Tall green tree, yellow bird

Bikini bottom and a tie dye shirt,

and my, my, my - my key lime pie.

When I'm at the beach, I love to listen to lots of country and reggae music. In fact, for about two weeks ahead of a beach vacation I don't turn off the Marley, lest I switch to James Taylor. As I am leaving for the beaches of North Carolina tomorrow, it was only fitting that my latest cupcake was inspired by none other than country crooner Kenny Chesney (the song was "Key Lime Pie", by the way). 

Key Lime Pie is actually a dessert favorite of my mother's. When I was younger, we spent a few years vacationing in the Florida Keys, clearly one of the best spots to get some genuine Key Lime Pie grub. Key Limes, a smaller and more fragrant fruit than its counterpart the common Persian Lime, are naturalized throughout the Florida Keys. 

Quick cocktail party fact: Key Lime Pie is the state pie of Florida. In 1965 a Florida State Representative actually attempted to pass legislation saying that any person who made a Key Lime Pie sans authentic Key Limes would be fined $100. Incase you were curious, the legislation did not pass. 

Anyway, my mother always told me that a true Key Lime Pie should never be green because the coloring is not natural. (The dessert was also her father's specialty.) Rather than coloring the cake itself a less-than-appealing neon green, I chose to slightly tint the cream cheese based frosting. Without being totally in-your-face, the pale green gives off the idea that the cupcake is of lime flavoring and not a misleading vanilla cupcake.

The graham cracker crust is true to the original dessert, which is served in a similar manner. Both the cake and the frosting are sprinkled with finely grated lime peel, which are nearly undetectable in texture but very present in flavor. The icing is almost cheesecake-like, and is similar in flavor to true Key Lime Pie filling. Though the pie is traditionally topped in meringue, a cupcake suffers without its frosting! My mother was practically licking the bowl that I made it in. Okay, she really was licking the bowl.

Now, assuming you're not already full from all of the Key Lime knowledge I just spewed at you, let's move on to the recipe. To make things easier, this time around I'll be listing the ingredients before I start the directions.

GRAHAM CRACKER CRUST:

• 1 stick butter 
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 2 cups graham cracker crumbs

CUPCAKES:

• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 3/4 cup self-rising flour
• 1 stick unsalted butter (softened, not melted)
• 1 and 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 2 and 1/2 tbsp lime juice
• 1 tbsp finely grated lime peel (about 1 lime)
• 3/4 cup buttermilk

FROSTING: 

*I doubled this recipe, so you may need more of each of these ingredients. 

• 1 8oz package cream cheese (softened, not melted)
• 1 and 1/2 cups powdered sugar
• 1 stick unsalted butter (softened, not melted)
• 1 tbsp finely grated lime peel (about 1 lime)
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• Lime green food coloring 

GARNISH:

• Crushed graham cracker (not mixed crust)
• Vanilla frosting - from the can! 

Eek, wouldn't normally do that but since I really didn't need much of it at all, I didn't want to make a whole batch. Any vanilla frosting will do! 

Okay, on to the preparation! Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees F.

Line your cupcake pan with paper liners. As with the s'moregasm cupcakes, you'll fill these with graham cracker crust before you use any cake batter.

To make the graham cracker crust, crush your graham crackers in a Ziploc bag however you please. Stomp on them, hit them with a hammer, whatever. Do so until the pieces are pretty evenly small - there shouldn't be any noticeably large pieces of cracker left. 

In a bowl, combine the graham cracker with the melted butter and sugar. Mix well. Spoon some of the mixture into each cupcake liner so that you create a tiny crust at the bottom of each. Press into a crust using either your fingers or a spoon. Bake alone for 5-10 minutes, longer if you want a crunchier crust. 

For the Key Lime cake, start by whisking both flours together in a medium bowl. Beat the softened butter in a large bowl with an electric mixer until it is smooth. (It will stick to the mixers, yes, but as you add the other ingredients it will fix this by itself.) Add sugar and beat to blend. 

Beat in eggs one at a time, followed by the lime juice and finely grated peel. (Lime zest, if you will.) Alternating 3 additions of flour mixture with 2 additions of buttermilk, add these ingredients slowly and beat until smooth. 

Scoop batter into each cupcake liner until about 2/3 full. Before you bake, sprinkle some more of your graham cracker pie crust on top of each cupcake. Bake for 20-25 minutes. To check if they've cooked through, stick a toothpick in one of the cupcakes. If it comes out clean, they're done.

As always, allow the cupcakes to cool before you frost. 

To make your frosting, beat all ingredients in a bowl until smooth. The true color of the frosting is a pale ivory, but I chose to color mine ever-so-slightly. I used a neon green food coloring to get the real lime effect, but if all you have is traditional green I wouldn't hesitate to use it. Remember, add just a small amount at a time - it's probably more effective than you think.

Pipe the frosting onto the cupcake by spooning it into a Ziploc bag and cutting off one of the bottom corners. Using a circular motion, outside to inside, swirl the frosting on. 

Sprinkle a small amount of crushed graham cracker (not the mixed crust, just plain cracker) on top of your green frosting. Using another Ziploc bag with a smaller piping hole at the bottom, swirl a little dollop of vanilla frosting onto the top of the cupcake.

There you have it, Key Lime cupcakes! Next time you're craving a beach vacation or perhaps even just a divine dessert, keep these babies in mind. Before you know it you'll be dancing around your kitchen, apron on and electric beater in hand, jamming to that feel-good country music. 

Bon appetit,

Claudia