Key Lime Cupcakes with a Twist

Big E's birthday is coming up and he had a pretty specific request for his birthday cupcakes. Two of Big E's favorites are Key Lime Pie and White Chocolate. So, why not combine them in one cupcake?

I started by making The Cake Mix Doctor's Key Lime Pie Cupcakes.


Don't you just love these junky shots? I guess I must, because I just can't stop taking and posting them. :)

I made these Key Lime Pie cupcakes once when I was in VA over winter break. They are, like all of the Doctor's cupcakes, easy to put together and wonderfully tasty.

After the cupcakes cooled, I injected the filling. I used the Pampered Chef icing tools my aunt gave me for my birthday.


I'd like you to tell me that the Bismarck tip on the Pampered Chef... thing... doesn't look like David the Gnome.

Don't worry. No one can.

Moving on...

I decided to incorporate the white chocolate into the cupcake by way of a nice thin layer on top of the cupcake under the meringue. I was worried that the filling would create a problem when it came to dipping the cupcake in the chocolate. I wouldn't worry so much about most fillings, but the filling in this cupcake is literally key lime pie filling and therefore very runny.

In an early morning epiphany, I decided to plug up the filling hole with a white chocolate chip. That way, I could dip without too much concern and I wouldn't be rocking the boat flavor-wise. Here's what the cupcakes looked like with filling and chip intact.


It worked pretty well. The chocolate didn't want to stick to the chip or the middle of the cupcake for that matter, but at least I didn't lose my filling into the white chocolate.


After I took this picture, I smoothed the chocolate with the back of a spoon, and no one will complain, I'm sure.

Finally, I finished out the Doctor's recipe with a coconut meringue and baked those suckers again.


And, I haven't tried one with the meringue, but I did some quality control testing after the white chocolate experiment.


That is one tasty cupcake. The key lime pie cupcake is super light and moist. The cupcake couldn't hold up under anything heavier than a meringue. A true icing would overpower it for sure. So, while the white chocolate is a nice touch, I'm looking forward to trying one with both the white chocolate and the coconut meringue.

That will have to wait until tomorrow.

Happy Birthday, Big E!