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Coconut Lime Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

I'm am extremely excited to share this recipe with you, dear reader. Why, you may ask? Well, it's because I created it on my own. That's right, we decided to stop obeying the man (or woman? Or,er, cupcake gods? I'm not really sure where this is headed...) and create our own recipe. Okay, actually we followed a vanilla cupcake recipe and added lime, swapped the coconut milk for milk, and reduced the vanilla.

In other words, I did the dirty work for you. Now, when all your adoring friends ask where you found this scrumptious little cupcake recipe you can tell them "Oh, this lovely little girl over on the blogosphere named Gabby." Actually, no, don't say that. I hate when people say "blogosphere," it kind of makes me feel like blogging is some club where awkward men who still live with their mothers watch Battlestar Galactica and drink juice boxes (not that there's anything wrong with that...).

Coconut-Lime Cupcakes

+1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

+1 teaspoon baking powder

+1/2 teaspoon salt

+1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened

+1 cup sugar

+2 large eggs

+Coconut milk (about 1/2 a can, more on this later)

+2 tablespoons fresh squeezed lime juice

+1 teaspoon vanilla extract

+zest of 1 lime

1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cupcake pans with cupcake papers.

2. Sift the flour, baking powder, and salt into a bowl. Set aside.

3. In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2 to 3 minutes.

4.Add the eggs one at a time, beating until well incorporated.

5. Add the half of the flour mixture to the butter mixture.

6. Pour the 2 tablespoons of lime juice into a 1 cup measuring cup. Then, fill the cup with coconut milk until it reaches the 3/4 cup mark.

7. Add the coconut milk mixture to the butter mixture.

8. Add the remaining flour mixture.

9.Add the vanilla and lime zest.

10.Spoon the batter into the prepared cups until about two-thirds full.

11.Bake 20-22 minutes or until the tops spring back when lightly touched.

12.Cool cupcakes in pans for 10 minutes. Remove from pans and cool completely on a wire rack.

Coconut Cream Cheese Frosting

+1 bar cream cheese

+1/2 cup (1 stick) butter

+2 cups confectioners sugar

+1-2 teaspoons coconut milk

1. In a medium bowl, beat the cream cheese and butter with an electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy, 1 to 2 minutes.

2.On low speed, add 1 cup of sugar, then a teaspoon of coconut milk. Increase speed to medium, and mix completely. Add remaining cup of sugar and remaining coconut milk if necessary.

3.Increase speed to high, and mix until the frosting is fluffy and reaches a good consistency for spreading.

Toasted Coconut

+about 1 1/2 cups shredded coconut.

1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees

2.Spread coconut on a baking pan.

3.Toast for about 6-8 minutes until golden brown on the edges.

Assembly

1. Spread frosting on cooled cupcakes.

2.Top with toasted coconut and additional lime zest.

Lime Raspberry Mousse Cupcakes with Basil Cream Filling (minus the basil cream)

Last week, I embarked on quite an adventure making these little cups of deliciousness (I got the recipe from the extremely lovely and inspiring cupcake bakeshop by Chockylit). First, there was the hunt for raspberries in my local Whole Foods (apparently, if you don't get there by 2 in the afternoon, the raspberry monster comes and buys them all), which resulted in me turning to the frozen version. Then, there seemed to be no basil in sight (I really wish someone told me from the start that basil isn't store with all the other herbs. Instead, it has it's own little basket near the ...apples).



I then managed to fail at making simple syrup, not once, but twice. Actually, I don't think I ever succeeded because when I added the the syrup to the whipped cream, it turned out looking more like egg salad -sigh-. It tasted horrible, and, thus, ended up in the garbage disposal. The raspberry mousse tasted alright, but didn't look anything like the loveliness perched atop the original cupcakes -another sigh-.



After reading the cupcakes needed another flavor component, I did, however, manage to create a magnificent recipe for lime cake. I simply added 2 tablespoons of lime juice and some zest and took away 2 tablespoons of milk. I will most definitely make the cake part again.



Overall, I'm absolutely sure I did something wrong with the mousses. But, hey, nothing ventured, nothing gained, right? Right?