Key Lime Cupcakes

Yeah, I bake like crazy. So what?
These yummy cupcakes are great for a warm day. They're super refreshing and I've gotten tons of compliments on them! But I'll warn you now, zesting all of those limes was a pain in the ass. So get ready for a little frustration.

Ingredients for Cupcakes

• 1 cup All-purpose flour (yes, there are different types of flour. Make sure you pick up the right kind!)
• 3/4 cup self-rising flour
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temp
• 1 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 2 1/2 tablespoons fresh lime juice (doesn't have to be fresh, but I recommend it)
• 1 tablespoon finely grated lime peel (I used more than 1 tablespoon but that's because I wanted to make sure that the cupcakes were SUPER limey.)
• 3/4 cup buttermilk
• OPTIONAL: green food coloring

Ingredients for Frosting

• 8 oz cream cheese at room temp
• Up to 6 cups confectioners' sugar (yes, UP TO 6 CUPS!)
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter at room temp
• 1 tablespoon finely grated lime peel (I think I used more than that)
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

So here's what you do:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line your muffin tins with cupcake papers.
2. Whisk both flours together in medium bowl.
3. Beat butter in large bowl until smooth.
4. Add sugar into the butter and beat together.
5. Beat in your eggs one at a time until fully incorporated.
6. Add in your lime juice and peel (and if you're using food coloring, add that in now too.) Make sure you're mixing it well! The batter may look like it's curdled, but don't worry about that. It's not.
7. Beat in flour mixture in 3 additions alternating between your flour mixture and the buttermilk. So you'll be adding flour, then buttermilk, flour, then buttermilk, and then the last of your flour.
8. Divide the batter evenly among the cupcake tins. (Be careful not to over fill!)
9. Bake your cupcakes for about 20 to 25 minutes. Make sure to keep an eye on them at about the 15 minute mark.

For the Frosting:

1. Beat all of the ingredients together until smooth. That's right, just go ahead and put them in a bowl and mix them together all at once. It's okay. I promise. But remember what I said about the confectioners' sugar in the Southern-Style Strawberry Cream Cheese Cupcakes!
2. Wait until your cupcakes have completely cooled (aka room temperature) before you attempt to put frosting on them. Otherwise, your icing is going to melt and just run all over your cupcakes and become a huge mess.

ENJOY!And remember, baking cupcakes takes time and patience. Your cupcakes aren't going to come out perfect the first time... or every time! But just keep trying! I still have a problem icing. No bueno.