Hey everyone, guess what!? It’s finally suuuuummerrrrr!! It is Hot! I’m a little dissapointed that It was so cloudy for our Whistler getaway, (which also included a leaky condo, a cracked water pipe and a last minute transfer to the Chateau Fairmont…but that’s another story.) I hope everyone else is also enjoying the beautiful weather outside.

Sometimes the hot weather deters me from wanting to bake. Although I love baking, standing in a hot kitchen all day isn’t exactly what you want to be doing. Instead I’d rather head down to the beach, or walk my dog or just lay out in the backyard working on my tan – which, thanks to the weather, has been quite lack luster. But I still have so many things I keep seeing all over the web that I want to try and bake, or cook. I do cook a lot – and I mean a lot, I just don’t showcase it on here. I think if I had more time, and wasn’t working 6 days a week I might be able to. But I love to cook for my mom and brother, and my boyfriend Adam. I’ll be conquering one of my fears in cooking and baking this wekeend – dough! I’ve been wanting to make it for a while now, and I think I’ll try it with Pizza this weekend! And possibly cinnamon buns. I’ve been putting it off, and it’s been on my top 10 list of things I would like to make. If you have any pizza recipes – or dough recipes please share them!

Anywyas, the pie. I had eaten key lime pie one day after my shift at work, and I was really surprised at how much I liked it. I honestly don’t think I had ever eaten it before, at least not that I had remembered. Which doesn’t say very much about the pie now does it. I had made up my mind that I didn’t like key lime pie, so now I decided to set out and make one myself. I had found several versions online and in baking books but they all varied quite a lot. Some were made with only evaporated milk, some with heavy cream, some with egg yolks and some without, most frozen and some baked and refrigerated. I knew I didn’t want to make one that was frozen, because the one I had eaten was creamy and mousse-like. I decided to mix a few recipes together to create my own take on it. I had found this one originally by A Cooking Bird and it looked quite promising, and then also used Paula Deans as well as a reference and for the crust.

Just a side note, Paula dean now has bakeware at Michaeals! I bought the cutest little cupcake liners, only $1.95 each! Compared to the designer ones which are anywhere form $4-6, and was lucky enough to get a whole bunch of recipe cards and a little recipe holder box for my birthday from Adam :} Which also held an even smaller little blue box inside =)  As well, his mom ( who also bought me all the different sized springform-pans before ) bought me the most perfect birthday present! She bought me something  I had always wanted – a glass cake pedastal with a glass lid! I was so excited when I opened up the large present to see it. It can also be turned upside down to use as a punch bowl! Along with that she also got me a super cute teatowel that has little cupcakes and “cute as a cupcake” on it, and a cook book I had been swooning over - Hello, Cupcake! Perfect for my new endevaur! Now I can tote my creations around in a luxury stand, which is what I’m sure she had in mind for all the confections I may bring over in the future…hehe. Needless to say I was pretty spoiled-sweet =) – not rotten.

Back to the pie, I went to two different market’s, well one and a Thrifty Foods, to find Key Limes but sadly the Florida import hasn’t made its way to the West Coast yet. So I had to make it with regular limes, which I’m sure are pretty much the same but hey, what’s in a name. So this is simply Lime Pie. It’s tart and sweet and deliciously creamy. You could eat it plain, with cream or ice cream even. If you’re still a Key Lime Pie virgin, like I was I suggest darting out and buying some limes, key or regular, to try it out yourself! It’s refreshingly sweet for this hot summer weather.

Key Lime Pie

hey, if you got key limes use ‘em!

Crust:

• 2 cups graham cracker crumbs
• loose 1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup butter, melted
• 1 cup medium shredded coconut

Filling:

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a medium bowl, combine graham cracker crumbs and brown sugar. Stir in melted butter. Add coconut and mix. Press the mixture firmly into bottom and up sides of a 10-inch spring form pan. Bake for 8 minutes and let the crust cool completely before spreading the pie filling over it.

Turn oven down to 325 degrees F.

In a large bowl, with an electric mixer at medium speed, beat together the evaporated milk, egg yolks, lime juice, cream and zest until blended. Add in the sugar and continue mixing.

Once it is fully combined, carefully pour the filling into the cooled pie crust. Return the baking pan to the oven and bake for about 30-35 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool slightly, then transfer to the fridge to cool for at least 4 hours or longer.

Once your ready to eat, you can top it with whipped cream if you like!

My Iron Cupcake Earth Recipe for Cran-Vanilla {Crantini} Cupcakes with and Lime-Vodka Frosting. 

Cran-Vanilla Cupcakes

{makes 3 dozen small/regular size)

Cupcakes:

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups self-rising flour
• 1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1/2 cup superfine {berry} sugar
• 4 Large eggs
• 1 cup Vanilla Yogurt
• 2 tsp. Vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups fresh cranberries
• Zest of 1 large lime

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 F. Line muffin tins with cupcake papers.

In a small bowl, combine the flours and set aside.

In a large mixing bowl ( with a stand mixer preferably) cream the butter until smooth. Add the sugar gradually and beat until fluffy for 3 minutes (I would suggest timing this as it does make a difference, you want the butter to be light and airy). Then add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.

Add the dry ingredients alternating with the yogurt and vanilla. With each addition, beat until the ingredients are incorporated but make sure to not overbeat. Using a rubber spatula, scrape down the batter in the bowl to make sure the ingredients are well blended.

Using a spatula or wooden spoon, fold in the cranberries and lime zest until just mixed.

Spoon the batter into the cupcake liners, about 1/4 cup, filling them about 3/4 fu

ll. I had to use my large wilton muffin pan, and two smaller ones to make all the cupcakes!

Bake about 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. You should always start with the lesser time, and then add more if need be.

Once they are baked, let them cool in the muffin tins for about 10 minutes, and then lift them to cool completely onto cooling racks. You can frost them with the vodka buttercream, or if you want to use regular icing you can also brush the tops of the cupcakes once cooled with vodka to soak in!

Frost with Vodka-Lime Buttercream (See Below)

It came in handy that I had to make cupcakes because I was actually going to a 50th birthday party the night I made these! Which was good because there was about 3 dozen!

Needless to say the kitchen was a huge mess afterward, but I sweetened the deal with a cupcake!

I thought I’d share some pictures of the photo shoot. Thanks to Jordan for setting it all up for me. Helps that he is a graphic designer/photographer and has all the proper supplies, ie: light box, digital SLR, Tripod etc etc. That’s what Bf’s are for! =)

Jordan working away! I let him eat a few as we we went!

Here’s the recipe for the frosting I used on my IC: Earth Crantini Cupcakes

Vodka-Lime Frosting

Ingredients:

3/4 Cup Butter

1/4 Cup Shortening

1 tsp. Vanilla

4-5 cups Powdered {icing} Sugar, Sifted ( The amount will vary on what type of consistency you want )

1-2 tsp. Milk

2 Limes (1 for zesting and Juice, and 1 for garnish)

1 Tbsp. Vodka

*Splash of Cranberry juice

Directions:

Before you begin, zest one lime and squeeze out its juices into a cup. Set aside the lime zest and juice to add later. Sift icing sugar into a large bowl so you can easily measure it out once you start.

Using a stand mixer, cream softened butter and shortening, add vanilla and mix until smooth.

Add sugar gradually, 1/2 cup at a time. Once you’ve added 1 cup, mix in milk. Once you’ve gotten the milk mixed in, gradually add sugar and lime juice alternating.

Once you have mixed all the lime juice in, add the vodka {this can be omitted if you don’t want to add alcohol.} Once you have mixed in all the juices, add the rest of the sugar slowly until you achieve the desired consistency. You will want it to be stiff enough to pipe, so you want to be sure that it is not too watered down with the lime juice and vodka. You may add more/less lime juice depending on how much flavor you want.

If you want to, you may add some coloring to the frosting. Add this last, or separate the icing into different mixing bowls to use different colors. Preferably use gel food coloring, so it does not add more liquid.

*For the pink icing I also added a splash of cranberry juice for Cranberry Lime Frosting.

Garnish:

For the Crantini cupcakes, I decided to give them a sugared rim (using Bar Sugar) and top them off with sugared cranberries and lime wedges.

I used  this recipe for the Sugared Cranberries, if you don’t want to go to all the hassle you can just use raw cranberries washed, and tossed in superfine sugar. Place in fridge for a few minutes to harden.