Key Lime Colada Cupcakes

Last night I made cupcakes for a bake sale. My plan was to...actually, I didn't have a plan. I found a box of lemon cake mix in the pantry and decided to try making berry pink lemonade cupcakes. I was pretty sure I had some frozen berries in the freezer. I thought I'd put a berry in the middle of each cupcake, then cook down some berries and use the juice to color and flavor some homemade butter cream.

I made the batter then searched for the berries. Couldn't find them. I'm pretty sure I used them the last time I made berry cupcakes; I must have, because they're gone. So I changed plans. *Note: after I was fully engaged in the new plan, I realized that their was a pint of fresh strawberries in my fridge. Where they came from, I don't know, but I totally could have used those.*

New Plan: Key Lime Colada Cupcakes. I took my lemon cake batter and added a bit of coconut rum, the juice of a lime, and some flaked coconut. I also added a bit of flour and a teaspoon of sugar because I wanted the cupcakes to be a bit firm and not too sweet. . I tasted one when they came out, and it worked fine. Oh, and some green food coloring, just a couple drops; I like to use the "neon" green you buy at the grocery store instead of the regular green.

For the frosting, I wanted to make a butter cream and swirl it nicely on the top of the cupcakes. I decided to use that Pinterest tip of chilling coconut milk then using the thickened part that separates from the coconut water. I've done that before, and it didn't turn out very firm, so I mixed that with some butter. I also added lime juice, a few drops of food coloring, and a few drops of coconut extract. I forgot, however, that I didn't have a whole bag of powdered sugar. So when I mixed it all, it came out like more of a glaze. AND...the acidic lime juice made it hard for everything to blend well. I ended up putting it in a double boiler in order to get it to blend more smoothly.

It worked really nicely as a glaze. I put it on the cupcakes twice, the second time after the first application had firmed up a bit; it gave it a better look. As garnish, I added some lime zest and pieces of organic, unsweetened flaked coconut (I thought it looked pretty).

I hope they sell well!