Have you met my beautiful sisters? Anne is on the left and Kate is the bride. (I’m the pregnant one on the right that looks like she doesn’t belong.) This was taken last August during Kate’s wedding. Isn’t she a beautiful bride?
Her name is Kathryn actually, but from the moment she arrived she has been sweet Kate. Being the youngest, Kate has taken a lot of crap from my sister and I over the years. Can you believe we once tied her to the toilet and convinced her she was adopted? We may or may not have tried to duct tape her mouth shut too, but I’m pretty sure somebody stopped us (or called the cops). Ah, sisters.
It’s pretty remarkable that she turned out so wonderful, isn’t it? Here she is with her “baby” McKinley. Aren’t they both so stinkin’ cute?
She’s a third grade teacher now and it’s so funny to see her directing little children. Don’t be fooled by her adorable exterior…she is a hard-a$$ with those kids. They love her dearly but DO NOT MESS WITH HER. She will chew you up and put you in Junie B. Jones-infested solitude if you step out of line.
Anyway, we are celebrating Kate’s first anniversary and 30th birthday this month and the kids and I wanted to bake her something special. Kate is a sucker for the pucker of key lime, so we took a key lime pie and made it in cupcake form. These were absolutely spot on delicious. Don’t skip the graham cracker crumbs on top!
Kate’s Key Lime Cupcakes
I never have buttermilk on hand, so I use *almost* 3/4 cup milk and 2 teaspoons of white vinegar. Mix together and let sit for 5 minutes. p.s. Sorry for the non-printable recipe. My recipe widget isn’t working right today, but I’ll fix as soon as I can.
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 key lime juice (You can find it in bottle form at most grocery stores)
1 tablespoon finely grated lime peel
3/4 cup buttermilk
FROSTING
1 8-ounce package cream cheese, room temperature
1 1/2 cups confectioners sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 tablespoon finely grated lime peel
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 graham cracker, crushed into crumbs
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, lime zest and juice (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. Sprinkle crushed graham cracker over top. Garnish with a wedge of lime if desired.
Happy Birthday sweet Katie!
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