Cherry Limeade Cupcakes

I’ll admit it, I’m obsessed with cherries lately. I think this is the third cherry post within a week. But really who could complain about that, right? Cherries are one of my favorite fruits.
They always remind me of the beach because I always take along a bag of cherries to snack on (and licorice and a bag of potato chips that always ends up getting full of sand).

These, I wouldn’t recommend taking them too the beach, too risky. No one wants a sandy cupcake or melted frosting. But, they are perfect for a summer party. Maybe I’m making all these cherry posts because they remind me of summer and yet where I live it still hasn’t felt anything like summer (mid 40’s just isn’t cutting it for me).

These cupcakes however, are making it feel like a nice summer day around here.

I love how these are full of fresh lime flavor, thanks to their generous amount of fresh lime zest, a bit of fresh lime juice and a simple lime syrup glaze which is brushed along the tops of the freshly baked cupcakes.

The frosting screams cherry, not only with it’s color but with the sweet flavor of the maraschino cherry juice mixed in. And of course these couldn’t be cherry limeade cupcakes unless they were finished atop with a cherry. Who could resist them?

Cherry Limeade Cupcakes
I made these today, soooo cute and delicious. I added a few drops of green food color to the cake batter because I didn’t have the green muffin liners and I think the contrast of the green and pink icing is key to the cuteness.

Prep Time 15 mins
Cook Time 25 mins
Total Time 40 mins

Ingredients

•     1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour sifted
•     1/4 tsp. coarse salt
•     1 tsp. baking powder
•     1/2 cup (1 stick or 113g) unsalted butter, room temperature
•     1/2 cup whole milk, room temperature
•     3 large eggs, room temperature
•     1 cup granulated sugar
•     3 tbsp. lime juice, divided
•     1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
•     1 tbsp. lime zest

Frosting

•     3 cup confectioners sugar
•     1/4 cup maraschino cherry juice
•     1/2 tsp. almond extract
•     1/2 cup (1 stick or 113g) butter

Instructions

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Prepare cupcake pans with baking spray or cupcake liners. (This recipe yielded 15 cupcakes for me.)
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside.
3. In stand mixer with paddle attachment, cream together room temperature butter and sugar on medium high until light and fluffy. Reduce speed to low and add in eggs, one at a time and mix until just blended.
4. Add in vanilla, 2 tablespoons of lime juice and milk and mix for about 30 seconds on low. Slowly add in dry ingredients and mix until just combined.
5. Remove from mixer then fold in lime zest with spatula.
6. Divide batter evenly among prepared muffin cups. Transfer muffin tin to oven and bake until tops are just dry to the touch, 18 to 20 minutes.
7. Transfer cupcakes to a cooling rack.
8. Use pastry brush to brush remaining 1 tablespoon of lime juice over the top of the cupcake.
9. Let cupcakes cool completely and dry before topping with cherry frosting.

Frosting

1. In a standing mixer fitted with a whisk, mix together sugar and butter. Mix on low speed until well blended and then increase speed to medium and beat for another 3 minutes.
2. Add almond flavoring and cherry juice continue to beat on medium speed for 1 minute more, adding more juice if needed for spreading consistency

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