… as you can imagine I loved sweets as a kid… anything from our local sweet shop would make me happy, chocolate buttons, marathon bars, a finger of fudge… cherry lips, midget gems, fruit gums… fizzy cola bottles, even those funny banana things that tasted like a kitchen sponge… but my absolute favourite was sherbet… anything with sherbet… sherbet dib-dabs, sherbet fountains… although I always threw the liquorice stick away… flying saucers with their pastel hued sugar-paper shells and little burst of sherbet in the middle… to this day if I pass a sweet shop I will always pop in and purchase a roll of tangy refreshers… you see it’s the sharp bitter shock that hits the back of the throat that I love. Insanely sweet and sour at the same time…
…lime has a habit of doing this to your taste-buds… wonderfully fresh, bitter and sweet all together launching fireworks in your mouth and when you combine lime juice with icing sugar you get something close to that sparkling sherbet taste so reminiscent of childhood…
lime sherbet and rose cupcakes
I love the combination of lime and rose too, there’s something slightly exotic about it, something a little rarified with the taste of eastern promise… both have such a distinctive aroma too, very evocative of moroccan nights in the sweltering heat… we can only but dream… luckily I was sent a little pot of Star Kay White Rosewater Extract by Fiona from Let Them Eat Cake! as part of Makey-Cakey’s Spring Surprise Ingredient Swap… Fiona actually sent me a bottle of Lavender Extract and Orange Blossom Extract too so I can’t wait to get baking with them but for now I was inspired by the rosewater…
for the cupcakes
6oz butter – room temp
6oz sugar
6oz self-raising flour
2 large free-range eggs
1 teaspoon rosewater extract
the juice of one lime
the zest of 2 limes
for the icing
300g icing sugar
the juice of one lime
the zest of one lime
makes 12 medium cupcakes
pre-heat the oven to 170C and prepare your baking tray with 12 cupcake cases
in a large bowl beat the sugar and butter until light and creamy then add one egg and beat in followed by half the flour and beat in till smooth
add the lime juice, lime zest and the rosewater and beat in followed by the second egg and the flour and then beat in thoroughly until you have a light batter. Feel free to add a drop of milk if the batter feels a little thick
divide equally between the cupcake cases, filling them two thirds full and then bake for 15-20 mins or until risen and golden, remove and let them cool on a wire rack
meanwhile pour the lime juice onto the icing sugar and gently stir in to form a thickish paste. Once the cupcakes are cool spoon the icing onto each cake – you only need a little on each as it’s quite intense – then sprinkle with the lime zest
this months tea time treats bloggers challenge is fairy cakes, cupcakes and muffins and is hosted so beautifully by Kate from What Kate Baked and Karen from Lavender and Lovage… and I think you’ll find my cupcakes make an ideal entry…
eat and of course, enjoy!
Now that's my kind of cupcake, something with a bit of a surprise to it !!
Gorgeous Dom! I bet they're bursting with flavour, so much more exciting than the usual cupcakes. And I much prefer this kind of icing to those mountains of buttercream that so many seem to be adorned with now!
Fantastic – I totally get this. Flying saucers are my favourites too
These sound amazing. I love rose water (and my husband doesn't therefore more for me, win win). Chocolate limes were my favourite, haven't seen them for at least 25 years!
These are little beauties! What an ace combination of flavours.
If only I could have one of these right now Dom I would be in heaven with their lime and rose notes.
You had me at 'lime sherbet'. They sound heavenly. 🙂
Ahhhhh.. a man after my own heart!! I adore sherbert and have since I was a kid. I would have never picked it over chocolate ice cream, but that decision gets harder and harder to make as I grow older. There is just something wonderfully refreshing and bright about sherbert!! The cupcakes sound amazing!!
Sherbet is such a child like sweet. One that you don't seem to continue into adulthood. But oh didn't we love that sweet sour combo. These little cupcakes look so reminiscent of my childhood but now you have made them for the grown ups with the rosewater and lime. Love it.
These sound really interesting – I've not tried lime and rose together before – I'll give these a go very soon!
I'm a non-baker, but these cupcakes seem so appealing I may have to make a foray into oven-izing.
Sherbet dibdabs and fountains! What about those toffees that were coated in lemon powder? (or am I imagining it!)
How very pretty too! I can almost imagine it's spring!
These sound wonderful – and look so pretty too! Thanks for participating in the ingredient swapping 🙂
I had never heard of sherbet in this context before. I had to Google it to discover more as I had always heard of it in reference to something similar to ice cream or sorbet. So I guess I've never tasted this sherbet. But I'm loving the sound of these cupcakes and I have tasted a simple lime icing which is just delicious. I'm so intrigued by the combination of rosewater and lime together…and I have no idea what to expect…
I'd forgotten all about refreshers until reading this Dom…I didn't even know they still make them. I used to love sherbet fountains too and would suck up the sherbet through the liquorice stick, and probably like you threw it away afterwards. Do you remember popping candy too?
These sound and look lovely and the rose water makes me think of Turkish Delight too. Thanks for sharing.
deb
Oh gosh, these look amazing. The idea of the lime mixed with rosewater is quite exotic. I can't wait to see what you do with all those extracts!
oh my goodness! I was right back there at the sweet shop with my 3d piece, plenty of sherbety sweets for the week, along with Black Jacks and Fruit Salads!
Your cakes sound really perfect, what a fabulous post, I love a bit of nostalgia, especially with a fab recipe!
Lovely combination – exotic and familiar at the same time. I'd love to try one, but first I've got to go out and find a sherbet fountain – it's been too long.
Our sherbert here in the US is creamy and cold. Kind of like a lighter version of ice cream. I can almost taste the tartness. Great pick me up for afternoon tea. I always enjoy your descriptive writings..
Oh, so gorgeous and Spring-like!
These cupcakes sound amazing. I must try the pairing of lime and rose.
Ooh Dom, I thought I was the one with the interesting flavour combinations, but this is something else. I can't imagine how rose and lime would taste together, so there is nothing for it but for you to send me a batch of these pretty and exotic cakes straight over.
Used to love sherbet fountains too, although the liquorice was a crucial part of the experience. And I had so forgotten about those rubbery banana things – weren't they strange?
These have to be the PRETTIEST little cakes I have seen, and the photos are STUNNING too darlink! Just fabulous and such a GREAT idea, so inventive and SO very YOU! Thanks for making these for our tea time treats table, you are a star!
Karen
I tried to comment yesterday, but was booted off your site! LOL!
Lime and rose sounds like a delightful combination. Your photo looks very inviting – I'll have to give these a go soon.
Lovely Dom. I am a sherbet fiend too. Sherbet lemons were One of my favs.
What lovely little cupcakes and a great flavour combination too! The lime and icing sugar will certainly give that sherbetty zing! 🙂
I couldn't agree more with all the great comments above- a cracker of a flavour combination and a very enjoyable trip down memory lane…thanks ever so much for entering these into TTT Dom!x
Very interesting recipe, which I try out in my own little kitchen here in Denmark