Coconut Cupcakes
Light coconut cupcakes made with coconut milk and desiccated coconut, topped with vanilla frosting and toasted coconut flakes.
Photograph credit: Coconut Angel Food Cupcakes (25619637844) by Stephanie Clifford from Arlington, VA, USA · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Coconut Cupcakes: Step by Step
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Heat the oven to 180°C / 355°F and line a 12-hole muffin tin with cases.
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Beat 115 g butter and the caster sugar for 3 minutes. Beat in the eggs and vanilla.
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Fold in the flour, baking powder and salt alternately with the 120 ml coconut milk, then the desiccated coconut.
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Divide between the cases and bake for 22 minutes. Cool completely.
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Beat the frosting butter, icing sugar and 2 tbsp coconut milk until fluffy. Swirl onto the cupcakes and scatter with the toasted flakes.
Things to Watch For
- Use full-fat coconut milk.
- Toast the flakes in a dry pan and watch them.
- Frost only when the cakes are cool.
About This Recipe
The coconut palm gives its name to the dish and the dish gives you a reason to open a tin of coconut milk. In a cupcake, coconut works in layers: milk in the batter for a tender crumb, desiccated coconut for texture, and a handful of toasted flakes on top for flavour and crunch.
Shake the tin of coconut milk before opening, since the cream separates and sits on top. Measure out 120 ml and use the rest for something else. Beat it into the batter along with the eggs, and do not use light coconut milk, which is watery and gives a pale, flat flavour. The desiccated coconut soaks up some of the liquid and swells.
Toast the topping coconut in a dry pan. Over medium heat it takes about 3 minutes, and it turns from white to golden brown and smells like a holiday. Watch it constantly and stir, since it burns in seconds when it starts to colour. Cool it before sprinkling on the frosting.
The vanilla frosting is butter beaten with icing sugar and a spoonful of coconut milk, until it is light and pipeable. Frost only when the cupcakes are fully cool, and sprinkle the toasted coconut while the frosting is soft so it sticks.
To Go With It
Hot tea · Coffee · Fresh pineapple · Cold milk
Storing Leftovers
Keeps in an airtight container for 3 days.
Common Questions
How long does Coconut Cupcakes take to make?
20 minutes of preparation and 22 minutes of cooking, so at least 42 minutes. The method also needs time for cooling completely, which it does not time, so treat that as a minimum. The recipe serves 12.
Coconut Cupcakes Nutrition
Per serving, calculated from the ingredient list with USDA FoodData Central figures (SR Legacy). A calculation, not a laboratory analysis: brands, cuts and how you measure change the real numbers. How the figures are worked out.
Your notes on this recipe
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Compiled by Turab
Checked by script for timings, diet labels and nutrition arithmetic. How the recipes are checked.
First published ; last changed .
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