Easy Homemade Lime Curd Cupcakes

Homemade green cupcakes with lime curd recipe is here! Perfect for Christmas or a St. Patricks day cake. If you wanted to know how to make 6 Cupcakes, enough for your family after dinnertime I would use cake mix as directed in the instructions below, colored green.

Key Lime Cupcakes Recipe

You can make these as shown here as “regular” sizes or this is How Long to Bake Mini Cupcakes if you want teeny tiny ones. I will say that those don’t work as well since you need some room for the curd filling but to each their own.

For a smaller batch you would just adjust the filling. Similar to our Candy Filled Cupcakes you are going to fill the middle with YUM. In that case you would just cut the curd recipe in half and if you have leftovers of that it saves well in the fridge in jars to use again for your next small batch dessert treats.

The inside is made like our Homemade Lemon Curd but with a different key lime pie type of citrus flavor. The coloring is intensified with gel food coloring but is optional of course. If you wanted to keep the filling as is the cake and frosting will still feature the bold color you see when served.

Lime Curd Ingredients

• Eggs should be added at room temperature
• 3/4 c granulated sugar
• Salt just a bit is good
• 1/2 cup regular or bottled key lime juice
• 1 tbsp lime zest will make a bolder sour
• Unsalted butter or dairy free alternative

We have used this to make Curd Cookies as well which are basically thumprints with this dolloped in the center for texture and a bold flavor. If you do want to go all the way and make cupcakes from scratch you will also need;

Begin by making the lime curd because it needs to chill in the refrigerator in order to set. In a small sauce pan, add the eggs, sugar, salt, lime juice and zest.  Whisk until smooth. Heat over medium until the mixture begins to bubble. 

How to Make Key Lime Curd

• Stir constantly until the mixture thickens.  Remove from the heat. Set out a medium sized bowl and strain the curd mixture – this should capture most of the lime zest and any potential cooked egg pieces. 
• Add in the butter and food coloring and whisk until the butter has melted and the mixture is smooth. 
• Cover with plastic wrap so that it is touching the top of the curd to prevent a film from forming during the chill time. 
• Allow to cool in the fridge for about an hour in order to set up.
  • don’t worry, if you only want to add a bit and have leftovers you can use it to make Lemon Curd Cake but with a lime flavor instead.
• While making the curd and/or during the chill time, make the cupcakes.

How to make homemade cupcakes

• Butter softened, unsalted
• 3/4 c sugar
• Egg whites
• Greek Yogurt vanilla, or sour cream works
• 1/3 c milk
• Fresh lime juice is always best
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 tsp lime zest
• All purpose flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• Large bowl

Lime curd cupcakes with cake mix

You can use white mix for a quick cake mix hack with green food coloring to make them quicker if you’d rather. I’d still make the curd and just fill those the same way as directed here once they have cooled.

Gel food coloring is the most brilliant to make green velvet cupcakes of sorts I think. With the old fashioned liquid coloring you thin out the batter a bit and need much more than the Wilton thicker paste like green.

You could call this a Muffin Recipe with Curd too, I mean I am guilty of enjoying one of these for breakfast because…well I am an adult so I am allowed to do things like that now. 😉

How to Make Homemade Lime Curd Cupcakes

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line your cupcake pan(s), set aside.
• In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together the softed butter and granulated sugar.
• Add in the egg whites and continue to mix on medium speed for an additional 2 minutes or until light and fluffy looking.
• Add in the vanilla, lime zest, food coloring, yogurt, milk and lime juice.  Mix until combined. 
• Finally, combine with the mixed dry ingredients of; salt, baking powder and flour.  Mix on low speed for about a minute and then medium speed for another minute until thoroughly combined.
• Divide equally among the cupcake liners – fill each cavity about 3/4 full. 
• Bake for approximately 14-16 minutes or until a toothpick inserting in the center of one cupcake comes out clean. 
• Allow to cool completely before decorating. 

As for the frosting I do have instructions for from scratch below but you could certainly use a tub of vanilla and just color that. The easiest and cheapest way to swirl and make that pretty on top is with a pint freezer bag, zipped, with corner cut off to squeeze out. Jump to recipe and let us know what you think.