Limeade Cupcakes

My aunts and I have a magazine sharing thing going on with the Cooking with Paula Deen magazine.  My Aunt Tone (don't ask where the nickname comes from - after 29 years of hearing the story, I still have no idea...) gets the subscription in North Carolina, mails it to my Aunt Kate in Toledo, who then mails it to me.  This month I got the magazine directly from my Aunt Kate while visiting Toledo.

Me and Aunt Tone this weekend

I always leaf through the magazines and find pretty cool recipes, but don't always get a chance to try them out.  Fortunately, while Bob was driving me home from the Amtrak station yesterday, he mentioned that his parents were coming over for dinner tonight.  Bob was taking care of the BBQ and his parents were bringing sides, so the only thing left for me was dessert.  Perfect!  I had found a great recipe from Paula Deen for limeade cupcakes that I was itching to try.

Paula Deen's Limeade Cupcakes (from the July/August 2010 issue of Cooking with Paula Deen)

Makes 24 cupcakes

1 (18.25 oz.) box of white cake mix

3 egg whites

1 1/3 C. frozen limeade concentrate, thawed

2 T. vegetable oil

zest from 2 limes

Mom's Frosting

frosts 24 cupcakes

1/2 C. vegetable oil shortening

1 egg white

2 C. powdered sugar

1-2 T. milk

1/2 t Mexican vanilla

zest from 1 lime

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line 24 muffin cups with cupcake liners.  In a large bowl, combine cake mix, egg whites, limeade and vegetable oil and mix with an electric mixer until smooth, about 1 minute.  Stir in lime zest.  Fill cupcake liners about 2/3 full with cake batter and bake for 15 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the cupcakes comes out clean.  Cool for 10 minutes in the pan, and then transfer to a cooling rack.

Paula's recipe does come with a recipe for a lime buttercream icing.  However, as I've kind of mentioned before, I don't like buttercream icing.  This could be because of my single disastrous attempt at making it years and years ago, or because my mom has the best recipe for frosting ever.  I mean it, it's really the best.  I use it for all cakes and cookies, and it always gets tons of compliments.

A note on the measurements though - I'm guesstimating what the powdered sugar and milk comes out to be, but neither of us really knows how much we use.  Each batch is indeed different.  We just keep alternating milk and powdered sugar until it's the right consistency and flavor (you have to add a good amount to get rid of the shortening taste).  The consistency you want is something that's stiff enough to frost with (this is especially important if you're going to use decorating bags), but not clumpy.

To make the frosting, combine the shortening, egg white, vanilla and lime zest (added for these cupcakes, of course) in a large bowl and beat on high with an electric mixer until smooth.  Add about 1/2 cup of powdered sugar and mix.  Then keep adding small amounts of milk and powdered sugar.  Frost the cupcakes, garnish with fresh raspberries and enjoy!

Did I mention we were celebrating Bob's birthday (again) tonight?
Happy Birthday, Bob! :)