Triple~Citrus Cupcakes

I have a friend that used to call me Martha Stewart. I'm not going to lie...it drove me nuts! Of course, she meant it as a compliment. Martha Stewart is a great talent. My go~to pie crust is from her along with many tips I've picked up over the years. So, thank you Martha. I guess I just like to be called by my own name. :)

This recipe comes from Martha Stewart's Cupcakes cookbook. It's the first recipe I tried. Did I go to chocolate? Nope, give me a lime and I'm a happy girl.

The glaze and garnish could be made with lime, lemon, or orange. It would even be fun to make all three and see what the favorites are.

3 1/3 cups all~purpose flour
2 teaspoons coarse salt
1 pound (4 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 cups sugar
3 tablespoons finely grated lemon zest (from 3 lemons)
3 tablespoons finely grated orange zest (from 2 oranges)
3 tablespoons finely grated lime zest, plus more for garnish (from about 3 limes)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
9 large eggs, room temperature

Citrus Glaze (made with lime juice and zest) recipe follows.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners. Whisk together flour and salt.

With an electric mixer on medium~high speed, cream butter and sugar until pale and fluffy, scraping down sides of bowl every few minutes. Add citrus zests. Reduce speed to medium, and add vanilla. Add eggs, three at a time, beating until incorporated, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Reduce speed to low. Add flour mixture in four batches, beating until completely incorporated after each.

Divide batter evenly among lined cups, filling each three~quarters full; tap tins on counter top once to distribute batter. Bake, rotating tins halfway through, until a cake tester inserted in centers comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Transfer tins to wire racks to cool 10 minutes; turn out cupcakes onto racks and let cool completely.

To finish, dip tops of cupcakes in glaze, then turn over quickly and garnish with zest. Cupcakes are best eaten the day they are glazed; keep at room temperature until ready to serve.

Citrus Glaze (used lime for mine)

1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted, plus more if needed
1/4 teaspoon finely grated citrus zest
3 tablespoons fresh citrus juice, plus more if needed

Whisk together all ingredients until smooth. If necessary, add more sugar to thicken or more juice to thin the glaze. Use immediately.