~Coconut Cupcakes~

~Coconut Cupcake~

On a whim I decided to make coconut cupcakes. I was looking through my many cupcake books last night and saw a gorgeous cupcake in Martha Stewart Cupcakes. I have never made coconut cupcakes and I'm not really a fan of coconut itself, but they were sooo pretty. I made my basic vanilla cupcakes but added 3/4 a cup light coconut milk (that I had left over from a Thai style pasta I made the night before) in place of regular milk. I also had shredded coconut from the German Choc. cupcakes I made a while back (I froze it and it was just as good thawed out). They were so light and fluffy but not very coconutty. So I decided to make a marshmallow filling and flavor that with coconut milk. Still not very coconutty. I wanted a light airy frosting as well to pair with the light cupcake, the "7 minute frosting" on Martha's cupcake looked like perfection. So I tried my hand in that....it's deceiving! I figured oh...7 minutes isn't long. Well that's the minimum for whisking it as it cools. Thank the Heavens for my Kitchen Aid mixer!! It was pretty much perfect with this cupcake. Over all not a coconut flavor in any of it, maybe I'd add coconut extract next time. But it was a delicious cupcake and everyone at my office seemed to enjoy it.

One toasted One not
Toasted Coconut...2nd batch as I burned the first to a crisp.
Watch it as it browns fast...
(300 degrees for 5 min. then shake and brown another 5 min. or until done to your liking)

7 minute frosting that takes a lot longer than 7 minutes to make!

cooking down the sugar and water

Coconut Flakes