Key Lime Coconut Cupcakes

Key Lime Cupcakes

Flour – I like to use unbleached cake flour in a lot of the cupcakes I make because I feel it produces a lighter crumb and more tender cupcake. If you prefer though, all-purpose flour is fine to use as well.

Leaveners – Use a mix of both baking powder and baking soda for the raising agents here.

Sugar – I use just white sugar here to cream with the butter. Be careful using sugar replacements as not all work as a 1:1 replacement in baked goods.

Fats – For the fats in these cupcakes I don’t use milk or cream. I use a combination of unsalted butter, vegetable oil, and sour cream. The oil and sour cream help to add tang, dairy, and contribute to a softer cupcake texture.

Vanilla – Just a bit of vanilla extract helps to balance all the flavors going on in the cupcakes.

Eggs – I use both a whole egg and an egg yolk here. This keeps the cupcake a little moister and more tender and slightly less “cakey” in texture.

Key Limes – You’ll use both the zest and the juice from fresh key limes in the cupcakes. If they’re out of season, you can use regular limes instead, but the flavor will be slightly different. Alternatively, you can use bottled key lime juice and the zest from a lime also.

Coconut – Use sweetened, shredded coconut and fold this into the batter at the end. If you’re not a fan of long strands or coconut in desserts because of the texture, give the coconut shreds a quick, coarse chop before adding.

Cream Cheese Frosting

Butter – Use unsalted butter to add structure and cream with the powdered sugar for the base.

Powdered Sugar – Powdered or confectioner’s sugar is used to sweeten and give structure to the cream cheese frosting.

Cream Cheese – Be sure to use full-fat, brick-style cream cheese for the frosting and not cream cheese spread. While you’ll want the butter to be softened, wait on removing the cream cheese from the fridge. It should be softened as well, but still relatively cool compared to the butter or it will become watery and too loose to mix properly.

Key Limes – Again, use the zest and juice from fresh key limes, or the same alternatives as above.

Vanilla – I like to add just a bit of vanilla extract to help balance the flavors here again.

Coconut – Use just a bit of coconut extract for a subtle flavor to the frosting. Additionally, you can toast some of the shredded coconut to use as a topping.

Make the Key Lime Cupcakes

Start by zesting and then juicing enough key limes for both the cupcakes and the frosting and setting them aside.

Preheat your oven to 350°F / 180°C and line a standard muffin tin with paper or silicon cupcake liners and set aside.

In a mixing bowl, add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt and then whisk until fully combined, then set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, or a large mixing bowl if using a hand mixer, add the butter and sugar and cream together on medium until light and fluffy, about 3-5 minutes.

Once the butter and sugar are creamed, add the oil, sour cream, key lime juice, key lime zest, and the vanilla extract. Mix at low speed for about a minute or so just to combine. Now add the egg and egg yolk, one at a time, and mix on medium low speed until there’s no obvious streaks of egg remaining.

Now add the dry mix into the wet mix, a little at a time, and mix at a low speed. Add the rest of the dry mixture in 1-2 more increments until just combined.

Finally, mix in the shredded coconut and fold into the batter with a spatula or Danish dough whisk.

Scoop the batter into the lined muffin tin, filling the liners about ⅔ or so full, keeping them as even as you can until you’ve used all the batter.

Place on the middle rack of your oven and bake for 16-20 minutes, until an inserted toothpick comes out mostly clean. Remove from the oven and allow them to finish cooking and setting up in the muffin tin for 5 minutes or so. Once cool enough to remove, transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely before frosting them.

Make the Cream Cheese Frosting

While the cupcakes are cooking, you can start making the frosting.

In the cleaned bowl of a stand mixer with the whisk attachment, or in a large mixing bowl if using a hand mixer, add the softened butter and half the powdered sugar. Mix at low speed until mostly combined, then add the rest of the sugar. Continue mixing at low speed for a minute, then raise the speed to medium and cream together until light and fluffy, about 4-5 minutes.

Add the cream cheese and continue mixing until mostly combined, about 2-3 minutes longer. Finally, add the key lime zest, key lime juice, vanilla, and coconut extracts. Mix at medium speed until fully combined and smooth. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.

Decorate the Cupcakes

Once the cupcakes have fully cooled and the cream cheese frosting has set up and chilled, you can decorate the cupcakes.

If you’re using toasted coconut, toast it while waiting for the cupcakes to cool so that it has time to cool completely as well. In a small pan set over medium low heat, pour in a ¼ cup of the sweetened coconut shreds and shake to spread out evenly.

Give the pan a shake and toss occasionally. Once it starts to brow, it will finish quickly, so keep an eye on the pan and shake and toss more frequently. When it begins turning golden brown color, turn off the heat and pour the coconut flakes into a bowl to stop the cooking process. Set aside to finish cooling completely before using.

Fill a piping bag with some frosting and pipe from the outside into the middle of the cupcake in a closing circle, going up and making another circle towards the center. For reference, I used a large, Wilton 8B piping tip. Alternatively, use a knife and just smear on a thick layer of frosting. Decorate with key lime slices, toasted coconut, sprinkles, sanding sugar, or more zest and enjoy.

No Key Limes – If you’re trying to make these out of season and key limes aren’t available, can you use regular limes? Yes, though the flavor is just a bit different. You actually have two options here. If you can’t get fresh key limes, you can buy 2-3 regular limes for their zest and use bottled key lime juice instead. Alternatively, you can just use regular Persian limes and make these cupcakes with their zest and juice as well.

No Coconut – While I enjoy the added flavor of the coconut flakes and extract (which is very subtle in the frosting), if you’re not a fan, you can totally omit it as well. For the cupcakes, just omit the shredded coconut without any changes. In the frosting, omit the coconut extract and just increase the vanilla extract from a ½ teaspoon to 1 teaspoon. You could also swap it with a ½ teaspoon of lime extract if you really want a pop of lime in the frosting instead.

More Coconut – On the other hand, if you want even more coconut flavor, replace the vanilla extract in both the cupcakes and the frosting with more coconut extract. Increase the shredded coconut in the cupcakes to 1 ½ heaping cups and add the toasted coconut into the frosting itself. If you add coconut to the frosting, however, be sure to use a large piping tip or spread it on with a knife, because it will clog smaller piping tips.

Buttercream Frosting – I love the cream cheese frosting here because it’s slightly less sweet and creamier than a buttercream. If you’d rather do buttercream though, it’s an easy switch. Omit the cream cheese, increase the butter to ¾ cup, and use a few tablespoons of heavy cream. Once everything is mixed, add the heavy cream a tablespoon at a time until you reach the consistency you desire.

Juicer – I don’t typically use a hand juicer for 1-2 fruits, but I do recommend a simple and cheap hand juicer for any recipe that requires juicing more fruit. This is also easier if you have arthritis or any issues with hand strength. The one listed is easy to use and collects the juice in a glass below. I then pour that through a fine mesh sieve into a measuring glass to remove any seeds or pulp that fall through.

Piping Tips – As mentioned in the directions, I used a Wilton 8B open star piping tip for decorating the cupcakes. You could also use a Wilton 6B open star piping tip, but I do find larger tips work better than small ones on cupcakes. Don’t forget some 12” piping bags also.

Scoop – I used to scoop cupcake batter into the cupcake liners with a large spoon, but this was always a messy hassle. Using a large cookie scoop about 3 tablespoons in size, or an ice cream scoop, makes this process much easier and cleaner, giving you almost exactly the right amount of batter in each scoop.

Once cooled and decorated, key lime coconut cupcakes can be placed in an airtight container and refrigerated for up to a week. The cupcakes themselves can stay at room temperature for 3-4 days but once they are frosted, they will need to be refrigerated because of the cream cheese in the frosting.

If you’re making cupcakes ahead of time or need to store them for longer than a week, freezing is a good option. I prefer this to refrigerating cupcakes as freezing and then thawing keeps them tasing fresher than being refrigerated.

Once cooled completely, wrap each undecorated cupcake in plastic wrap. Place them in a gallon freezer bag or airtight container and freeze for up to 3 months. Leave at room temperature to thaw for 30 minutes to an hour and decorate as normal.

While you can freeze frosted cupcakes, I don’t recommend it as it takes up more room and not all frostings do as well frozen. With that said, if you want to freeze frosted cupcakes, move them to the freezer uncovered for an hour or two to freeze the frosting. Once frozen, wrap individually as above, and freeze for up to 3 months. When thawing decorated cupcakes, remove the plastic wrapping right away and let them thaw uncovered at room temperature.