Strawberry Lime Cupcakes With Lime Swiss Meringue Buttercream

For the cupcakes:
1) Preheat oven to 350F. Line 12 cupcake wells with liners.

2) In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

3) In a large bowl, cream together butter, sugar and lime zest until light in color.

4) Add in eggs one at a time, and beat mixture until smooth and well combined.

5) Mix into the creamed mixture one third of the flour mixture, followed by the yogurt. Mix in another third of the flour mixture, followed by the strawberry/lime juice puree. Stir in all remaining flour, mixing until no streaks of dry ingredients remain.

6) Spoon batter into prepared liners. Bake for 18-22 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

For the buttercream:
1) Combine the sugar, egg whites, cream of tartar and water in the stainless steel bowl of an electric mixer. Bring a large pan of water to simmer, making sure that the water is at the same height as the egg whites in your stainless bowl. We’re looking for a double boiler setup. Set the bowl of sugar/egg mixture into the pan of simmering water and whisk constantly until the mixture reaches 140 degrees on an instant-read thermometer. Be careful to not curdle the egg whites– simply remove the bowl from the heat for a bit if it feels like that’s happening. You’ll know when it’s getting close to 140 degrees; the mixture will be getting ultra foamy, like the top of a latte.

2) Remove the bowl with the egg white mixture to your stand mixer and beat on high speed for 3-5 minutes, until the mixture holds glossy, marshmallowy peaks. Remove the meringue to another bowl.

3) In the standing mixer, beat half of the butter and one-third of the meringue until well combined. Continue to add the remaining two-thirds of the meringue a dollop at a time. The mixture may look a bit curdled at this point – but don’t worry; adding the remaining butter a tablespoon at a time will smooth things out. Keep adding a bit of butter at a time until the curdling corrects itself.

4) With the mixer on low, add the lime zest and lime juice and mix until well combined. Begin to pour in powdered sugar in small increments and beat until the frosting reaches the desired consistency and sweetness.

5) Then pipe or frost onto your cooled cupcakes. And devour!