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1
Pre-heat oven to 350
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2
Start by making pie crusts-combine cold butter and flour in a food processor until it's a fine, crumbly mixture. Add sugar, egg yolk, vanilla, zest, salt and process until moist and crumbly, being sure all the ingredients have been well combined (don't over-process, the crust will get tough).
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3
Press a teaspoon worth of crust into buttered mini cupcake tins, covering bottom and sides of each. Bake for 15 minutes, just until crust begins to brown.
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4
Allow to cool while you make the filling.
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5
Mix cream cheese, egg, zest, and lime juice until mixture is smooth (for 2 minutes-maybe a little more, you want to make sure there are NO lumps). Fill each cooled crust, careful to not go over the crust's edge
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6
Bake for 12 minutes at 350, just until mixture sets. Allow to cool while you mix up cupcake batter
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7
For cupcakes, cream sugar and butter together in mixing bowl until fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, until creamy. Add vanilla, soda, salt. Mix in flour and milk, alternating between the two and whip for a minute until batter is smooth and all ingredients are well combined. Add lemon juice and lemon zest and mix just until incorporated into batter.
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8
Scoop a heaping tablespoon of batter into botton of 12 paper-lined cupcake tins. Lightly press cooled pie into center of tin and cover with another heaping tablespoon of batter. The top and sides of pie should be fully covered. Take care not to fill tins to very top or they'll overflow
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9
Bake at 350 for 25 minutes until cake is golden brown at the edges and set in the center.
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10
Let cupcakes cool before frosting
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11
To make buttercream, blend together two sticks unsalted butter and two cups powdered sugar. With beater still going but set to low, slowly pour in syrup from jar of cherries. Use 3/4s of 10 oz. jar, but do it to taste as you pour.
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12
Frost cupcakes and put a cherry on top
