Coconut Cupcake with ButterCream Icing sprinkled with Toasted Coconut Flakes

Everybody that bakes has a secret cupcake recipe that she/he whips out when trying to impress other people (especially non-bakers). I have two and I'm willing to share one of them not because I'm a generous kinda person but because it's just too delicious to keep to one's self! Behold my Coconut Cupcake with ButterCream Icing sprinkled with Toasted Coconut Flakes (Quite a mouthful I know but how else can I capture it's very essence in just 3-to-4 words?)

Ingredients

(For 12 Cupcakes)

115 g/4 oz butter, softened or soft tub margarine (room temperature)

115 g/4 oz caster sugar (you can put normal sugar in a blender and blend to make particular finer)

2 tbsp milk 

2 eggs, lightly beaten

85 g/3 oz self raising flour (add 1 tsp of baking soda to 110g of plain flour to make your own self-raising flour, measure out the 85g you need and set aside)

1/2 baking powder

85 g/3 oz desiccated coconut (can't find desiccated coconut to buy? click HERE to learn how to make yours at home)

Icing

55 g/2 oz butter, softened (I prefer I Can't believe It's Not Butter, it just smells heavenly)

115 g/4 oz icing sugar

1 tbsp milk

Topping

Medium toasted coconut flakes (toast 2 tbsp of desiccated coconut and 1/2 tsp of sugar on a frying pan on low heat stirring till coconut flakes browns slightly)

Method

Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F. Put 12 paper baking cases in a bun tray

Cream butter and sugar in a bowl with a mixer till mixture is light and fluffy. Stir in milk, gradually add eggs, beating well after each addition.  Sift in self-raising flour and baking powder and gently fold in the coconut (folding is a technique where ingredients are combined in a certain way without an electric mixer to keep the air needed to make the cake raise in the mixture.  I will do a special Baking 101 post for beginners next week to explain the whole business of baking)

Spoon the 2/3 of cake batter  per paper cases to avoid spillage when the cake raises in the oven

Set timer for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean or till well risen, golden brown and firm to the touch (on no account should you open oven before the minimum baking time of 20 minutes or cake might fall). Take out of oven and allow cakes cool before decorating

Fresh from the oven

For the Butter icing, beat butter until fluffy in a bowl and sift in sugar while gradually adding the milk, beat till you get a good consistency

Spread icing on cooled cake and top with generous sprinkling of toasted coconut flakes

ButterCream Ingredients

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Cupcakes anyone?

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Bex