Strawberry-Lime Cupcakes with Strawberry Buttercream Frosting

My hubby brought home a couple of these delicious cupcakes for me recently.  One of his co-workers made them and sweetly shared them with the office!  After one bite, I called her to tell her that it was simply the most incredible cupcake I've ever tasted in my life!  It's funny, I don't know why I've never thought of making homemade strawberry frosting before-it's so easy and there's simply no comparison to that stuff in the can!  There was more than enough frosting for the cupcakes so I ended up freezing it-the kids love it on graham crackers as a special treat!

Cupcakes:


3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 cups sugar
4 large eggs, room temperature
3 limes, zested and juiced
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup buttermilk (or in place of buttermilk, just put a tablespoon
of lemon juice in a glass measuring cup and add milk to the 1 cup
line-let sit 5 minutes and then use in recipe)

Strawberry Puree:


1 cup sliced fresh strawberries
zest and juice of 1 lime
2 tablespoons sugar

Frosting:


2 sticks unsalted butter, slightly chilled
4 cups confectioners sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
pinch of salt
1/2 cup fresh or frozen strawberries, thawed

For the cupcakes:  Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.  Line two cupcake pans with paper liners or lightly spray with cooking spray.  In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt.  Set aside.  In the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter and sugar on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, 3-5 minutes.  Blend in the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition.  Scrape down sides of bowl.  Beat in lime zest, juice and vanilla.  With the mixer on low speed, add the dry ingredients alternately with the buttermilk, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients.  Beat each addition just until incorporated.  Divide evenly between the cupcakes pans.  Bake 20-24 minutes, until a cake tester or wooden toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.  Let cool in the pan 5-10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.  For the filling:  Combine the strawberries, lime juice, zest and sugar in a food processor; puree until strawberries are completely smooth.  Set aside.  To fill the cupcakes:  Take a small paring knife and cut a small cone out of the top of each cupcake.  Remove the cut-out cake and spoon a tablespoon of strawberry puree into each cupcake.  Lightly press the top back into the hole.  For the frosting:  In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter until light and fluffy.  Add the confectioners sugar and the pinch of salt and beat on medium-high speed until creamy.  Add the vanilla and strawberry puree and beat until creamy.  (The berries I just picked were very ripe and juicy so I ended up adding about 1/4 cup extra powdered sugar to make it a little stiffer.)  Pipe or spread the frosting on.  Store in the refrigerator.