Key Lime Cream Cheese Frosting With Essential Oil

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When it comes to baking, chocolate with always have my heart, but Summertime in the Northeast is just screaming for citrus. The warm weather is so fleeting here that it's a wonder we don't put the entire region on a perpetual vacation and do nothing but get happy and healthy in the sunshine. 

Lots of sun means lots of celebrations (any excuse will do!) and a big family means that we always have excuses. Birthdays, first sacraments, feast days, picnics, anniversaries... Bring on the celebratory food! 

If you know me, you know I try to keep sugar at a minimum so when I break out a splurge recipe, the kids are over the moon about it. For Easter this year, I brought out our favorite cream cheese whipping cream frosting recipe and altered it to scream SUMMER!!!

You can use this recipe with your favorite essential oils. Orange oil will turn your frosting into an amazing Creamsicle frosting. Lemon would, of course, be amazing. I am itching to try grapefruit. For Easter, I made some of the orange and also some of the Key Lime frosted cupcakes that I'm sharing with you below. 

I don't prefer gluten free box mixes (usually opting for more nutrient dense ingredients) but I wanted to spend more time celebrating than cooking so... I used the delicious and dependable Namaste Vanilla Gluten Free cake mix. (The Amazon price is generally lower than my local grocery store.) You can add a couple drops of essential oil to the mix if you want. I chose to have the frosting be the star. 

 

Key Lime Frosting 

  • 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened

  • 1 cup granulated sugar

  • 1 pinch salt

  • 1 -2 teaspoon vanilla

  • 3-6 drops doTERRA Lime essential oil (or to taste)

  • 1 1⁄2 cups heavy whipping cream

  1. In a bowl and using an electric mixer, whip the cream until stiff peaks form.

  2. In a separate large bowl, beat together the cream cheese, sugar, salt, essential oil and vanilla until smooth.

  3. Using a spatula, fold the whipped cream into the cream cheese mixture.

  4. Chill.

  5. Use on cakes, with fresh fruit, or just eat it straight out of the bowl. ;)

 

Pretty straight forward and really delicious! The original recipe uses almond extract instead of vanilla and remains one of our go-to for all kinds of treats. But the essential oil options give us so many new choices!