Coconut Cupcakes

This recipe is from Ina Garten, better known as Barefoot Contessa. She is one of my favorite personalities to watch on Food Network, I like her a LOT! She makes me want to try her recipes at home and I did many times and they are all great.. Her coconut cupcakes with cream cheese frosting is one of the firsts that I tried. I love coconut and cream cheese separately; but I have not tried to cook or even taste the two together in a dish, I was curious to find out what it would taste like, so try I did.

This recipe is quite popular for its great taste, you will find a lot of blogs on the internet who has done this already. This recipe is from scratch; if you want to save on time just buy her complete boxed cake mix. Here in the Philippines, I couldn’t find one, so I have to make it from scratch (I do love baking from scratch anyways). I couldn’t find any buttermilk either, so I used a substitute: put a tablespoon of lemon juice in a measuring cup; then fill it up with milk ’til it makes a cup; let stand for at least 10 minutes prior to use. I also used dessicated coconut instead of sweetened, shredded variety (again, I couldn’t find one..).

BAREFOOT CONTESSA’S COCONUT CUPCAKES
with cream cheese frosting

3/4 pound (3 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 cups sugar
5 extra-large eggs at room temperature
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 teaspoons pure almond extract
3 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup buttermilk
14 ounces sweetened, shredded coconut

For the frosting:
1 pound cream cheese at room temperature
3/4 pound (3 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon pure almond extract
1 1/2 pounds confectioners’ sugar, sifted

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar on high speed until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. With the mixer on low speed, add the eggs, 1 at a time, scraping down the bowl after each addition. Add the vanilla and almond extracts and mix well.

In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In 3 parts, alternately add the dry ingredients and the buttermilk to the batter, beginning and ending with the dry. Mix until just combined. Fold in 7 ounces of coconut.

Line a muffin pan with paper liners. Fill each liner to the top with batter. Bake for 25 to 35 minutes, until the tops are brown and a toothpick comes out clean. Allow to cool in the pan for 15 minutes. Remove to a baking rack and cool completely.

Meanwhile, make the frosting. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, on low speed, cream together the cream cheese, butter, and vanilla and almond extracts. Add the confectioners’ sugar and mix until smooth.

Frost the cupcakes and sprinkle with the remaining coconut.

Yummylicious!