Homemade curd cupcakes are here! Perfect for the holidays or a birthday party, you can fill or bake inside. Make a whole batch or this is how to make 6 Cupcakes, just enough for your family after dinnertime.
Lime cupcakes are not only so pretty with a brilliant color on the outside and inside but delicious too. Use regular limes or key limes to make the cake homemade, with mix, frosting from scratch and the filling too. Great for the holidays or a slime birthday party.
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.
Ingredient Notes
Eggs should be added at room temperature for the best creamy result for the curd inside.
You are going to use white granulated sugar for the sweetness. I haven’t used a sugar-free alternative like Splenda but the 1:1 ratio type should work just fine as well.
Salt is actually used in sweet baked goods like this one to actually accentuate the sweetness. You just need a light pinch in there.
Then you are going to want some sort of citrus juice in there. The most common would be lime juice or lemon but orange would work as well. To intensify the flavor you would want some zest from that same fruit as well.
Unsalted butter or dairy free alternative is needed to make it as well.
Curd Cupcakes Recipe
Equipment
- 1 muffin tin 24
- 1 pan
- 1 Bowl
Instructions
- Begin by making the lime curd because it needs to chill in the refrigerator in order to set. In a small sauce pan, combine the eggs, sugar, salt, lime juice and zest. Whisk until smooth. Heat over medium until the mixture begins to bubble.
- Then 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.
- While making the curd and/or during the chill time, make the cupcakes. Follow directions on the box to make 24 as directed. Set on a cooling rack to come to room temperature before filling.
- Once the cupcakes have cooled and the curd has set up, it’s time to decorate. Transfer some store bought frosting to a piping bag (or ziploc bag) fitted with a large round tip (or just a hole cut in the end), set aside. Transfer the chilled curd to a piping bag (or ziploc bag), set aside.
- Scoop out the center of each cupcake. Cut a hole in the tip of the curd bag and carefully pipe enough in the void of each cupcake to fill but not overflow. Gently replace the reserved cupcake piece on top of the lime curd to cover the curd and give the frosting something to grab on to.
- With the frosting bag, begin on the outside edge of the cupcake and squeeze the frosting carefully to go around the cupcake and then spiral inwards and up to cover the curd and create a mound. Repeat with the remaining cupcakes.
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
with Lemon Curd
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. You can make them lighter like our Lemon Muffin Recipe too.
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 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.
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.
Frosting
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.
