Makes 16 medium cupcakes
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 large egg
2 1/2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 tablespoon finely grated lime peel
1/4 teaspoon neon green food coloring
1 cup all-purpose flour, sifted 3/4 cup cake flour, sifted
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 cup buttermilk
Lime Curd (recipe to follow)
Swiss Meringue (recipe to follow)
Candied Lime Zest (recipe to follow)
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line standard muffin pans with paper liners. Beat the butter in a kitchen mixer with the paddle attachment until soft and creamy, then add the sugar and beat until light and fluffy. Add the egg and beat well. Add the lime juice, lime peel and food coloring and continue to beat.
Sift all dry ingredients together into a bowl and then add them along with the buttermilk to the batter, alternating between the two. Scoop the batter into the paper liners. Bake for 10 minutes and then remove from the oven. Put the Lime Curd in a piping bag and pipe a teaspoon of it into the middle of the cupcake, just beneath the top layer. Be careful not to pipe too far into the middle of the cupcake. Put the cupcakes back into the oven and bake for 10 to 15 minutes longer until a toothpick inserted into the cakes comes out clean.
When cooled, frost the cupcakes with the Swiss Meringue and use a kitchen blow torch to burn the edges to a nice golden brown. Sprinkle with Candied Lime Zest.
