Coconut

Originally uploaded by Bake & Destroy!

I have heard so many good things about this recipe from Ina Garten, and yet I did not make it. Partially this was because her show bores me to tears, but mainly it was because ti calls for almost a pound of butter for the cakes alone, and buttermilk which I never have on hand. My husband isn’t too into coconut, either, so it seemed like a huge ordeal for some cupcakes I was going to end up eating alone. I made these for a family reunion, though, and it made well over the two dozen I needed, so I got to preview them and wow… them’s good cupcakes. These go in the top five of favorite cupcakes ever, honestly. It’s worth putting in the effort to half the recipe if you’re just making these for a small group.

For the cupcakes you will need:

• 3 cups cake flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 5 large eggs
• 3/4 pound (3 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 teaspoons almond extract
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1 pound sweetened flake coconut

Then you:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, line pans with paper liners. Sift the dry ingredients together into a medium mixing bowl, and set the bowl aside. Break eggs into a small bowl, and set aside.
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy, 3 to 5 minutes. With the mixer running, carefully pour in eggs and vanilla and almond extracts.
Mix in the flour mixture and buttermilk by alternating between 1 cup flour and 1/2 cup buttermilk; be sure to start and end with the flour mixture. Add half the coconut, and mix until just incorporated.
Fill each lined cup with batter. Bake until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes.
Remove cupcakes from the oven, and allow them to cool briefly in the pan before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely, about 45 minutes.

For the cream cheese icing you will need:

• 8-ounce package cream cheese, softened
• 3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
• 3 1/4 cups powdered sugar, sifted

Then you:

Beat first 4 ingredients at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy. Gradually add powdered sugar, beating until smooth.
Frost each cupcake and then top with the other half pound of coconut. I just plopped it in a shallow bowl and rolled each frosted cupcake through.