Key Lime Pie Cupcakes, Coconut & Banana Bundt Cake and Mini Coconut Cream Pies...it's been a yummy week!

So hopefully this post will make up for the lack of baking I've been putting on the blog recently!

First up were my moms birthday cupcakes.  It was quite a funny story, I'd been planning these for quite a while.  Last year on her birthday I made her Toblerone cupcakes and for Mother's Day I made her Lime & Coconut cupcakes, two of her favourite flavour combos, so I was struggling to come up with something new that she would find amazing this time around when suddenly it struck me - Key Lime Pie! Mom is a huge fan of Key Lime Pie and i just knew they would turn out great in cupcake form too so I was pretty excited to make them.

Imagine my disappointment when she called early on in the week to tell me I wasn't allowed to bring any baked goods home this weekend because she was on a 'serious diet'.  So there went that plan, until in a later phone call I mentioned she was going to be missing out on some Key Lime Pie cupcakes and she promptly told me she could bend the rules for those!! 

So arriving with no baked goods turned into arriving with a whole box of Key Lime Pie cupcakes, a Coconut & Banana Bundt cake, a whole box of cheesecakes and some mini Coconut Cream Pies! 

Whoops...so the rules were definitely bent but all the treats were thoroughly enjoyed nonetheless! 

Usually I don't like to bake with 'fairy cake' cases and prefer to only use proper cupcake size cases, however my love of colour co-ordination won in this decision so I opted for 'lime' green cases to match the Key Lime cupcakes.

I filled these with a delicious home made Key Lime filling, and the colour co-ordination fun didn't stop there...check out my 'lime' piping bag too! 

They were then topped with some super glossy meringue frosting that had just a hint of Key Lime juice in to jazz it up...and then the fun began...

I have never used a blow torch before.  Personally I prefer grilling my meringue topped cupcakes so that the meringue is quite crunchy but I feel the blow torch effect makes them more aesthetically pleasing! So I decided to give it a go...

This picture is to show you not everything always goes to plan! I decided to test on my 'reject' cupcake that had not been frosted so well and I'm glad I did because as you can see I set fire to it! 

So next time around, I moved my blow torch a bit further back and managed not to set any more cupcake liners of fire, although the tip of the meringue just caught - it kind of looks like a candle!! but as you can see from my pic at the top of this post it all turned out okay in the end! and yes I bake in my 'I heart NY' pj's, don't you just love them! 

If you want to bake up these delicious cupcakes too then here is the recipe, I adapted it slightly from here...it was the first time I had ever used icing sugar in the cupcake batter as opposed to the frosting but it helped to give it a lovely light and fluffy texture so I was a fan!

Key Lime Pie Cupcakes with Meringue Frosting

(Makes 18 fairy cake size cupcakes)

For the cupcakes:

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3/4 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 1/2 cups icing sugar

1 tablespoon lime zest

2 large eggs

1 1/3 cup plain flour

1 3/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup natural yoghurt (this was meant to be buttermilk but I substituted with yoghurt as the corner shop at the end of the road didn't sell buttermilk!)

2 tablespoon key lime juice

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1. Preheat the oven to 180°C. Line cupcake tin with cupcake liners.

2. Beat the butter in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment for 1 minute. Add the icing sugar and lime zest; beat until light and fluffy.

3. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well between each addition.

4. Mix the flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl. Add half the flour mixture to the butter and beat until well-combined.

5. Mix in the yoghurt and key lime juice, then the remaining flour. Mix until just combined.

6. Spoon the batter into the lined cupcake tins until three-quarters of the way full. Tap the tins on the counter a few times, then bake the cupcakes for 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool the cupcakes in the tins for 5 minutes, then remove the cupcakes and cool to room temperature.

 For the Key Lime filling:

1/2-cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
2 tablespoons grated key lime zest (about 4-5 key limes)
1/4 cup freshly squeezed key lime juice (8-10 key limes)
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, diced

1. In a medium saucepan combine sugar, eggs, lime zest and juice.

2. Cook mixture over medium-low heat, whisking constantly. Cook until mixture begins to thicken and hold the mark of a whisk ran through it; about 10-15 minutes.

3. Remove pan from heat. Whisk in diced butter a few pieces at a time. Mix until well combined.

4. Strain mixture through a fine sieve.

5. Cover mixture tightly with plastic by laying plastic wrap directly on the surface of the curd. This prevents a film from forming. Chill for 3 hours or overnight to set the curd.

For the Meringue frosting:

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4 large egg whites

1 cup granulated sugar

1/2 teaspoon key lime juice

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Fill a small pot 2-inches deep with water. Set it over medium-high heat to bring to a simmer.

2. Combine the egg whites, sugar and cream of tartar in the metal bowl of a stand mixer or a heatproof bowl. Set the bowl over the simmering water and whisk continuously until the sugar dissolves and the egg whites are warm to the touch, about 5 minutes. Be careful not to cook the egg whites.

3. Remove the bowl from the pot of water and turn off the heat. Set the bowl in the base of the stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, or use a hand mixer. 

4. Beat the egg whites at high speed until shiny and hold stiff peaks when the whisk is lifted, about 5 minutes. 

5. Add the key lime juice and vanilla extract and whisk 2 minutes longer.

6. Fit a pastry bag with a small star tip and fill with meringue. Pipe the meringue onto the cooled cupcakes. 

7. Use a small kitchen torch to toast the meringue.


I'm sharing these for Cupcake Tuesday over at Hoosier Homemade.

It was my dad's birthday a few weeks ago, I was planning to post him some baked goods but thought it would be safer to bring them by hand, which led to a very late night baking session the day before we left which is why these pictures are not the greatest! Hopefully I have heavy sleeping neighbours who don't mind a KitchenAid whirring at 1am in the morning! 

Like me, my dad is a huge coconut fan and also a fan of banana bread so I combined the two using this recipe I found while in the Caribbean.  Apart from this time I had the added bonus of shredded coconut which I was super excited about.  I also added a coconut glaze which made it even more moist than usual, and making it in a bundt shaped tin was a fun change too.  It has been the highlight of the weekend so I can definitely recommend giving it a try! 

Coconut & Banana Bundt cake:

1/2 cup desiccated coconut

1/2 cup shredded coconut

1 cup caster sugar
1 1/2 cup self raising flour
1 cup mashed banana
1 cup coconut milk
1 egg
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

1. Grease and line your tin, and preheat your oven to 170°C.
2. In a large bowl combine dry ingredients.
3. Mash your banana and combine with the rest of the wet ingredients in a separate bowl.
4. Pour wet mixture over dry mixture and mix until combined. (it will look a little lumpy due to the chunks of banana and the coconut)
5. Place batter in your prepared pan and cook for about one hour until your cake is lightly browned and a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean.
6. Allow to cool in pan for 10 minutes and then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

For the topping:

2 tablespoons unsweetened coconut milk

1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup icing sugar

1 cup shredded coconut

1. Whisk the coconut milk, vanilla extract and 1/2 cup icing sugar in a bowl until smooth.

2. Add more sugar as needed to thicken.

3. Sprinkle shredded coconut over the top.

The coconut theme continues...and I have a feeling it will do for a while now we've finally managed to source shredded coconut here in the UK - there is no stopping me!

I adapted my recipe from this one and after a little local hunt for graham crackers failed I ended up using shop bought pie crusts...they actually weren't too shabby! and the coconut filling tastes ah-mazing! I haven't managed to replicate the amazingness of the Coconut Cream Pie I had whilst in the Caribbean but it is certainly the best I've had in the UK! 

Coconut Cream Pie Mini's

(Makes 8)

Mini tart cases

1 cup whole milk

1 cup coconut milk, well-whisked

1/2 vanilla bean, split lengthwise

2 tablespoons butter, cut into 4 pieces

3/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup cornstarch

3 large egg yolks

1 large (whole) egg

40g desiccated coconut

1. Combine the first four ingredients in a 2-quart saucepan, scraping out the vanilla seeds and tossing both seeds and pod in the pan. Place over high heat and bring to a boil.

2. Meanwhile, whisk the sugar and cornstarch together in a small bowl.

3. In the now-cleaned mixing bowl, whisk the egg yolks and whole egg. Whisk in the sugar/cornstarch mixture.

When the milk/coconut milk mixture comes to a boil, add 3/4-cup of it, whisking, to the egg mixture to temper. 

4. Pour the egg mixture back into the saucepan, whisking, reduce the heat to low, and make constant figure-8s with a wooden spoon or heatproof spatula for about 90 seconds, or until the mixture thickens. 

5. Pass through a strainer into a large bowl and fold in the desiccated coconut.

6. Add 80g of the coconut filling to each individual tart case.

For the topping:

 2 cups double cream

80g coconut milk

1/4 cup caster sugar

Shredded coconut

1. Place heavy cream and coconut milk in mixing bowl, and whip on medium speed until it begins to thicken.

2. Slowly add sugar, increase speed to high and whip until stiff.

3. Add 50g of cream topping to each individual pie.

4. Top with shavings of toasted shredded coconut

...and there you have it!