Lemon Coconut Cream Cupcakes

Lemon Coconut Cream Cupcakes

cake:

• • 1 box white cake mix

  • 1/4 cup all-purpose flour

  • 1 can (14 ounces) full-fat, unsweetened coconut milk

  • 3 whole eggs

  • 1 teaspoon vanilla

  • 1 teaspoon coconut extract

buttercream:

• • 1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature

  • 3 tablespoons lemon curd

  • zest of two small lemons

  • 3 cups powdered sugar

  • 3 tablespoons meringue powder

  • 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

  • 3 tablespoons milk

filling and garnish:

• • 1 cup lemon curd

  • sweetened coconut flakes

Bake the Cupcakes:

Preheat the oven to 350. Line muffin tins with 24 paper liners.

In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine all of the cake ingredients. Mix on low to combine, then mix on medium speed for 3 minutes, scraping the bowl once. Divide the batter between the muffin cups, filling them 2/3 full.

Bake for 15 minutes, until pale golden and a toothpick comes out clean. Remove cupcakes from the pan and set on a wire rack to cool completely.

Make the Buttercream:

In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, mix the butter, lemon curd and lemon zest for one minute. In a separate bowl, combine the powdered sugar and meringue powder (meringue powder should not directly touch any liquid); add to the mixing bowl and mix on low to combine. Add the vanilla and milk, then increase speed to medium high, whipping for 4-5 minutes until very light and fluffy.

Fill the Cupcakes:

If you have a cupcake corer, great; if not, do what I do and poke the blunt end of a chopstick into the center of each cupcake, stopping halfway down, and swirl it around to create a half-inch hole. Pipe about a teaspoon of lemon curd into the holes.

Frost the Cupcakes:

Pipe or spread the buttercream onto the cupcakes. To achieve the ruffled look above, use the Wilton #104 rose petal tip fitted to a piping bag. Hold the bag so the tip is vertical, narrow end up and wide end down, against the cupcake. Starting at the middle, squeeze the bag with one hand while you turn the cupcake with the other (I'm right-handed, so I held the piping bag with my right hand and turned the cupcake counter-clockwise with my left). Wiggle your hand a little (the one holding the bag) to create ruffles, and pipe in a circular pattern from the middle to the outside. For the last ruffle on the outer edge, angle the tip at a 45 degree angle, with the narrow end pointing away from the cupcake.

Sprinkle cupcakes with the coconut, if you don't mind covering up the pretty ruffles. Toast the coconut first, if desired.

Yields 24 cupcakes.

Recipe from Curly Girl Kitchen