Blueberry Key Lime Cupcakes Recipes
These cupcakes are soft, citrusy, and topped with a blueberry cream cheese frosting that gets its color from real blueberries. I make the blueberry sauce myself, so the flavor stays bright and genuinely blueberry. It's one of my favorite ways to bring blueberries and key lime together for spring.
Servings: 12
Calories: 376kcal
Ingredients
Cupcakes:
- 4 egg whites room temperature
- 1 cup white granulated sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 1 cup low fat buttermilk
- Zest of 3 key limes
Blueberry Sauce:
- 1/2 pint blueberries
- 1/2 cup white granulated sugar
- 1 tsp lime juice from zested limes
Frosting:
- 8 oz cream cheese room temperature
- ½ cup unsalted butter room temperature
- 2 Tbsp blueberry sauce
- 1½ - 2 cups powdered sugar
Instructions
Blueberry Sauce:
- Add blueberries into a small sauce pot, heating over medium heat.
- Add lemon juice and sugar. Stir well.
- Cover (leaving a crack for the steam to escape) and cook for about 15 minutes, stirring often. (Watch it closely, it may over-run.)
- Strain off some juice (about 3 Tbsp) for topping the cupcakes and puree the rest in a blender.
Cupcakes:
- Preheat the oven to 350℉ and line a muffin pan with cupcake liners.
- Sift flour, baking soda, salt and baking powder together and set aside.
- Make sure your other ingredients are ready.
- In a bowl of an electric mixer (using paddle attachment), beat egg whites for a few seconds and slowly start pouring in sugar. Beat for 2-3 minutes, until white and fluffy.
- Start pouring in oil, slowly, as the eggs are still beating on medium-high.
- Add vanilla and lower the speed to low.
- Alternating, add flour mixture and buttermilk in two parts (still on low speed or stir). Mix until just combined. Do not overmix or mix for too long.
- Fold in key lime zest. Make sure to scrape sides and bottom of the bowl and mix gently until all incorporated.
- Divide batter among the cupcake cups, filling them about 2/3 of the day.
- Bake for 18-20 minutes.
- Cool completely before frosting!
Frosting:
- Beat butter and cream cheese together, on medium-high speed, until smooth, 1-2 minutes.
- Lower the speed to low and beat in powdered sugar and blueberry sauce.
- Turn up the speed back to medium-high and beat for about 3-4 minutes, until the frosting is light, smooth and fluffy.
- Frost the cupcakes and drizzle blueberry sauce that you've set aside on each cupcake.
Notes
- No key limes on hand? Use zest from 1-2 regular limes instead, though the flavor will be a little less tart.
- For more blueberry flavor: Make a double batch of the sauce and drizzle some over the warm cupcakes before frosting. Adding extra sauce to the frosting instead will loosen it too much.
Nutrition
Calories: 376kcal | Carbohydrates: 58g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 15g | Saturated Fat: 9g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 4g | Trans Fat: 0.3g | Cholesterol: 40mg | Sodium: 178mg | Potassium: 164mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 39g | Vitamin A: 519IU | Vitamin C: 7mg | Calcium: 69mg | Iron: 1mg