Whew.  Want to talk about things in our lives that are a complete joke?

Like how I’m supposed to be moving across three states in a week and a half and my house is still pretty much unpacked.  Mainly because every time I’ve attempted to pack something, I have later opened back up the box to remove something else that was still needed.

Or, the fact that I’m trying to do this entire move during the whole COVID-19 pandemic, where heading to the store to pick up additional packing supplies is not always an option.  And coordinating with necessary companies is proving to be a little more difficult than if I were doing this move during any other time.  Do note though, this has been in process since the beginning of the year – not just a recent decision.

Or how about when I felt super healthy last night after eating an entire bag of salad mix.  But then paired it with the biggest, juiciest, cheddar bacon burger ever.  Haha. Yup.

And then there’s me.  Trying to do all the things.  Like learning how to groom my dog. And needing to follow along with a YouTube video – pausing after every few steps because it seriously took me 2 hours when it took the person in the video less than thirty minutes.

I have now officially added another career, along with cake decorator, that I will never ever do.

But these cupcakes?

These cupcakes are no joke.

They use my favorite vanilla cupcake recipe that I use to use when I baked cupcakes for the local Farmer’s Markets up in Virginia (yes, that’s not a joke either).  But they’ve been cut down in size to fit my whole new “small-batch baking”.  And they have a little added punch of lime.

We sort of got it stuck in our head (and by we – I mean Audrey), to make some cherry limeade cupcakes, after we had to spend countless hours sitting in the car outside of the vet and animal hospital (social distancing at its finest) the other week when our little shih-poo, Prince, decided to eat mouthfuls of sand during a little beach outing.  Luckily for us, the local animal hospital sits right next to a Sonic, so we were able to sip on one of our favorite drinks: cherry limeade, while we waited.

So yeah.  These cupcakes.  Punches of lime.  With a subtle cherry flavor.

Absolutely no joke.

Try them.

Small-batch Cherry Limeade Cupcakes

makes 6 cupcakes

for the cake

• 3 tbsp. unsalted butter, softened
• 1/4 c. + 3 tbsp. sugar
• 1 tbsp. lime juice
• 1 1/2 tsp. lime zest
• 1 large egg white
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/8 tsp. salt
• 1/4 c. milk (I used unsweetened almond milk, but really any milk will work)

for the simple syrup

• 1 1/2 tsp. lime juice
• 1 1/2 tsp. sugar

for the frosting

• 6 tbsp. unsalted butter, softened
• 1 1/2 c. powdered sugar
• 2 tbsp. maraschino cherry juice
• few drops of red food coloring
• 6 maraschino cherries, lime slices, and sugar crystal sprinkles

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F and line your cupcake pan with 6 liners.

In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.  Set aside.

In the bowl of your stand mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter, sugar, lime zest, and lime juice until light and fluffy.

Add the egg whites and vanilla and beat until smooth.

Add half of your flour mixture to your butter/sugar mixture and combine on a low speed until incorporated.  Mix in the milk on a low speed, and then add the remaining flour mixture until just combined.

Divide the batter between the prepared cupcake cups and bake for 18-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

While your cupcakes are baking, make your simple syrup.  In a small saucepan, whisk together the lime juice and sugar, cooking over a medium heat, until the sugar has completely dissolved and mixture begins to thicken slightly.  Remove from heat and allow to cool a bit.

Once the cupcakes are removed from the oven, spread the simple syrup evenly over each of the cupcakes while they are still hot.

Remove cupcakes from cupcake pan, place on a wire rack, and allow them to cool completely.

Once the cupcakes have cooled completely, make the frosting.  Combine the butter, powdered sugar, maraschino cherry juice, and a few drops of red frosting in the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment.  Start on a low setting at first until everything is combined, and then increase the speed to medium to get your frosting light and fluffy.  If the frosting is too thick, add additional cherry juice, 1 tsp at a time, until you reach your desired consistency.

Pipe frosting onto your cupcakes and decorate with the maraschino cherries and lime slices.  Then sprinkle with a bit of sugar crystal sprinkles.