make the traditional tart and amazing Key Lime filling (yum yum!). In a separate bowl, mix the egg yolks (only the yolks!), sweetened condensed milk and lime juice. Whip this. It gets to be a beautiful pudding like consistency.
Add this Key Lime filing into the graham batter and stir just a bit. You don't want to mix in the Key Lime filling all the way. You'll want chunks of it throughout your cupcake.
Fill your cupcake liners up about 2/3 full. These cupcakes don't puff out like a normal cupcake. They sort of end up a bit like a sponge cake. Be sure to that each cupcake as a good mix of Key Lime pie filling and graham cracker cupcake batter.
Fill cupcake liners 3/4 full. Make sure each liner has a nice distribution of key lime liquid and graham clumps. Bake at 350 for approximately 20 minutes or until you can put a knife or knitting needle into the cupcake and it comes out clean.
Step Two - Lime Cream Cheese Frosting Recipe
• 8 oz package of cream cheese (room temperature)
• 1/4 Cup butter (room temperature)
• 4 Cup powdered sugar
• 1 tsp lime extract
(True Confessions: I couldn't find Lime Extract but I did find Lime Juice so I used that instead)
Mix the cream cheese and butter. Whip in the powdered sugar and lime extract/juice. Take a huge finger swipe. Isn't that good?
Step Three - Filling
1 box (4-serving size) Lime instant pudding and pie filling mix
1 1/2 Cups whipping cream
1/4 Cup Key lime or regular lime juice
4 drops green food color
1 1/2 Cups powdered sugar
Make the pudding mix; whip in everything else and get ready to fill your cupcakes.
You're almost done! Almost there! Just take a knife and carve out a little upside down rounded triangle out of your cupcake. Cut the 'point' off the cupcake. Eat it. Isn't that insanely yummy? Now, fill up a baggie with your Filling. Cut off a very small tip. You want to be able to control the flow. Fill up the cupcake holes.
Then top the filling with your little cupcake hats.
Now, you're ready to frost. Fill up a baggie with all of your frosting and snip a teensy tip off the frosting bag and frost your cupakes in a circular fashion.
Are they all frosted? Have a bite. You've earned it.
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