coco-nutty

For my friend Heather's birthday picnic, I decided to give a nod to Ziggy Marley with these coconut cupcakes from Simply Recipes.

Coconut Cupcakes with Coconut Cream Cheese Frosting

Here are the ingredients:

Cupcakes

• 3/4 cup of unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 1/4 cup of sugar
• 3 eggs, room temperature
• 1 cup of canned coconut milk
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
• 2 1/4 cups of flour
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• 1 teaspoon of baking powder
• 1/2 cup of sweetened desiccated coconut

Frosting

• 1/2 cup of butter , room temperature
• 8 oz of cream cheese , room temperature
• 1/2-1 cup of powdered sugar (or more for consistency)
  
• 1/4 cup of sweetened desiccated coconut
• a few drops of yellow food coloring (optional)

The recipe advised against using light coconut milk. I didn't read that part until coming back from the grocery with light coconut milk. Still good.
I prefer to fold in the coconut by hand instead of using a mixer. Because I'm old school like that. Instead of making 20 small cupcakes, I opted for 12 big guys and six minis. To share.I added a little yellow food coloring to the frosting to make them a little more festive for Heather's 3.1.
After frosting, roll edges in a plate of coconut flakes. For the minis, just sprinkle on top.

Baking tunes: Ziggy's papa ("Sun is Shining") and various Virgin Islands mainstays, i.e. music that reminds you of suntan lotion, beer with lime, and charming inefficiency.