It's time for key lime.

By the end of this post, you will learn how I made:

But of course, like everything else in my life, this cupcake has a story.

Awhile back, my darling friends threw me a Disney-themed birthday party. It was like a pop-up video of Disney-filled fun facts (which Ritu so lovingly printed in the DISNEY font, see below).

It was at that moment when I learned that Walt Disney's favorite dessert was Key Lime Pie. Did you know that was my favorite dessert too (and Harry's and Ellen's)??? Perhaps there is a deeper connection here.

In any case, Hannah and Nathan took it upon themselves to surprise me with the sweetest birthday surprise ever: Key Lime Cupcakes. It was so perfect, because this was the year when school actually started ON my birthday. Imagine: "Hi I'm Ms. Horng, and I will be your math teacher....hey it's my birthday!" Um...not as fun as it sounds, until you get a special delivery of cupcakes!

So when limes were on sale at the grocery store, I took it upon myself to try their recipe. I used the recipe Hannah and Nathan adapted from Cake Batter and Crumbs.

Note: I would have added more photos, but I live by myself and realized that taking photos of myself baking requires more than two hands!

24 White Chocolate Key Lime Cupcakes
2 1/3 C all purpose flour
1 T baking powder
3/4 t salt
1 1/2 C sugar
1/2 C shortening
2 eggs
1 C milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 T sour cream
1 package instant white chocolate pudding mix
2 T fresh lime juice (1-2 small limes)
1 T lime zest

Key Lime Cream Filling and Topping
28 oz (2 cans) sweetened condensed milk
2/3 C lime juice (about 4-5 small limes)
1/2 C graham cracker crumbs (or vanilla wafers if you want it to be sweeter)
Whipped Cream (if desired)
1-2 limes, sliced for decoration

Directions:
1) Sift together flour, baking powder, salt, sugar, and instant pudding.
2) Cut up the shortening and mix it into the dry ingredients until fine crumbs are formed.
3) Add eggs, milk, sour cream, and vanilla extract.
4) Fold in the lime zest and lime juice.
5) Bake for 20 minutes at 350 degrees. Let the cupcakes cool before filling them.
6) Cut out a hole for your cream filling. I use a wilton 4B tip to cut out the middle; Hannah and Nathan used an apple corer. Either way, it works!

7) Fill 'er up!
8) Top with whipped cream, or graham cracker or lime slice. Enjoy!