Key Lime Poke Mini Cupcakes

All the flavors of creamy key lime pie, piped into my signature vanilla cupcakes. And, unlike traditional poke cake (where sometimes you get a lot of filling and sometimes you don't), you're guaranteed a full poke in every sweet/tart bite.

I'm not kidding when I say these cupcakes have "all the flavors" of key lime pie - at least the way my grandmother made it. When I was growing up, my grandparents lived in the Florida Keys and they had a key lime tree in their tiny backyard (I'm pretty sure all northerners got a tree as soon as they moved to Florida - like a right of passage to the keys). My grandmother made key lime pies like crazy, and I never tired of them (she always kept pies in the freezer too - those slices were especially refreshing in July). Anyway, the base of her pies was sweetened condensed milk - which seemed to balance the tartness of the lime zest and key lime juice perfectly.

So that got me thinking... and reminiscing about that puckery-good flavor. I decided to try combining two of my favorite things - key lime pie and my dreamy vanilla cupcakes. I figured I could just poke holes in the cupcakes and fill them with creamy key lime goodness! I'm so glad I took that trip down memory lane - these cupcakes are incredibly amazing.

No key limes? No problem. You have two options. You can use regular limes from the grocery store, or use a combination of store-bought key lime juice and the zest from regular limes.

About the filling: Notice how thick the sweetened condensed milk is? Not dripping all over the place? That's because the lime juice thickens it - the same way lemon juice thickens milk, by curdling it. After a few minutes, the mixture is thick, rich and wonderful.

Key Lime Poke Mini Cupcakes

For the cupcakes:
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup buttermilk
For the key lime filling: 
14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk
2 tablespoons key lime juice or regular fresh lime juice
1 teaspoon finely grated lime zest

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Coat three 12-cup mini muffin pans with cooking spray.
In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt. Mix to combine. Set aside.
In a mixing bowl, beat together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary. Beat in the eggs, one at a time. Beat in the vanilla.
Beat in the flour mixture and buttermilk, alternating each, and beginning and ending with the flour mixture.
Spoon the mixture into the prepared pans, filling each cup about 2/3 full.
Bake for 11 to 12 minutes, until a wooden pick comes out clean or with moist bits clinging to it.
Cool the cupcakes in the pans, on wire racks, before filling.
Using the handle of a wooden spoon, make one "poke" in the center of each cupcake, all the way to the bottom without poking through.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the sweetened condensed milk, lime juice and lime zest. Spoon the mixture into the center of each cupcake OR, to make your life easier, transfer the key lime mixture to a piping bag fitted with ANY tip and squeeze the filling into the cupcake. Allow a little of the filling to mound on the top.

Store leftover cupcakes in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

Makes 36 mini cupcakes