Cream Cheese Icing

I know I said I would post this a while ago, and I am sorry for the delay.

This is just a general cream cheese icing that I use for many purposes - icing cupcakes, cakes or even dipping monkey bread into (yum!). I add different flavours depending on the occasion but I must say it is pretty good all on its own.

Ingredients:
1 block (8 ounce) cream cheese
½ cup butter
2 to 3 cups of icing sugar

Directions:
1. Make sure the cream cheese and the butter are soft and at room temperature, the longer they have been out the easier they will cream together!
2. Cream together the cream cheese and the butter. Slowly add 2 cups of icing sugar and mix in.
3. Now the fun part - taste the icing. Is it too tart - add a little more sugar, is it too runny - add a little more sugar (you get the idea).
4. Use however you wish (eating with a spoon is always an option, just not the healthiest route to go!).

Lime Coconut Cupcakes

There was a birthday at work this past week, and I hadn’t baked anything in a while, so I figured that was a good enough reason to make something. I wanted something new, not the same old cookies or vanilla cupcakes. Also I didn’t want anything too sweet - that is for next week when Valentines Day hits (still have no idea what I am making for that one - pink cupcakes maybe?)

Anyways, I wanted something a little spring like and upon investigating the contents of my fridge I came across some lime juice. I love lime flavoured deserts and went on the hunt for a lime cupcake recipe. I came across Coconut Lime Cupcakes on the foodnetwork site and decided to try - along with my own modifications of course, I was looking for a lime cupcake not a coconut cupcake!


Lime Coconut Cupcakes (makes ~ 12 to 15 cupcakes)
Ingredients

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
4 tablespoons lime juice (bottled or freshly squeezed)
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 cups loosely packed unsweetened shredded coconut


Directions
1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

2. With an electric mixer (or a really strong arm) cream together the butter and sugar. The resulting mixture should be light and fluffy (don’t be afraid to let it beat for a couple of minutes to get it this way).

3. Add the eggs one at a time and mix until well incorporated. Add in the vanilla extract and the lime juice, mixing well.

4. In bowl combine the flour, baking powder and baking soda. Add ⅓ of the mixture to the wet ingredients and let mix. Add ½ of the butter milk, followed by ⅓ of the dry ingredients. Repeat once so all the milk and flour is used. Mix until a smooth mixture results.

5. Stir in the coconut.

6. Drop the mixture into cupcake holders, filling about ⅔ or ¾ of the way up. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes - until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cupcake comes out clean.

7. Allow to cool before Icing.

Reviews:
I used a cream cheese icing on these cupcakes and they were great. They got great reviews at work and I didn’t come home with any left! I will be making these again when I want something a little more spring/summery or just that hint of citrus!