Coconut Cupcakes

You can't help but smile when you bite into these sweet summer coconut cupcakes! 

Inspired by the 4th of July and a summer palate, I chose to pair these little cakes with a fluffy vanilla frosting. Although not shown in the photos, I sprinkled the center with a tiny amount of shredded coconut.

The recipe calls for "7-minute frosting" which I don't think I will ever make again due to my last encounter timed at 37 minutes. Besides the amount of time it took, the "7-minute frosting" really didn't hold that well either. After a couple of days in the refrigerator, a cupcake topped with that frosting turned not so pleasant.

The Cupcake:

When I tasted the batter I knew these cupcakes were going to be amazing. The recipe calls for unsweetened coconut milk, which of course I found out I only had lite coconut milk, but that worked just fine!

The cupcakes didn't brown when they baked, they stayed nice and pretty white. The recipe also calls for finely pureed shredded coconut mixed into the batter, so you couldn't taste shreds of coconut, but you definitely knew these were coconut cupcakes!

The Frosting:

I decided to go with a simple and sweet fluffy vanilla frosting. Your basic unsalted butter, powdered sugar and vanilla extract. Seriously; simple and sweet. I will say, I do want to try and find a healthier option for a great frosting if that's possible. Any suggestions??

Overall Review:

These really were the perfect choice for a sweet summer cupcake! I think anyone would be surprised to find that beneath what appears to be a standard vanilla cupcake, is really a spongy sweet coconut cake with frosting that melts into each bite! Not your ordinary cupcake!