Lemon Lime Cupcakes

Now this is lovely spring weather! We hope everyone is enjoying the long weekend.
The May 2009 issue of Canadian Living Magazine had cupcakes on the cover! Inside, they had a special feature of a couple Mother-and-daughter bakeries in Canada (for Mother's Day of course). So naturally they had cupcake recipes in their food section! We decided to try the Lemon Lime Cupcakes because "citrus flavours add sparkle to these delicate cupcakes." However, instead of their Seven Minute frosting, we made our own lemon buttercream and lime buttercream.
Lemon Lime Cupcakes
Recipe from Canadian Living Magazine
(Makes about 12 cupcakes)

1/2 cup of unsalted butter
3/4 cup of sugar
2 eggs
1 tablespoon of grated lemon and lime rind/zest
1/2 teaspoon of lemon juice
1 1/4 cups of all-purposed flour
1 teaspoon of baking powder
1/4 teaspoon of salt
3/4 cup of milk

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F).
2. In large bowl, beat butter with granulated sugar until fluffy
3. Add in eggs, 1 at a time. Then add in lemon and lime rinds/zests and lemon juice.
4. In separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt.
   
5. Mix into butter mixture alternately with milk.
6. Spoon into cupcake liners or cups.
7. Bake the cupcakes for 20 to 25 minutes or until cake tester comes out clean.
8. Let them cool for an hour before frosting.
   

The Lemon Lime cupcakes smell so good! You can really taste the citrus in the cupcakes - which we are so glad about! The only tiny thing we would have preferred was if the cupcakes were a little bit more moist and soft. Also, they didn't rise very high for us, so we would scoop more in next time. Other than that, they are delicious! We will probably try the Banana Buttermilk Cupcake in the near future!
Lime Buttercream

(Makes about 2 cups)

1 stick of butter

2 cups of confectioner's sugar

1 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract

1 tablespoon of fresh lime juice

1/2 tablespoon of fresh lime zest

1. Using a mixer, beat the butter until it is nice and fluffy.
2. Add in the confectioner's sugar and vanilla, continue to mix till smooth.
3. Wash the lime and using a zester, zest the whole lime.
4. Mix the lime zest with the buttercream.
5. Cut the lime in half and squeeze out the lime juice.
6. Add the lime juice with the buttercream and mix well.
7. If you want, tint the buttercream lime green!

Lemon Buttercream

(Makes about 2 cups)

1 stick of butter

2 cups of confectioner's sugar

1 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract

1 tablespoon of fresh lemon juice

1/2 tablespoon of fresh lemon zest

1. Using a mixer, beat the butter until it is nice and fluffy.
2. Add in the confectioner's sugar and vanilla, continue to mix till smooth.
3. Wash the lemon and using a zester, zest the whole lemon.
4. Mix the lemon zest with the buttercream.
5. Cut the lemon in half and squeeze out the lemon juice.
6. Add the lemon juice with the buttercream and mix well.
7. If you want, tint the buttercream lemon yellow!