Coconut Cupcakes

It's been about a month and, truthfully, I've done quite a bit of baking in the interim. However, as it usually happens around Christmas, I relied pretty heavily on tried and true recipes. There is a lemon cookie recipe I need to post about on here, but otherwise I stuck to my usual gamut with the addition of the very successful Thin-Mint Cupcakes. Since Christmas, I've been on a baking embargo because of the ridiculous amount of sweets I consumed! It's about to be my best friend's birthday, though, and she requested coconut cake. How could I turn her down? These cupcakes were a hit, and I definitely plan on making them again.

This recipe is adapted from Ina Garten's Coconut Cake. Her recipe is delicious, but I wanted cupcakes that were more intensely flavored with coconut. To that end, I substituted coconut milk where her recipe called for milk in the cake batter. Additionally, I made a coconut pastry cream to be used as an optional filling for the cupcakes. In hindsight, I'm not sure that the coconut milk really made a difference in the flavor. I should know better than to question her expertise. However, the filling is to die for. I highly recommend using it.

Coconut Cupcakes
yield: about 16 cupcakes

1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/3 cups sugar

3 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 tsp pure almond extract

2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting the pans
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp kosher salt

2/3 cup coconut milk

1/2 cup sweetened shredded coconut

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2, 12-cup cupcake tins with paper liners.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar on medium-high speed for 3 to 5 minutes, until light yellow and fluffy. Crack the eggs into a small bowl. With the mixer on medium speed, add the eggs 1 at a time, scraping down the bowl once during mixing. Add the vanilla and almond extracts and mix well. The mixture might look curdled; don't be concerned.

In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. With the mixer on low speed, alternately add the dry ingredients and the milk to the batter in 3 parts, beginning and ending with dry ingredients. Mix until just combined. Fold in the 4 ounces of coconut with a rubber spatula.

Pour the batter evenly into the cupcake tins. Bake at 350 degrees for 15-18 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean. Cool in the pans for 5 minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.



Coconut Frosting

12oz cream cheese, at room temperature
1/3 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon pure almond extract

3 cups confectioners' sugar

6 ounces sweetened shredded coconut

For the frosting, in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, combine the cream cheese, butter, vanilla and almond extract on low speed. Add the confectioners' sugar and mix until just smooth (don't whip!).

Frost cupcakes. There's no need to get too fancy with the frosting; simply press the coconut into the frosting to adhere. I topped mine with "luster pearls," a decorating splurge from Williams Sonoma.



Optional Boss Battle: Cocount Pastry Cream Filling

1/2 cup half & half
1/2 cup coconut milk
1 tsp vanilla

1/4 cup sugar, divided
1 1/2 tbsp cornstarch
pinch of salt
3 large egg yolks

2 tbsp butter

In a medium saucepan, bring the half & half, coconut milk, vanilla, and 3 tbsp of sugar to a simmer over medium high heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar.

In a separate bowl, whisk the remaining sugar, cornstarch, salt, and egg yolks until smooth. Temper the egg yolks by gradually whisking in about 1/2 cup of the hot half & half mixture. Pour the tempered egg mixture back into the saucepan, reduce the heat to medium, and whisk constantly for about 30 seconds to a minute. The mixture will thicken very quickly.

Remove the pastry cream from the heat and whisk in the butter. Pour into a bowl and let cool. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until cold. Use as a filling in the coconut cupcakes by removing the center of a cupcake and piping in the pastry cream. Frost and top with coconut (and sugar pearls if you want to get fancy).