My husband has a deep and abiding love for coconut. He probably developed that while he was a missionary in Fiji. It really is one of his favorite flavors. As luck would have it, I found a recipe for coconut cream cupcakes on the morning of his birthday. Score! They were fabulous! To give you an idea of just how fabulous these cupcakes are, his birthday was a month ago and I have made them three times since then. I'm just going to copy and paste the recipe as shown on www.carrottopmom.com. I'll use my own pictures and let you know how it went for me. It was my first time making cupcakes from scratch.NOTE: You will need to plan a bit ahead for these! The amazing coconut flavor comes from a reduced coconut milk, which needs to be made one day ahead, and refrigerated overnight. Plan ahead. : )
Coconut Cream Cupcakes
Yields 18 cupcakes
INGREDIENTS
- Cupcakes:
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 1/3 cups sugar
- 3 large eggs
- 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 cup reduced coconut milk (NOT Reduced Fat. See below), room temperature (TOTAL, begin with 2 14oz cans of coconut milk)
- Frosting:
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 8 cups powdered sugar
- 2/3 cup reduced coconut milk (see above), room temperature
- 2 Tablespoons vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups unsweetened flaked coconut, (optional, for garnish)
DIRECTIONS
- For reduced coconut milk: Bring 2 cans (14 ounces each) coconut milk to boil in large deep saucepan over medium heat (coconut milk will boil up high in pan). Boil until reduced to 1 2/3 cups, stirring occasionally, 30-45 minutes. Transfer to small bowl. Cover; chill (coconut milk will settle slightly and thicken as it cools). DO THIS AHEAD, allowing to chill overnight: Can be made 2 days ahead. Keep chilled, allowing to come to room temperature when ready for use.
- For cupcakes: Position rack in center of oven; preheat to 350°F. Line eighteen muffin tins with paper liners. Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt in medium bowl. Using electric mixer, beat butter in large bowl until smooth. Add sugar; beat on medium-high speed until well blended, about 2 minutes. Add vanilla. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating and scraping sides well after each addition. Add half of flour mixture; mix on low speed just until blended. Do not overblend. Add 1 cup reduced coconut milk; mix just until blended. Add remaining flour mixture; mix on low speed just until blended. Divide batter among muffin cups. Bake cupcakes until tops spring back when gently touched, about 20 minutes. Transfer cupcakes in pans to rack; cool 10 minutes. Carefully remove cupcakes from pans and cool completely on rack.
- For Frosting: Cream butter on high for 2 minutes. Add powdered sugar, reduced coconut milk, and vanilla extract. Beat gradually at first, until combined. Beat on high for an additional 2-3 minutes, or until smooth and creamy.
- Frost cooled cupcakes. Sprinkle with coconut if desired, for garnish. (They will have plenty of coconut flavor without the garnish!)
- Do not refrigerate. As with all my cupcake recipes, the flavors are best at room temperature!
Everything turned out a lot easier than I expected, given the fact that non-cake mix cupcakes are new to me. I do have a couple of helpful hints to go along with this bit of yumminess. The batter ended up thicker than I expected. Make sure you really do use a deep pot to reduce the coconut milk. If not the pot isn't big enough the coconut milk will boil over. And if you forget to change out the foil on your burner before you use it again the boil-over will catch fire. I may or may not have learned that from personal experience. Twice. 
