Coconut Cupcakes Recipe

Looking for a good Snowball (Coconut) Cupcake this winter?? Try this recipe adapted from "Baking By Flavor," by Lisa Yockelson and tested by Joe Yonan, Food Editor for the Washington Post. Yonan raved that in all the coconut cupcakes he tried during his judging of the 8-week cupcake war series, not a single one came close to these!

(Joe Yonan - The Washington Post)

Coconut Cupcakes

Makes 24 cupcakes

Ingredients: For the cupcakes

2 1/2 cups plus 2 tablespoons unsifted flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups superfine sugar
3 large eggs, at room temperature
2 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3/4 cup sour cream (do not use low-fat or nonfat)
1 cup lightly packed sweetened flaked coconut

Ingredients: For the frosting
12 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
5 tablespoons (1/2 stick plus 1 tablespoon) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 tablespoons heavy cream (may substitute coconut milk)
1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
5 1/2 cups unsifted confectioners' sugar
1 1/2 cups lightly packed sweetened flaked coconut

Photograph from Fresh From The Oven Blog

Directions: For the cupcakes:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 standard 12-cup muffin tins with paper cupcake liners.

2. Sift together the flour, baking soda, salt and nutmeg on a sheet of wax or parchment paper.

3. Place the butter in the bowl of a stand mixer or a hand-held electric mixer; beat on medium speed for 3 minutes. Add half of the sugar and beat for 1 minute; add the remaining sugar and beat for 2 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.

4. Add the eggs one at a time, beating on medium speed for 45 seconds each time, then add the vanilla extract. Stop to scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.

5. Reduce the speed to low. Alternately add the sifted mixture in 3 additions and the sour cream in 2 additions, beginning and ending with the sifted mixture. The batter will be smooth and moderately thick. Add the coconut, beating on low until incorporated.

6. Divide the batter among the cupcake liners, filling them slightly more than half-full. Bake for 18 minutes (start checking at 15 minutes) or until the cupcakes have risen and completely set. A wooden toothpick inserted in the center of a baked cupcake will withdraw with a few moist crumbs attached.

7. Cool the cupcakes in the pans on wire cooling racks for 15 minutes, then transfer the cupcakes to the wire racks to cool completely.

Directions: For the frosting

1. Combine the cream cheese and butter in the bowl of a stand mixer or a hand-held electric mixer; beat on medium speed for 1 minute, until creamy and well incorporated.

2. Add the vanilla extract, heavy cream and nutmeg; beat to combine, stopping to scrape down the bowl as needed. Reduce the speed to low; add the confectioners' sugar in 3 additions, beating between additions until thoroughly combined.

3. Use a flexible palette knife to spread the frosting as thickly as possible on top of the cooled cupcakes, creating a generous 1- to 2-inch cap on top. Sprinkle the frosted surfaces of the cupcakes with the coconut.