Strawberry-Lime Stuffed Cupcakes

Ok, so a few posts ago I said I had found the perfect summer cupcake...I was wrong. These are the perfect summer cupcake, by far! I stumbled upon this recipe at Milk & Honey. I took her suggestions into account and made some alterations to the original recipe. The result was amazing- fluffy white cupcakes with a tangy center and flavorful frosting! You MUST make these for your next picnic

Strawberry-Lime Stuffed Cupcakes

INGREDIENTS:

1 1/2 cups cake
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon fine salt
2 large eggs, room temperature
2/3 cup sugar
14 T. cup unsalted butter, melted (1/2 c. plus 6 T.)
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup milk

Icing:
1 3/4 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted
1 1/2 tablespoons finely grated lime zest
3tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice
1 drop green food coloring
6 large ripe strawberries, hulled (or 12 small)
Green sanding sugar (I used plain white)
Fresh mint leaves or candied leaves (I omitted)

DIRECTIONS:

Equipment: 6-cup jumbo muffin tin (I used 12 regular sized tins with smaller strawberries)

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 won'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. (This was where I cut off my tops.) 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.