Coconut Cupcake Heaven

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I love to make cupcakes. LOVE it. In addition to that, I love coconut. So a few years ago, I set out on a quest- a holy quest to find The. Ultimate. Coconut Cupcake. And let me tell you, it was a long, but very enjoyable process. I learned several things on this journey, but most important was this:

America's Test Kitchen's Coconut layer cake recipe (With a couple of tweaks) makes the ultimate Coconut Cupcake.

If you have the money handy, and you haven't already purchased it, GO and get any or all of the America's Test Kitchen cookbooks. These are TRIED and TRUE recipes. They have already messed with all the ingredients to get the best possible outcome for all of their recipes. *Some* of them might be a little more work than they are worth. (Eggplant parmesan that takes like 18 hours anyone?) But the outcome is ALWAYS good. You can't beat that. So here it is: My Ultimate Coconut Cupcake!

BeBookBound's Coconut Cupcakes
Adapted from "America's Test Kitchen"

(Makes about 30 cupcakes) Or in other words, serves 2. :) You will see. You will.

3/4C Cream of Coconut
1/4C Water
5 Egg Whites
1Whole Egg
1 tsp. Vanilla Extract
1 tsp. Coconut Extract

2 C Flour
1/4 C Cornstarch
1 TBSP Baking Powder
3/4 tsp salt
1 C Sugar

12 TBSP Unsalted Butter- room temp. (Or you can use Salted and omit the salt in the dry ingredients)

• Okay, now don't go out of order on this recipe. I do it all the time, but it really makes a big difference here. Mix the wet ingredients in a bowl, set aside.
• Mix dry ingredients together in a big mixing bowl (I throw em in my kitchenaid and use the whisk attachment)
• Cut the butter into 1 TBSP pieces and add to the flour mixture. Here I turn on my whisk attachment for 2 minutes or so, until it looks like crumbs.
• Add 1 cup of the wet mix to the butter/flour mixture. BEAT for about 45 seconds, on medium high. Then slowly add the rest of the wet mixture, and mix up for 30 more seconds. 
• Fill cupcake liners 1/3 to 1/2 way full, and bake at 325 degrees for 17-20 minutes. Now I WARN YOU! That if your cupcake turns golden, it is overdone. It will still be okay, but not fabulous light spongy coconut heaven. If you want that, WATCH your cupcakes. They should be cooked through, but barely. If you poke em with a fork, they should leave crumbs on the fork, but not batter. Okay, now you're ready to frost...

America's Test Kitchen Coconut Frosting
1 C unsalted butter
1/4 C Cream of Coconut
3 C Powdered Sugar

2 TBSP heavy cream
1 tsp. Vanilla
1 tsp. Coconut extract
Pinch of salt

Mix butter and cream of coconut til smooth and silky, add in powdered sugar and beat 2-5 mins. Mix all the other ingredients together separately until the salt is dissolved. Then add to the butter mix. Now beat on med-high for about 4 minutes. This becomes fluffy and wonderful and gorgeous.

Now frost those cupcakes and roll them in coconut flakes, and you have a perfect "Snowball."

Enjoy!






Linking up: Funky Junk Interiors