If there’s one ingredient I associate with baking in the spring, it’s coconut. I’m not sure why the two are linked in my mind, but when the days begin getting longer and everything starts to bloom, I always find myself craving it. I’ve been bookmarking possible recipes for weeks now, and I finally remembered to add the coconut milk and shredded coconut to the grocery list before my last trip. I used to find myself at the store 3 or 4 times a week picking up things I’d forgotten on the weekend, and I really didn’t think much of it, but I stopped doing that about 6 months ago, and am amazed at the time and money I save. It forces me to be a lot more thoughtful when working on my list, that’s for sure!
Though I think coconut works well in combination with a lot of other flavors, most of the time I’d really rather let it be the star, which it absolutely is in this recipe. The cupcake base is a white cake (just egg whites, no yolks) that’s flavored with both coconut milk and shredded coconut. When baked, the cupcakes have a really tight crumb but they’re fluffy and moist and full of coconut flavor, which only gets more intense if you let them sit overnight. They’re topped with a rich Swiss meringue buttercream that also gets a punch of coconut flavor from coconut milk. I adore coconut milk, it makes everything it touches 100x better! These are the best cupcakes I’ve made in quite a while, and if you’re a coconut fan, they’re a must try. Searching for a last minute Easter dessert? I think they’d be perfect ๐
Just a quick note: this was originally a recipe for a layer cake, so if you’d rather go that route, use two 8-inch cake pans, and increase the baking time (start checking around 35 minutes). Also, the recipe scales well if you’d rather not have over 20 cupcakes sitting around tempting you ๐ I did 1/3 of the recipe and wound up with 7 cupcakes – I recommend going with the ingredient weights rather than volume if you’re going to scale back.
White Coconut Cupcakes with Coconut Swiss Meringue Buttercream
from Flour by Joanne Chang
Cupcakes
2 1/4 cups (270 g) cake flour
1 1/4 cups (250 g) sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
6 large egg whites
1 cup (240 g) coconut milk
1 cup (120 g) sweetened shredded coconut
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Frosting
1 1/2 cups (300 g) sugar
6 large egg whites
1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
2/3 cup (160 g) coconut milk
To make the cupcakes: Preheat oven to 350 F. Line two muffin pans with paper liners.
Sift the cake flour into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Add the sugar, baking powder, and salt then mix on low briefly to combine. Cut the butter into 2-inch pieces and, with the mixer on low, add the pieces a few at a time until you’ve add all of them. Beat on low until the mixture looks like coarse crumbles, about 1 minute.
Whisk the egg whites, coconut milk, coconut, and vanilla extract together in a large measuring cup. Add half of the coconut milk mixture to the mixer bowl, and beat on medium-high speed for 1 minute, or until well combined. Add the remaining coconut milk mixture, beating until the batter has a uniform consistency and is light and fluffy, about 30 seconds.
Divide the batter among the liners, filling each about 2/3-3/4 full. Bake for 18 minutes, or until the cupcakes spring back when lightly pressed. Transfer the pans to a wire rack and let the cupcakes cool for a few minutes then remove them to the racks and allow them to cool completely.
To make the frosting: Add the sugar and egg whites to the bowl of a stand mixer and whisk to combine. Set over a pan of simmering water and heat, whisking almost constantly, until the mixture is hot to the touch and the sugar has dissolved. You can test it by rubbing a bit of the mixture between your fingertips – it shouldn’t feel grainy. This will take about 6-8 minutes.
Attach the bowl to your stand mixer which is fitted with the whisk attachment. Beat on medium high speed until the mixture is a fluffy meringue and is cool to the touch, about 6-8 minutes. Cut the butter into 2-inch pieces, and, with the mixer on low, add a few pieces at a time until they’ve all been added. Increase the speed to medium high and continue beating until the butter is incorporated and the frosting is smooth and fluffy, about 4-5 minutes. Don’t worry if it looks curdled, just keep beating and it will come together.
Add the vanilla extract, salt and coconut milk to the frosting and beat on medium-high speed until the coconut milk is incorporated and the mixture is once again fluffy and smooth. Transfer the frosting to a piping bag fitted with a decorative tip. Pipe some frosting onto each cupcake (you should have enough for a good-sized mound if you like a lot ๐ ). Store the cupcakes in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.
Makes 21-24 cupcakes
My most favourite flavour in the world is coconut! these look and sound so yum! I especially love that mound of frosting!
Tracey these look so gorgeous! Wow…the flavor and that frosting.
Perfect!
What piping bag/tip did you use?
These are gorgeous, Tracey! I love Swiss meringue. Love these!
@Averie – Thanks! I use disposable pastry bags, and for these I used a large star tip that came with my Williams-Sonoma mechanical pastry bag. It’s pretty similar to the Wilton 2D ๐
Beautiful cupcakes, Tracey! I love coconut any time of the year!
What a fabulous cupcake! Love the sound of that frostin too.
wow, these are gorgeous tracey! I love the pop of spring color that this gave and I see your beautiful teal colored wood ๐ i can’t wait to make one!!
I see that this recipe calls for 2 cups of coconut, but I only see 1 cup used. Where is the second cup used?
Your cupcakes look beautiful. I love the look of that frosting. I’ve heard that SMBC isn’t as sweet as regular butter cream. So maybe I should try it out.
Coconut just happens to be my favorite flavor! I especially love Swiss Meringue Buttercream. This looks like one delicious cupcake.
Gorgeous cupcakes! Pretty much the only cupcakes I’m making these days is chocolate, but I’ll mark these ones to make later.
The pure white colored cupcake looks so perfect on the red liners…Yummy!
Sounds wonderful. I have a coconut cupcake recipe, but this is very different. I am going to have to try it.
I have coconut milk and aside from drinking it, I’ve been wondering what I can use it in. You just answered that question ๐ These look so great T!
@Anon – Good catch!! In the original recipe which made a layer cake, the second cup of coconut was distributed on the cake for decoration after it was frosted. I’m going to fix that now, thanks ๐
i have 8 egg whites from the big batch of mango curd that i made today. i searched online on what i can do with it and i stumbled here which is a blessing! i found a brilliant way on how to make use of the 8eggwhites. but as a newbie in baking i wanted to clarify with you about the coconut milk you used. is it the cans sold in the supermarket that people would usually use for curry dishes? or coconut milk drink in cans? i’d like to make your cupcakes for Easter Sunday which is a day from today. hoping to hear back from you sooner. thanks a lot.
additional question Tracey. i was actually thinking of making this as a rainbow cupcake. do you think your white coconut cupcake recipe will work best with this idea?
@Wilma – You want to use the coconut milk in the can that’s often utilized in cooking – Goya is a popular brand by me (it looks like this: http://www.amazon.com/Goya-Coconut-Milk-13-5-Ounce-Pack/dp/B001SANYU4).
I’ve never made a rainbow cake so I can’t say with 100% certainty, but I think this recipe is probably a good candidate. Let me know it goes if you give it a shot. Good luck!
I made a pan of mini cupcakes in addition to 18 regular ones. I cooked them for about 13 minutes and they were perfect (:
These do seem really spring-like. I love shredded coconut and coconut milk – gotta mark this one in my Flour cookbook!
I think these are the prettiest cupcakes I’ve ever seen! And I’m with you on coconut being a spring thing – I start craving pina coladas as soon as the weather starts changing! ๐
My husband loves coconut, so I am definitely saving these.
Hi! Is there anyway to make these without the shredded coconut? I love the taste of coconut, but not the texture… maybe increase the amount of coconut milk?
These have become my go-to cupcakes! They turn out light, fluffy, moist, and perfect every time. Every event we have in our family or at church I’m asked to bring my coconut cupcakes.
These were delish!!! I did make a coconut buttercream frosting instead (my 7 minute frostings always flop). I also sprinkled coconut on top of the cupcakes. They looked so pretty! Thank you for sharing your recipe, and I look forward to trying out more of them!
Hi
How do you scale this recipe down to make 12 cupcakes. Thank You
@Jackie: Your best bet would be to halve the recipe. As I mentioned in the post, I made 1/3 of the recipe and got 7 cupcakes, so halving it should get you pretty close to 12. I’d recommend using the ingredient weights rather than volume if you have a scale and can do so.
Hi Tracey
Do you have the measurements for the 1/3 of this recipe.