Hello Summer holidays! It's time to get serious about the silly season with an indulgent treat. These very "adult" cupcakes pack a punch of good old gin 'n lime. Try our new favourite recipe and get these light and fluffy buttercream dreams on your coffee table asap:

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups of plain flour (sifted)
1 ¼ cups of sugar
½ a cup corn flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 large eggs
½ a cup of milk
1 teaspoon salt
½ a cup canola oil
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
juice and zest of one lime

ICING:

250g butter
280g cups icing sugar (sifted)
1 tablespoon of milk
Splash of Gin
Pinch of salt
1-2 tablespoons lime juice

METHOD:

Preheat your oven to 170°C
Mix the eggs and oil together in a bowl
Add the corn flour and mix slowly until it forms a paste. It will be dry at first, add ½ a cup of milk to loosen it up and mix well.
Add the sugar, salt, lime juice, and zest
Alternate between adding flour and remaining milk to your mixture. The end result will be quite a runny consistency.
Distribute the batter into a lined muffin tray and bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.
While the cakes are cooling, get started on the icing. The secret to a good buttercream icing is the whipping time. Make sure your butter is at room temperature before you start.
Put the butter in your mixer and beat it until it starts to lighten in colour.
Slowly start to add the icing sugar, 1-2 tablespoons at a time, giving it 3-4 minutes in between each add. If you feel it needs a bit of liquid, add some milk. Add the salt halfway through.
Once your buttercream has turned almost a pale yellow colour, add a splash of gin.
Add ½ a teaspoon at a time, mix for 1 – 2 minutes and taste before adding more. TOP TIP: Do not to add too much gin (we know it's tempting) as it can separate your buttercream.
Once your cupcakes have cooled, start piping your icing on in luxurious swirls. Decorate with some lime zest and a slice of dried lime. Dry slices of lime out in your oven by lining a baking tray with grease proof paper and laying thin lime slices on the tray. Dust with a light layer of icing sugar and leave in your oven for 5 -6 hours at a temperature of 50 – 60 C.

And voila! Decadent Gin 'n Lime cupcake that'll go down faster than you can say G&T!