This month I made cupcakes inspired by our Christmas trip to the Florida Keys.
Key Lime Pie
Key lime pie is basically the best thing about going to the Keys.
We ate 3 of them during the week we were down there!
key lime cupcake
I used this recipe from Culinary Concoctions by Peabody for the lime cupcakes. Mine sank quite a bit in the middle, unfortunately. It was fine this time, as I was planning to add a pool of key lime pie filling! However, it seems to be a common problem when I bake citrus flavored cupcakes. My semi-scientific theory is that the acid in the citrus accelerates the rising effect of the baking soda or powder. Due to our altitude (almost 4500 feet), the cupcakes rise faster than the batter can bake and support itself. I will have to tweak these in the future - it's probably just as simple as decreasing the leavener or adding a bit more flour.
key lime pie filling
I used the pie filling recipe found on the bottle of key lime juice (Nellie & Joe's*), but cooked it over medium-low heat in a small sauce pan until thickened instead of baking. The filling was chilled in the fridge overnight and then scooped into the cupcake's centers.
stabilized whipped cream
I use the Wilton recipe for stabilized whipped cream. This is great way to do whipped cream for cupcakes. It holds up well at room temperature, and continues to look good for 3-4 days under refrigeration.
I use this grass-fed beef gelatin* to stabilize the whipped cream. It smells a little strange when heated, but the whipped cream tastes just as delicious as ever!
molded white chocolate sea shells
For these, I used the "Bright White" Candy Melts* and a seashell candy mold I found at Michael's.
Cortadito
These cupcakes were inspired by the Cuban coffee drink I fell in love with in Florida. It's two shots over cane sugar with a little bit of steamed milk. It's intensely strong, very sweet, and has this delicious sugar-coffee sludge at the bottom of the cup. Totally addictive.
coffee cupcake
I used this recipe for coffee cupcakes. I wish I had left myself time to test a few recipes, because they baked up flat with large holes. It was okay this time, since I was planning to add yet more coffee in the form of a syrup soak, but I will need to tweak this recipe in the future.
Cuban espresso syrup soak
The syrup soak was just a double shot of Cuban espresso (I brought home some Cafe Mayorga beans from Florida) with about 3 T of baker's sugar stirred into it. Poured a bit over each cupcake to intensify the coffee flavor and add more moisture.
espresso/vanilla buttercream
My usual buttercream recipe: 1 1/2 c butter, 6 c powdered sugar (1 1/2 lb), 1 tablespoon vanilla extract - beat together. Add a few tablespoons of heavy cream and beat until fluffy, about 3-5 minutes. If frosting is too dense, add more cream.
I saved out half of the vanilla frosting. For the rest of the frosting, I added about 2 tablespoons of instant espresso powder dissolved in 2 tablespoons of hot water.
I put each frosting into a 12 in bag and stuck both bags into a 16 in bag. In hindsight, it would have been easier to use cling wrap like I usually do. The 12 inch bags did not fit well together in the 16 inch bag! I used a large round tip for the frosting and finished the cupcakes with a sprinkle of Sugar in the Raw turbinado sugar*.
Piña Colada
I couldn't decide what to make for my third cupcake, and my hubs suggested this one. On the whole, I like them, but I wish they had more pineapple flavor in the cake -- as they are, you don't get any pineapple flavor in the first bite! Some crushed pineapple in the batter would have been a good addition.
coconut cupcake
I used this recipe from Five Heart Home for the coconut cupcake. I didn't add in the shredded coconut because I didn't want the chewy texture for this one. They looked great and were really moist with a nice texture. Unfortunately, not a lot of coconut flavor (because I left out the shredded coconut, I'm sure) so I would add some coconut extract next time.
pineapple curd
I used this recipe from Alaska from Scratch for the pineapple curd. It was great! Not too sweet, great pineapple flavor, and a good consistency for filling.
I used my juicer (Fagor slow juicer*) to juice a fresh pineapple for this recipe. About 1/3 of a large pineapple yielded the 1 cup of juice needed for the recipe.
coconut buttercream
I used this recipe from Baked by an Introvert for the frosting. I ended up having to make another half-batch to cover all my cupcakes. I added about 1/2 tsp rum flavoring and 1 tsp coconut flavoring to give it that piña colada flavor.
The sprinkled bits on top are toasted coconut chips*. I got mine at Costco a few months ago, but they seem to be a seasonal item. They add a nice sweet crunch to cookies and granola, too.
*this post contains Amazon affiliate links for special ingredients and products mentioned. These are all products I use and recommend, but many of them can be found at your local grocery store as well!
