Strawberry-Filled Cupcakes with Lime Cream Cheese Frosting

Here is the final piece of the Mexican-themed meal! I’m obviously obsessed with dessert so I couldn’t have a meal without it. I debated trying to make some sort of traditional Mexican dessert but decided against it in favor of some cupcakes in hopes that my family would be more likely to eat them quickly!

I decided on these strawberry-filled cupcakes with lime cream cheese frosting to go with the strawberry margaritas.  Feel free to compliment me on how well-planned and clever that was J

For the cupcakes, I just used my standard boxed cake mix with a can of diet soda. I know there are probably a bunch of people who haven’t warmed up to that idea yet. I generally only use it for cupcakes that are filled with something. I figure, if I’m going to be scooping out half of the cupcake anyway, there’s really no point in making something so labor intensive.

The frosting is the real focus here. The combination of cream cheese and lime reminded me of key lime pie. It was creamy and rich with a little bit of a tart bite. The only thing that I might try to do differently is play with the amount of sugar to change the consistency.  It was slightly runny, like almost somewhere between a buttercream and a glaze, so it had to be spread onto the cupcakes rather than piped. This was fine for these cupcakes because a little goes a long way but I’d be interested to see what a thicker frosting would taste like.

Make these, drink the matching margaritas, and be merry!

Strawberry-Filled Cupcakes with Lime Cream Cheese Frosting (16 cupcakes)

·         1 box yellow cake mix

·         1 can diet lemon-lime soda

·         1 pint fresh strawberries

·         1 Tbsp sugar

For the frosting

·         4 oz cream cheese

·         2 ½ Tbsp butter

·         2 ¼ cups powdered sugar

·         1 tsp vanilla

·         1 Tbsp lime juice

·         Zest of one lime

1.       Preheat the oven to the temperature indicated on the cake box. Line muffin tin with cupcake liners.
2.       For the filling: Finely chop the pint of strawberries. Place in a bowl and mix with the sugar.
3.       For the frosting:  In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the cream cheese and butter until smooth, about 2 minutes. Add the vanilla, lime juice, and lime zest. Add in the sugar ½ cup at a time and mix until smooth.
4.       Mix the cake mix and the can of soda together until the batter is smooth. Fill cupcake liners ¾ full. Bake as directed.
5.       Allow the cupcakes to cool completely. Cut out the center of the cupcakes and reserve the middles in a separate bowl.
6.       Fill the cupcakes with the diced strawberries. Cover with a small amount of the reserved cupcake.
7.       Frost the cupcakes.
8.       Chill until ready to serve.

it's like a margarita... in a cupcake!

Fresh Strawberry Margaritas

Toward the beginning of the summer, I made a big Mexican-themed meal and realized that I never blogged about it! So the next couple blog posts are going to be dedicated to that dinner.

Let’s start with the most important aspect – the drinks. For a Mexican-themed meal, I knew I wanted to drink a margarita but wanted to spruce it up a bit. Strawberries were on sale at the grocery store so I decided to do a strawberry variation.

God, these were good. Maybe too good, since my friend and I finished off two whole pitchers. They are so tasty that I think I forgot that they were alcoholic until it was too late. Wayyyyy too late.

There are so many excuses to make these. To celebrate Mexican holidays. To beat the heat of summer. To use up extra strawberries. To cure a bad day. To celebrate something awesome. Or just because margaritas are delicious.

Fresh Strawberry Margaritas (1 margarita) from How Sweet It Is

• 2 ounces triple sec
• 1 1/2 ounces Tequila (I was definitely heavy handed on the tequila…)
• 2 ounces lime juice
• 2 1/2 ounces strawberry simple syrup [recipe below]
• lime + fresh strawberries for garnish
• sugar for the rim

1. Rim the ridge of your glass with a lime wedge and dip in a mix of margarita salt + sugar [I used about 3 tablespoons salt to 2 teaspoons sugar]. Fill the glass with ice. In a cocktail shaker, combine tequila, grand marnier, simple syrup and lime juice with ice, and shake for about 30 seconds. Pour over ice and squeeze in lime slices and add a few strawberries.
2. For strawberry simple syrup: combine equal parts sugar and water, bring to a boil and let sugar dissolve, then turn off heat and let cool completely. Combine 1 cup simply syrup + 1 1/2 cups slices strawberries in a blender and blend until combined. I don’t mind strawberry seeds, but if you’d like you can strain the mixture over a fine mesh strainer to remove the seeds.

so pretty and delicious!