Hannah's Year of Cupcakes: Week 13. "First Friday" Key Lime Cupcakes

This week I had the immense good fortune to be asked by Laurie, from Annie Laurie's to make cupcakes for their First Friday open house. I wanted to make something unique and Spring-y, to celebrate the beautiful weather of late and to show any potential customers *fingers crossed* that I don't just make your typical chocolate or vanilla cupcakes! It was really exciting to get paid for doing something I love!

"First Friday" Key Lime Cupcakes

CUPCAKES
1 cup all purpose flour
3/4 cup self-rising flour
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/4 cup sugar
2 large eggs
2 1/2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 tablespoon finely grated lime peel
1/4 teaspoon neon-green food coloring
3/4 cup buttermilk

FROSTING
1 8-ounce package cream cheese, room temperature
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 tablespoon finely grated lime peel
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

CUPCAKES
Preheat oven to 350°F. Line standard muffin pan with 12 paper liners. Whisk both flours in medium bowl. Beat butter in large bowl until smooth. Add sugar; beat to blend. Beat in eggs 1 at a time, then next 3 ingredients (batter may look curdled). Beat in flour mixture in 3 additions alternately with buttermilk in 2 additions. Spoon scant 1/3 cup batter into each liner.
Bake cupcakes until tester inserted into center comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes. Cool 10 minutes. Remove from pan; cool.

FROSTING
Beat all ingredients in medium bowl until smooth. Spread over cupcakes.

**Hannah's Hints**

* I omitted the green food coloring because you really couldn't see it after you mixed in all the flour unless you put a TON in.

* These are so interesting...for some reason after I took them out of the oven, they shrank away from the cupcake papers. They looked more like cute little tea cakes!

* The icing for this one recipe covered about 64 cupcakes, unless you really pile it on!

* I loooooooove my new zester! It makes life so much easier!

AND

I made cookies especially for Caleb because he was nice enough to video me and because I love him!

I'll post the recipe soon!

And wonderful boy bought be a gooooorgeous hyacinth (we named the flower stalks after the fairies from Sleeping Beauty!) and we made homemade pizzas!!