I have made this recipe that I got from this site, and I am having a hard time with it. First time, baked it 35 minutes. 2nd time 40 minutes.
Not burned, but brown on bottom, but very dense and heavy. and SHRINKS!
1 (18.25 oz) Box DH Lemon Cake mix
1 (3oz) Box Lime Jello
1 Cup AP Flour
1/2 Cup Sugar
1 1/3 Cup Key Lime Juice (can be found @ Krogers)
1 Cup Sour Cream (not light or fat free)
2 Tbls Veg Oil
4 Lrg. Egg Whites
2 tsp Vanilla Extract (optional, just balances out the tart)

Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 350*
2. In a large mixing bowl place the dry ingredients and whisk to break up any large lumps.
3. Add the remaining Key Lime juice, sour cream, veg oil, egg whites and optional extract.
4. I Like to use a hand held mixer and mix on medium/high speed for 2 minutes or until batter is smooth and no visible lumps remain.
Bake in 3- 8″ pans, 2 -10″ or makes 32 cupcakes

Should I add some baking soda or baking powder to the mix?
They don't like to rise. I fill the papers 3/4 of the way fill. One cupcake, just because I was frustrated, I filled completely and it did rise above the paper. I need these for a wedding. In fact I need these for a tasting on friday (7/22). Can anyone help me. Am I doing something wrong, or is that the way they are suppose to turn out? Is the pH off because of the key lime juice. Chemistry was never my strong suit. Would baking powder make them rise more, if so how much should I add? I am almost to my wits end. Please give me some advice. Thanks in advance

I just bought a copy of Southern Lady just because of the picture on the frontl. It was a picture of key lime cupcakes. If you want to try the recipe I can email you a copy of it.

I've used this recipe a few times for both cake and cupcakes and don't think I've had any problems with it.
http://cakecentral.com/recipes/7294/key-lime-cake-with-key-lime-buttercream

I had trouble with this recipe too. I think it has too much key lime juice as well as the box of jello affects it. I made a different recipe with less juice and lemon pudding instead of the lime jello and everyone at work loved it. Plus, the cupcakes baked up fabulously.

I used the recipe Marla gave you the link for except for I substituted all sour cream for the oil.

I have also used the recipe for CC. It is a rather dense cake and I found that using lemon cake mix, pudding and the key lime juice made a very tart cake. I prefer to use yellow cake mix and vanilla pudding with the key lime juice.

Ended up using key lime juice in the cake mix I used and they came out beautifully. My recipe called for 1 cup water. I substituted 2/3 cup of key lime juice and 1/3 cup of water. They domed beautifully and the flavor was great. Not as strong as the previous recipe, but I am using a key lime filling, and it would have been too overpoweing with all that key lime. Thanks for all your advice. It made me think of how to correct the problem. You guys are wonderful.