Chocolate Coconut Cupcakes

It is absolutely NO Secret
that I fell onto the
Cupcake Craze of our nation
FAST & HARD!!!

And I will say,
I drug my beautiful daughters
right on that little bandwagon-

it just ain't NO fun at all
to pick up an obsession
ALL by MYSELF!

My absolute favorite cupcake flavor
is Chocolate Coconut,
but I am here to say that very few
Cupcake Bakeries make this little
simple wonder-

so I have tried and tried to find the
perfect recipe.

I thought I had found it this fall
when we had all of the farewell parties
before we moved,

but alas,
that recipe has been updated,
modified and definitely
PERFECTED!

I seriously wasn't about to share any more
treat recipes-
I just can't keep talking about eating healthy
and than sharing treats right?????

But I made these little wonders
for my daughters sweet 16th
celebration at school
and got a zillion compliments
and requests for the recipe.

Flower gummies added only for the Spring Fling Cupcakes

So I made them again,
and I got the same result.

So,
YOU guessed it,
I made them again,
this time with a spring flair

and shared them for a Welcome Spring
treat for some friends of my husband!

With all the compliments and requests
I just have to share the recipe here-

Here's to the Extra 5 pounds these cupcakes
have added to my bod,
Enjoy!!!

Chocolate Coconut Cupcakes
 

Chocolate Cake:

1 box Devil's Food Cake Mix

1 TBSP dutch process cocoa (I added this to give a deep chocolate flavor)

1/2 cup oil

3 eggs

3/4 cup buttermilk

3/4 cup sour cream

1 ½ teaspoons vanilla bean paste

½ tsp. coconut extract

(I also used 1 TBSP of chocolate liqueur- this is optional)

*** One huge secret to the crumb of this cupcake is to let it mix for 5-6 minutes. It becomes very creamy, light and airy. Oh so good!

Coconut Cream Frosting:

8 oz. cream cheese

½  cup butter, softened

1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste (this makes a HUGE difference in the frosting, you can use vanilla extract, but it will taste a bit different)

1 ½  teaspoons coconut extract

4-5 cups powdered sugar

*** really let the cream cheese and butter mix together to form a nice creamy mix before adding the other ingredients. I like to put the extracts in before the powdered sugar to make sure it really is incorporated into the frosting.

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line pan with cupcake liners.

Sift cake mix into a small bowl and set aside.

In a large bowl, gently whisk oil, eggs, buttermilk, sour cream and vanilla paste and liqueur.

Combine cake mix and wet ingredients alternately starting and ending with cake mix.

Fill cupcake liners 3/4 full and bake for 16-20 minutes, or until an inserted knife comes out clean.

Immediately transfer hot cupcakes to a dish that can be sealed and let them cool completely covered- this allows the cupcakes to maintain a very moist crumb!

Coconut Cream: Beat cream cheese and butter for 4 minutes. Add vanilla and coconut extract. Slowly add powdered sugar until you reach your desired consistency. Scrape down bowl as needed.

Pipe coconut cream on cooled cupcakes and roll in shredded coconut.