Coconut Cupcakes

These are coconut cupcakes with a Swiss Meringue Buttercream frosting!

The middle cupcake was my perfected Swiss Buttercream. The one on the right was less successful. However, it was the exact same portions, steps, even the same batter as the left one. Just skipped one small step.

I actually learnt this coconut recipe from a class at the Bonnie Gordon College of Confectionary Arts, and they were delicious. Mind you though, they were very very sweet. So in my recipe, I've cut down on the sugar content a little bit. You can always up it if you're big on sugary cupcakes.

During my class, they topped the cupcakes with a Swiss Meringue Buttercream frosting. I love love love this frosting, but find it extremely difficult to make (I tried 4 times for these cupcakes, imagine how frustrating that is). Basically, it's an egg white, sugar, and butter frosting, with a little bit of vanilla. The egg whites and sugar are heated on a double broiler, and the butter and vanilla is beat in. There's also an Italian Meringue Buttercream (which is practically the same) but it's done in a slightly different order. Therefore, I've made a completely separate post for the Swiss Meringue Buttercream. So check that out!

Ingredients for the coconut cupcakes (makes 12):

• 1 1/4 cups of all-purpose flour
• 1 tbsp potato starch
• Pinch of salt
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 2/3 cup fully shredded fresh coconut (these come in cans) or 1/3 cup toasted dried coconut (you can toast them yourself)
• 75 ml coconut milk
• 75 ml plain yogurt or sour cream
• 1 tsp coconut extract
• 2/3 cup unsalted butter (room temperature)
• 3/4 - 1 cup sugar
• 1 large egg
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp white vinegar

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit, and line your cupcake tray.

Beat your butter in a bowl (just to make it easier to beat later), mix in your sugar with the butter and beat for 30 seconds. Then beat in your egg and vegetable oil. Pour in your coconut milk and yogurt/sour cream, and just mix that with a spatula.

In a separate bowl, your dry ingredients: flour, starch, salt, baking powder. In three portions, mix your wet into your dry ingredients bowl, and beat in slowly each time. 

Toast up your dried coconut in your toaster oven for 2-3 minutes (if it wasn't toasted to begin with) and mix into the overall mixture. Be careful not to burn them!

In a little bowl, mix in your baking soda and white vinegar quickly so it fizzes up, pour that into your batter, quickly mix, and scoop into your baking tray. (The baking soda and white vinegar mix is my secret to making cupcakes rise, so do that quickly right before going into the oven).

Bake for 12-15 minutes. If you often end up with dry cupcakes or hard cupcakes, it's mostly because you're over-baking them. Check at the 12 minute mark to give you an idea of how done it is. If you stick a toothpick in and it's completely not set, you'll know you need 3-5 more minutes. If it's just about done but slightly gooey on the top, bake for another minute or two. 

You can choose to do an American Buttercream frosting, where it's just icing sugar, butter, vanilla, and milk, but I strongly detest that frosting. It's extremely sweet and just kind of tastes like icing sugar. However, it's much much easier. Nonetheless, here's a recipe for that.

You could also choose to the Swiss Meringue Buttercream route, which is much tastier, less sweet, creamier. but much more difficult. Here's the recipe for that.