Alissa’s Key Lime Pie Cupcakes with Sea Shell Candies

Alissa, better known perhaps as Princess Aioli has known her way around a kitchen since she was a little girl.  So much so in fact that her parents never bought her the much coveted Easy Bake Oven simply because from a young age, she was very comfortable using a real oven.  Since August of 2010 Alissa has let her readers be privy to her many recipes as she fulfills her love of cooking and baking.  One of the more intriguing of her recipes can be found on her About page where you will note that this Princess is trying to figure out how to use her law degree to become the next big food writer (and perhaps to also obtain that coveted Easy Bake Oven!).  Seriously though, much is to be enjoyed and savoured on this site.  Alissa writes some entertaining  restaurant reviews of places she frequents in her area, has completed a few product reviews accompanied by some tempting recipes and consistently manages to delight and entice her readers with wonderful breads, desserts and so much more.  Alissa’s main course dish of Mango Dijon Shrimp and Curry Mustard comes with her advice to make enough for left-overs as you are sure to want more the next day.  Her Slow Cooker French Dip Sandwiches with Au Jus actually requires both very little effort and even less words to describe the beauty of it.  But don’t take my word for it, take a visit to Princess Aioli’s and you’ll see what I mean.  I am delighted that Alissa is here today sharing her story and recipe with us.

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My mother died because she tried too hard to be too strong.

My mother died because she let fear consume her, all the while ignoring the signs.

My mother died because she was too proud, too ashamed to confide in anyone.

My mother died because she had a tumor growing inside her for more than three years, and by the time the tumor was discovered, it was too late to save her life.

My mother was the quintessential Florida girl, raised only minutes from Fort Lauderdale beach. It was where she met my father, on a warm night in 1971, when she was only eighteen and he nineteen.

They met on the strip by chance, at Las Olas Boulevard and A1A, two teenagers with their whole lives ahead of them. She was on her way to meet a date; he charmed her into going out with him instead.

They eloped a year later, and she spent the next decade supporting his dream of becoming a rock star, until of course, they decided to settle down and have children.

He was the apple of her eye for close to thirty years. Despite many ups and even more downs, her heart always belonged to him.

And after he died unexpectedly, due to a horrific series of medical errors, she let her fears so consume her that she neglected the signs of cancer for more than three years, refusing to renew her health insurance policy or even go to the doctor for her yearly checkup.

That all changed the day she collapsed at work and an ambulance was called. Three weeks later, during the operation meant only to remove fibroids, the doctors discovered a tumor the size of an orange. She still didn’t have health insurance, but it no longer mattered. Any residual fears of the medical profession were far outweighed by the fear of the unknown.

Yet eight months later, there I was, standing at Las Olas Boulevard and A1A with the rest of my mother’s loved ones, feeling the warm ocean breeze, smelling the salty sand, and hearing the crashing waves, wishing my mother hadn’t tried too hard to be too strong.

These cupcakes are in remembrance of my mother, the quintessential Florida girl with baskets of seashells throughout her home, and a birthstone of pearl. The woman who loved the ocean and all things tropical, who never lost that twinkle in her ocean blue eyes, and who loved the man she met at Las Olas Boulevard and A1A until the day she died.

By creating these cupcakes, and posting this recipe, I hope to not only honor my mother, but to emphasize the importance of taking care of oneself. To get regular checkups, to avoid ignoring the signs that something’s wrong. To face your fears head on, instead of letting them consume you. To allow others to help you, instead of insisting that everything is fine.

To know that swallowing your pride and facing your fears is what truly makes you stronger.

Key Lime Pie Cupcakes with Seashell Candies (makes 24 cupcakes)

Graham Cracker Cupcakes

Key Lime Pie Filling

Key Lime Buttercream Icing

Seashell Candy

Graham Cracker Cupcakes

• 3 c. honey graham crackers, ground to crumbs in a food processor
• 1 c. all-purpose flour
• 5 tsp. baking powder
• Pinch of salt
• 1 c. (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
• 1 ½ c. sugar
• 4 large eggs, room temperature
• 2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
• 1 ½ c. plain soymilk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, and line standard muffin tins with your choice of liners.

Combine graham cracker crumbs, flour, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl, and whisk. Meanwhile, beat butter and sugar together in a large bowl (preferably a stand mixer). Beat in eggs, one at a time, taking care to scrape down the sides of the bowl between each addition. Beat in vanilla extract.

Add one-third of the dry ingredients, and beat in slowly. Add half of the milk, then another third of the dry ingredients, then the remainder of the milk, then the remainder of the dry ingredients. Make sure you scrape the sides of the bowl between each addition!

Using an ice cream or muffin scooper, fill muffin tins approximately ¾ full.

Bake for 20-22 minutes, or until a toothpick or cake tester inserted into center comes clean. Allow cupcakes to cool completely before decorating.

Key Lime Pie Filling

• 8 oz. cream cheese, softened
• 10-12 key limes, zested and juiced (can substitute 5-6 oz. bottled key lime juice)
• 1-14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk

Beat all ingredients together until thoroughly combined. Refrigerate for at least two hours before using to fill cupcakes.

Note: I had a LOT of filling left over, but I plan to add some eggs to it to make some mini key lime tarts. However, feel free to halve the recipe if you won’t use the leftovers!

Key Lime Buttercream Icing

• 1 c. (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
• 2 c. confectioners sugar
• Zest and juice of four key limes (or can substitute 2-3 oz. bottled key lime juice)
• Pinch of salt

Cream butter and sugar together (if using a stand mixer, use paddle attachment). Add key lime juice, zest, and salt. Beat until combined.

Seashell Candy

• 1 bag white chocolate wafers (you’ll only use about ¾ of the bag)
• 1 bag blue chocolate wafers (you’ll only use about ¼ of the bag)
• Assorted seashell candy molds, enough to make 1 piece of candy per cupcake

Melt chocolate wafers according to package directions. I used Wilton wafers, and just microwaved them (in two separate bowls, one for each color) for about 2 minutes on medium power, stopping halfway to stir them.

Using a small spoon, spoon several small scoops of the blue chocolate into the white chocolate. Using either another spoon, knife, or toothpick, swirl blue chocolate throughout the white chocolate, taking care not to blend the colors together completely.

Using a small spoon, carefully fill candy molds with swirled chocolate. Try not to overfill the molds.

Place molds on a large tray or baking sheet, and freeze for a couple hours or until candies are set. Turn molds upside down over a plate, tray, or cutting board, and gently tap the candies out.

Other Decorations:

• Additional graham cracker crumbs
• Small edible sugar pearls

To assemble Key Lime Pie Cupcakes with Seashell Candies:

• Make candies
• Make Key Lime Pie Filling
• Bake Graham Cracker Cupcakes
• Make Key Lime Pie Buttercream Icing

Once key lime pie filling is ready and cupcakes are completely cooled, use a knife or apple corer to remove small hole in center of cupcakes. Be careful not to cut all the way through!

Fill each hole with key lime pie filling, and place tops back on cupcakes. Using a pastry bag with a large tip, frost cupcakes with Key Lime Buttercream Icing. Sprinkle a few pinches of graham cracker crumbs on top, then place one Seashell candy and a few sugar pearls on top, pressing them down gently into the icing.

Inspiration credits:

Sweetopia

Bon Appetit

Elly Says Opa

A huge thank you to Paula, for allowing me to be a part of this wonderful project!