Beyond Decadent Coconut Cupcakes

I recently went on a hunt for a coconut cake recipe- Feeesh (aka my co-gardener across the city) had a birthday coming up and coconut cake is his favorite birthday cake. When I looked for "ultimate coconut cake" what came up over and over again was this recipe from the Peninsula Grill in Charleston.

Now, upon initial inspection, I was both horrified and intrigued by the recipe. Why horrified? It is 6 layers, with 2 kinds of frosting, and the entire recipe calls for two and a half POUNDS of butter. Why intrigued? This cake has been all over- it is on Martha Stewart's page, it was the subject of a Bobby Flay throwdown, it is listed on tourist websites, and apparently is the type of legendary dessert that people have mailed to them when they move away and that everyone wants at their wedding. Intrigue won over horror... and man oh man, was that the right way to go.

Since I was serving this at a BBQ outside, I decided to modify the recipe and make a slightly scaled down version, and turn it into cupcakes. I'm going to post my modified proportions based on what I actually used (which varied between 1/2, 2/3, and all of the original recipe for the various components- the cupcakes were way off on proportions compared to the layer cake). Behold:

Filling 

Make the night before and chill. This is a half recipe, which might even be too much- I made 2/3 and ended up with so much extra I had to make an entire loaf pan of extra cake to use it up, and still froze a bunch).

-2.5c heavy cream

-1.5c sugar

-1/2lb butter (2 cubes)*

-.25c cornstarch

-.5 tsp vanilla

.5 tbsp water

-4.5c shredded sweetened coconut

Put butter, sugar, and cream in a pan and slowly heat until all is melted. Mix cornstarch, vanilla, and water and add to liquid. Boil the mixture about a minute, so it can thicken. Remove from heat. Take all the coconut and chop it in the food processor so that it is in very small pieces (you don't want this to be stringy). Stir this into the mixture. Chill over night, then the next morning when you need it, beat until creamy (4-5 min).

*note on butter. every single website I saw said that you really really have to use Plugra or other European style butter. I was going to skip this, until I found out that the Smart and Final near me had a fairly good price on it- I think other places it can get up to $7-8 a pound! aack! but, these were decadent, so maybe it was worth it. If nothing else, given that I'm usually misting things in the minimum possible about of olive oil, it was kind of fun to work with giant slabs of butter.

Cake:

(this is 2/3 of the recipe)

2/3lb butter (I don't know how many cubes of regular butter this is- it is easier to measure this amount when you're hacking pieces off of pound sized slabs)

2c sugar

4 eggs

3c flour

1 tbsp baking powder

1/4 plus a bit tsp salt

1c heavy cream

1 tbsp vanilla

1 tsp coconut extract

Preheat oven to 325. Cream butter and sugar, then add eggs one at a time. In one bowl, combine dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, salt) and the other the wet ingredients (cream, vanilla, coconut). Alternate adding and beating in wet and dry ingredients, starting and ending with dry. Now, this is very dense, almost like a pound cake (no surprise, look at the stuff in it). This makes about 27-28 cupcakes, bake them for 22 minutes, or until they feel firm. I made these the night before, as well.

Frosting:

(this is a full batch- the cupcakes needed relatively more than the cake does just due to geometry)

-.5lb butter

-8oz cream cheese

-1tsp vanilla etract

-5c powdered sugar

-1 vanilla bean, scraped out (I had this in my stash of leftover beans from the great vanilla project). It made the cream cheese frosting out of this world!

Mix butter and cream cheese until smooth. Mix in vanilla extract and vanilla bean seeds. Add the sugar in about 3 batches until mixed in (dump it all in at once and you will end up looking like a snowman as the mixer throws it in the air).

Extras:

-Simple syrup- boil together 1/2c water and 1/2c sugar. let cool completely

-Coconut topping- you'll need a few cups of coconut- you can toast it ahead of time or not, but I did half and half and the toasted ones were much more popular.

Putting it all together:

I decided to use a cupcake filling technique I learned when making home made hostess cupcakes. Basically take the (COMPLETELY cooled) cupcakes, and individually cut a pretty deep cone shaped hole in the top of each cupcake. Drizzle a little bit of simple syrup around the sides of each hole- just a small small bit to give some moisture. Fill the hole with the filling (which you will have just taken out of the fridge and beaten), cut off the tip of the cone, and put it on like a little hat.

This looks crazy, but in the end it works really well, its kind of strange. You will find there is a limit on the number of tips of cones you can eat, but at least it provides a way to taste the cake ;-).

Then, frost with the cream cheese frosting- this is part of why you need more frosting, you definitely want to cover any sign of the little hat.

Then, roll the tops of the cupcakes in the (toasted or untoasted) coconut. Chill them for a few hours- everything needs a little time to compress and fit together.

Serve and enjoy! These were absolutely delicious. A lot of people compared them to the types of gourmet cupcakes that are all over the place these days, and they really tasted like something decadent. I think some of that might be due to the fancy butter, but it could also be the cream, the sugar, everything else. I would really resist the urge to make these lower fat, and if you're worried, just enjoy and limit your portion sizes. These are perfect for a special occasion- they would be great at a wedding or bridal shower or baby shower (or birthday!); I can only imagine how delicious the full sized cake must be!

BONUS ROUND!

And... its not over... As I said, I had a ridiculously huge amount of filling left. I had just filled it with expensive butter and a whole lot of coconut, so I didn't want to waste it. I ended up making 1/3 of the original recipe as a new batch of batter, baked in a loaf pan. Per the original recipe I cut into 3 layers, added filling between. It is just adorable! It also is incredibly heavy. But, it now resides in my freezer, to be pulled out for a special occasion in the future!

Who needs Hostess?

I've posted here before about cupcakes... but, last week I made some cupcakes that topped even the super awesome margarita cupcakes from a while ago. I can't even wait, I have to show you the glamor shot right up front...

Yes, its true- its exactly like a hostess cupcake, except homemade and even more delicious. Yowza! The inspiration for the recipe comes from Our Best Bites.

The cake itself:
Now, she starts off with a recipe for homemade cake, and I'm sure that it is delicious. But, if I'm going to make 2 kinds of frosting, and insert them in every possible location in a bunch of cupcakes, it sounds like a good day to start off with cake mix. I used some kind of chocolate cake mix that was on sale, but I added a small package of pudding an and extra egg, just to make it denser. (by the way, if you want cakemix to be even better use melted butter instead of oil and milk instead of water. I was out of milk and all my butter was going to the frosting, though). So, make some cupcakes- I got about 18 out of it because I wanted them decently sized to aid with the stuffing. Let them cool, fortunately, you have a whole lotta frosting to make so there is plenty of time.

Inner Frosting:
This is without a doubt the weirdest frosting recipe I have ever seen, and I highly suggest you visit the original website for pictures. But, that said, I think that this frosting really made the cupcakes because it was the perfect texture.
You'll need:
3 T white flour
.5 C milk (I used non-fat)
.5 C actual real butter
.5 C sugar (granulated, not powdered)
1 t vanilla extract

Whisk together the flour and the milk while heating in a small pan on medium heat. Now, you have to whisk it continuously until it starts to get thick- let it cook a bit but keep stirring. Eventually, it becomes sort of gluey or puddingy looking. Apparently it just really won't work unless you let it get thick. Once that happens, you strain it- put a mesh strainer over a bowl and dump it in, and work it through with a spoon or rubber scraper. Let this chill completely.

Using a mixer (I used a hand mixer because its what I have) beat the butter and the sugar for a minute or two. Then, add in the flour/milk mixture and vanilla and keep beating. Do NOT freak out, it really looks gross. Just keep mixing- for mine, with the hand mixer and all, I had to go almost 10-11 minutes. And, part way through I was sure I was going to have to throw it out and just put the chocolate on top and be done (which, by the way, would have been delicious, just not super amazingly awesome like these were). So, persevere. It will eventually look like frosting and be fluffy and delicious!

Now, of course, you have to get this in the cupcake. There are 2 possible techniques. One involves some kind of magical frosting shooting tool that I don't have (see, I don't even know the name!). Then, there is the tact I took- use a sharp knife and carve out a little cone shaped piece of cupcake. Then, cut the bottom off the cone- you can imagine that if you replaced the top of the cone it'd be like the lid on a pumpkin and leave an internal hole for frosting. Here is one of mine, filled, waiting for a lid:


Top Frosting-
Now, I'd make this before you get going on carving up your cupcakes, because it has to chill. Basically, you're going to make a ganache- the recipe as it is was a little big, and I actually had left over frosting (I know, I know, this is not a tragedy ;). I'd never made this before, but it was super easy!
You need:
.75 C Cream
2 T real butter, melted
8 oz semi-sweet/dark chocolate, chopped up

Put chocolate in a bowl and pour melted butter over it (I did not read instructions, and dumped a whole cube of melted butter over it, which I then had to drain off, estimated how much I left behind, and everything was fine- this recipe seems to be fool proof. Either that, or you can never have too much butter). Place cream in pyrex measuring cup and microwave for ~2 minutes- it should be at a simmer, not boiling. Immediately pour over chocolate and cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let sit for somewhere around 3 minutes and then stir briskly until smooth. Let it cool- you can kind of decide when to use it, depending on your level of frosting skill. When I did it, it was somewhere between runny and thick- you could still pour it and it would spread out nicely, but it wasn't spreadable with a knife. It turned out so nice and shiny- check it out!

(by the way, I wasn't very happy with these photos, but I was very excited to sit down with a glass of milk and eat one of these things, and by the next day they'd be inhaled by my co-workers, so, this is the one for posterity!).

At any rate, look at the chocolatey goodness- you would never know the awesome filling that lurks within! These were a hit!

The best idea ever: Margarita Cupcakes

Ok, so, I've been told that I need to get back on the ball with the cooking on a budget series. And I will, very very soon. But, this is something so big, I can't wait. Now, I hail from a band of rambunctious, margarita making Norwegians. We have a family recipe, we have different factions in the family with different twists on it, basically- margaritas are in my blood. But whats next best to margaritas? Cupcakes. Now, obviously, it is possible to just eat some cupcakes and drink some margaritas, and frankly, that sounds pretty good. BUT- here is the newsflash. Someone, who as far as I'm concerned is an absolute genius and should be next in line for a MacArthur Grant or at the very least the Nobel Prize in cooking (which they should totally have) decided to bring these two wonderful things together.

As I understand the history of the margarita cupcake, it was developed as part of Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World, now, I actually have started to get into vegan baking, and you can find the vegan version of this recipe all over the internet. The thing is, sometimes, its Thursday night after work and a girl just wants to use cake mix. So, there is a cake mix version too, and this one is duplicated all over the internet as well, but this is the one I settled on. Here's what I did...

First, you make a bit of margarita. They suggest these proportions:
--9 oz Margarita mix
--3 oz tequila
--3/4 oz orange liqueour (Gran Marnier, Triple Sec)
I used Trader Joes margarita mix with is more natural and, to me, more delicious that the other stuff which is basically sour mix. I also upped the Triple Sec to a little over an ounce and decreased a little mix. This is designed to make a little side margarita for you to enjoy while you cook!

Combine:
Box of white cake mix
3 egg whites
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
1.25 cups of the margarita you just made (drink the rest!)
1 Tbsp lime zest (around here, this is just known as "a whole lotta lime zest" because I didn't measure

Mix with a mixer- even though I always just use a fork and count it as cardio for my arm, I used a mixer for this, and I suspect its necessary because of needing to get the eggwhites a little fluffy. Now, this batter was WEIRD. You can kind of see it here, it was kind of fluffy and bordering on foamy, but don't worry, thats fine!
Spoon it out into cupcake papers in a muffin pan. Bake at 350 for about 25 minutes. Let cool. In the meantime, make yourself some frosting!
- a box of powdered sugar
- a cube of butter (yes, butter)
- 1/8 tsp salt, unless you use salted butter
-2 Tablespoons lime juice
-lime zest
beat that all up with the mixer until it looks like frosting.

once they're cool, frost! I decorated with green sprinkles.

YUM.

The Lost Art of Funfetti

Well, I'm the laziest blogger ever (EVER). So, to get going again, I thought I'd start off with cupcakes. Because lets face it, I love cupcakes.

Todays cupcakes are in honor of a friends birthday, and what says birthday more than funfetti cake? I truly believe that the funfetti family is a tragically overlooked culinary delight. Moist, delicious vanilla cake... adorable sprinkles... mmmmm.... there is some kind of funfetti frosting in a tub, but, I decided they could stand up better to some cream cheese frosting (because lets face it, I love cream cheese frosting) that might be a little less sweet. (I was inspired into the cream cheese frosting when I briefly considered red velvet cake, but, the thought of scraping red food coloring off every surface in my kitchen was too overwhelming). However, it turns out, my funfetti dreams were true... all true.

They might just be the best cupcakes ever.

Happy Valentines Day!

In honor of this (basically non-eventful) day, I made Red Velvet Cupcakes to take to work. For whatever reason, there was no Red Velvet cake mix at the store (I like to bake, but I'm a cake mix kind of girl), so I used plain vanilla, put some cocoa powder in it, and then started to add food coloring. I have to say, it takes a spectacular amount of food coloring to turn that much batter red. Not to mention, that, given the teeny size of my kitchen, there appear to be random spatters of red EVERYWHERE. But, all in the name of dessert (and, as I read somewhere today, desserts is just stressed spelled backwards).