These Cherry and Lime Cupcakes are filled with homemade jam and lime zest. Topped with light, fluffy frosting, they are the perfect balance of tart and sweet.
Whew. Happy Tuesday friends. We are in the midst of a heat wave here in the UK (we don’t get those very often) and I am really feeling all the berry and citrus flavours!
These Cherry and Lime Cupcakes make your taste buds sing with their homemade cherry jam centre and lime frosting. However, these might be one of the last oven recipes to come out of my kitchen for a while! Making dinner yesterday with the oven on almost made me melt into a puddle on the floor!
I hate to be one of those moaning Brits because it is genuinely nice to have some sunshine and not just loads of rain, but it is a bit much. Having been around 23C last week and suddenly waking up on Sunday to it being 31C – well it’s a bit of a shock to the system!
I hate it so much when I break out in a sweat just getting dressed. It would be so much better if we had a slight breeze. I wouldn’t mind the heat as much then; it’s that sticky, just ridiculously hot air type of heat that I don’t like. It’s not even that humid yet, so I can only assume it’s going to get worse! 🙁
I even think I’d be able to cope if we went abroad as so many countries are set up to cope with the heat and have air con. Here we only really have air con in cars, some shops and some offices. It’s really not widespread because we just don’t get enough good weather!
Mum & Dad had air con installed in their house a few years ago and it’s bliss walking into their house! Our cat has the right idea too as she can usually be found directly under the unit in a sun beam getting the best of both worlds!
Sitting with an ice cold drink and one of these Cherry and Lime Cupcakes right now seems like bliss to me. There’s tennis on the TV and these cupcakes are the perfect balance between tart lime and sweet cherries. I made my own jam to fill the cupcakes too and topped them with a lime filled buttercream frosting.
You don’t have to make your own jam, I just had over 1kg of cherries to use and I do love the taste of homemade jam. There’s also plenty of lime zest in these incredibly soft cupcakes. I can’t even begin to tell you what a beautifully light texture these cupcakes have.
When completely assembled and with a cherry on the top, these cupcakes are just phenomenal. There may be a lot of ingredients and steps when you first look at the list, but these aren’t difficult to make and are totally worth the effort. You can make them simpler by just using store bought jam if you rather as well. 🙂
Cherry and Lime Cupcakes
These Cherry and Lime Cupcakes are filled with homemade jam and lime zest. Topped with light, fluffy frosting, they are the perfect balance of tart and sweet.
Ingredients
- For the cupcakes:
- 1 stick (113g) unsalted butter or margarine, at room temperature
- 1 cup (200g) caster/white sugar
- Zest of 1 large or 2 small limes
- 2 large eggs
- 1 1/2 cups (210g) plain/all purpose flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- Pinch of salt, ONLY if using unsalted butter
- 1/2 cup (120ml) milk
- For the cherry jam:
- 1 1/2 cups (235g) fresh cherries, pitted and halved
- 1/2 cup (100g) caster/white sugar
- 1/4 cup (60ml) water
- For the frosting:
- 2 sticks (226g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 2 1/2 cups (300g) icing/powdered sugar
- Zest of 1 small lime
- 1/2-1 tbsp milk
- 12 cherries, for garnish, optional
- 3 slices lime, quartered for garnish, optional
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 180C/350F and line a 12 hole cupcake tray with liners.
Place the butter/margarine, sugar and lime zest into a large bowl or the bowl of your stand mixer and beat until light and fluffy. Around 2 minutes on medium-high speed.
Add in the eggs, scraping down the sides as necessary, and mix on medium speed until well incorporated and smooth.
Add in the flour, baking powder and salt (if using) and mix on low until the mixture begins to come together, then add the milk and continue to mix until you have a light, smooth batter with no lumps of flour.
Using a 2tbsp cookie scoop, divide the batter between the cupcake liners and then place in the oven for 18-22 minutes, until risen, lightly golden and an inserted skewer into the centre comes out clean.
Transfer to a wire rack to cool as soon as possible to stop liners peeling away from sides of cakes. Leave to cool completely.
Whilst the cupcakes are cooling, make the jam: place cherries, sugar and water into a medium sized saucepan over a medium heat. Bring to a boil, stirring frequently. Once boiling, turn down the heat to simmer for around 10 minutes until the cherries have cooked down and the mixture coats the back of a spoon. Leave to cool.
Once the cupcakes are cool, make the frosting: Place butter, icing sugar and lime zest into a large bowl, or the bowl of your stand mixer and beat for 2-3 minutes until light and fluffy. If required, add 1/2 - 1tbsp of milk. I used 1/2tbsp - you want a consistency that you can pipe through a nozzle, but will hold its shape.
Place the frosting into a piping bag fitted with an open star nozzle and then it's time to assemble!: Using a cupcake corer (I used the OXO Good Grips one) or a small knife, core each cupcake. If you're doing it with a knife, cut a circle 1 inch in diameter in the centre of each cupcake and remove the centre - make sure to leave a base of cake, I normally cut 3/4 of the way down.
Keep the cores and cut them into 1/8 inch thick tops so you can put them back over the jam when you've filled the cupcake. discard (or eat!) the leftover centres.
Spoon 1tsp of jam into the centre of each cored cupcakes and then top with your reserved tops.
Pipe a swirl onto each cupcake and garnish with a cherry and quarter slice of lime.
Cherry and Lime Cupcakes will keep in an airtight container, in the fridge, for 3 days.
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Stefanie Stiller says
20.6.17 at 3:24 pmThey look delicious! I will try them, even if I´m sure they won´t turn out that well….
http://www.livanies.com
Annie @ Annie's Noms says
22.6.17 at 3:43 pmThanks so much Stefanie! 🙂
Jamie | A Sassy Spoon says
20.6.17 at 3:29 pmYUM! The idea of making my own jam to bring these cupcakes to life gets me excited! Thanks for sharing, Annie! 🙂
Annie @ Annie's Noms says
22.6.17 at 3:43 pmYou’re welcome! The homemade jam really knocks these out of the park!
Angela LeMoine says
20.6.17 at 3:33 pmOh Annie, these cupcakes are dreamy!!! That gooey filling and the perfect frosting to top it off.
Annie @ Annie's Noms says
22.6.17 at 3:43 pmThanks so much Angela! 😀
Kelly says
20.6.17 at 3:34 pmSo delicious and beautiful! My mouth is actually watering. Pinned!
Annie @ Annie's Noms says
22.6.17 at 3:43 pmThanks so much for pinning! 😀
Beth Kunzler Neels says
20.6.17 at 4:12 pmThose are simply gorgeous! I love making homemade jams too! Love the combination of cherries and limes! Thanks for sharing!
Annie @ Annie's Noms says
22.6.17 at 3:44 pmThank you so much! Homemade jam is the best!
Jolina says
20.6.17 at 5:12 pmThese look phenomenal! Just the kind of summer cupcakes I’ve been craving for. We always hoard cherries this time of the year, this is a great recipe to use them on. Can’t wait!
Annie @ Annie's Noms says
22.6.17 at 3:44 pmThanks so much, I love hoarding cherries and strawberries this time of year!!
Deanna Samaan says
20.6.17 at 5:32 pmThese looks o divine!! Love cherry and I love lime! YUMMY!!
Annie @ Annie's Noms says
22.6.17 at 3:44 pmThanks so much! 😀
Kimberly says
20.6.17 at 5:55 pmI love making strawberry jam, maybe I could try these with that! 🙂 Delicious and your photography is beautiful!
Davi @ Homegrown Simplicity says
20.6.17 at 7:37 pmI’m not a huge cherry fan, but my husband would LOVE these. He always orders a cherry limeade from Sonic (its a fast food restaurant here in the states). The drink is basically a carbonated punch with cherries and limes in it. I need to surprise him with these one day!
Annie @ Annie's Noms says
22.6.17 at 3:44 pmOooh that cherry limeade sounds amazing too!! I really need to plan a trip to the states soon!
Marlene says
20.6.17 at 7:57 pmHoly toledo. these are like my two favorite flavors combined in to one!
Annie @ Annie's Noms says
22.6.17 at 3:45 pmHaha, mine too! 😀
Karly says
21.6.17 at 4:06 amOne of my all time summer faves in cupcake form!? Yes please! These have to happen in my kitchen, and soon.
Annie @ Annie's Noms says
22.6.17 at 3:45 pmI still can’t get enough of making every flavour combo possible into portable cupcake form!!
Megan Knox-Davies says
21.6.17 at 1:41 pmi absolutely love a good cupcake – and the fact that these have a surprise center and lime, they look delicious! definitely keen to try this recipe myself!
Annie @ Annie's Noms says
22.6.17 at 3:46 pmThe surprise centre really makes these even more amazing than they should be! Thanks so much! 😀
Brown Sugar says
22.6.17 at 4:20 amThese are very pretty! I never thought about putting cherry and lime together!
Annie @ Annie's Noms says
22.6.17 at 3:47 pmThanks so much! 😀
Annie @ Annie's Noms says
22.6.17 at 3:46 pmAny excuse to eat cake and I’m in!
Christina Kamp says
23.6.17 at 6:38 pmThese look delicious and SO adorable!
Miz Helen says
23.6.17 at 9:11 pmI just pinned your fantastic cupcakes and can’t wait to try one! Thanks so much for sharing with us at Full Plate Thursday. Have a great week and come back soon!
Miz Helen