Lime Baby Cakes
User Reviews
4.6
Lime Baby Cakes
Description
The recipe for Lime Baby Cakes includes a flour base leavened with baking powder and seasoned with kosher salt. Butter and sugar are creamed before adding eggs, fresh lime juice, and grated lime peel, creating a batter that’s moistened with buttermilk. Food coloring adds bright green hues to the batter, giving the baby cakes a lively look. The batter is baked in mini muffin pans until a tester comes out clean, ensuring a tender crumb.
The accompanying frosting combines cream cheese, unsalted butter, powdered sugar, lime peel, and vanilla extract. This frosting balances sweetness with subtle citrus notes, complementing the lime-flavored cake. The frosting is typically spread or piped on cooled cakes for serving. These baby cakes work well as small desserts for gatherings, offering a refined lime taste with both moist cake and creamy topping.
The recipe allows flexibility in baking pan choice and liner use. Silicone pans create slightly larger baby cakes than traditional metal pans, and liners or no liners are possible. Careful mixing to incorporate wet and dry ingredients alternately helps keep the texture tender. Because the batter may look curdled initially, thorough mixing is important. The lime zest in both cake and frosting ensures the lime essence is prominent throughout.
Ingredients
for the baby cakes:
- 3.5 c. all-purpose flour
- 2.25 tsp. baking powder
- ¾ tsp. kosher salt
- 1 c. butter at room temperature, unsalted
- 2.5 c. sugar
- 4 egg at room temperature, large
- 5 T. lime juice fresh
- 2 T. lime peel finely grated, I use this zester
- Food Coloring neon green, I use this set
- 1.5 c. buttermilk
for the frosting:
- 8 oz. cream cheese at room temperature
- 1.5 c. powdered sugar
- ½ c. butter at room temperature, unsalted
- 1 T. lime peel finely grated
- ½ tsp. vanilla extract pure
Instructions
- For the baby cakes: Preheat oven to 350° F. A couple notes: I prefer to use flexible silicone mini muffin pans with no paper liners for this recipe, but you can also prepare metal mini muffin pans with paper liners. I use these silicone muffin pans, which yield a little bigger mini cupcake than most - which I like! Sizes of mini muffin pans vary quite a bit, so your yield and baking time may vary. I set the silicone muffin pans on sheet pans, for sturdiness.
- In a medium bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, beat butter until smooth. Add sugar and beat to blend. Beat in eggs one at a time, then the lime juice, lime peel, and food coloring. Batter may look curdled, but that's just fine. Beat in the flour mixture alternately with the buttermilk, in 3 additions. Spoon batter into liners, about 2/3 full.
- Bake cupcakes until tester inserted into center comes out clean. This takes about 20 minutes for me, but it will depend on the size of your tins, so pay close attention to your baking time. Cool 10 minutes and remove from pan. Cool completely before adding frosting.
- For the frosting: In a medium bowl, beat all ingredients until smooth. With a medium-large plain round pastry tip (I like to use one that has a tip opening of about 5/16"), pipe frosting onto cooled cupcakes, or simply spread it on with a knife. Sprinkle a bit of fresh lime zest over tops, if desired.
Notes
- The recipe is adapted from Bon Appétit, originally created by Buttersweet Bakery in Atlanta.
- Use silicone or metal mini muffin pans, with or without liners, based on preference.
- Mix wet and dry ingredients alternately to maintain a tender texture despite initial curdling appearance.
- Fresh lime peel in both batter and frosting enhances the lime flavor throughout.
Nutrition Information
Show DetailsNutrition Facts
Serving: 50baby cakes
Amount Per Serving
Calories 159 kcal
% Daily Value*
| Serving | 1 | |
| Calories | 159kcal | 8% |
| Carbohydrates | 21g | 7% |
| Protein | 2g | 4% |
| Fat | 8g | 12% |
| Saturated Fat | 5g | 25% |
| Polyunsaturated Fat | 3g | 18% |
| Cholesterol | 34mg | 11% |
| Sodium | 92mg | 4% |
| Sugar | 14g | 28% |
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.
User Reviews
Overall Rating
4.6
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