Coconut Cupcakes with Toasted Coconut Frosting

Our warmer Spring like weather here in the Northeast has everything blooming so much earlier..which is so nice! And it puts me in the mood for something baked with coconut, so I made these cupcakes into jumbo sizes rather than the standard size, which I tend to do a lot.  Definitely a taste of Spring in every bite!

This recipe comes from Martha Stewart and the only change I made was to add a bit of coconut extract to the batter to up the coconut flavor. I also decided that the frosting recipe probably was going to make too much so I not just halved it this time, but I made one fourth of the amount and it was perfect. But keep in mind that we don't like lots of frosting on our cupcakes so you may want to make the full amount.

Coconut Cupcakes with Toasted Coconut Frosting ( adapted from Martha Stewart)
Makes 12-14 standard size cupcakes or 6-7 jumbo cupcakes

1 3/4 cup (8.0 ozs.) AP flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup packed sweetened shredded coconut
3/4 cup ( 1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter-room temp.
1 1/3 cups sugar
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. coconut extract ( my addition)
2 large eggs plus 2 egg whites- room temp.
3/4 cup unsweetened coconut milk
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Preheat oven to 350. Fill muffin pans with paper liners.
1. Whisk the flour, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl.
2. Place the shredded coconut into a food processor and pulse til finely ground, then whisk into the dry ingredients.
3. In a mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar til pale and fluffy on medium high speed.
4. Gradually beat in whole eggs, egg whites, vanilla and coconut extracts, scraping bowl occasionally.
5. On low speed, add flour mixture in 3 batches, alternating with coconut milk, beating after each addition, til well combined.
6. Scoop batter into muffin liners, filling about 3/4 full.
7. Bake approx. 20 minutes, or til tester comes out clean. Cool completely before frosting.
Frosting:
Note: I thought this amount of frosting makes a lot so I actually made one fourth but I think if you halve the amounts you'd have enough, but giving you the full recipe and let you decide.
 2 sticks unsalted butter-room temp.
1-2 tsp. coconut extract
approx. 32 ozs. confectioners' sugar
3-4 tbsp. cream or milk or coconut milk
1. Cream butter, then beat in sugar and extract.
2. Add milk til the frosting reaches desired consistency. If too thin, add more milk, if too thick add more sugar.
Sprinkle the tops with toasted coconut flakes or chips. Enjoy!

Coconut Oil Poundcake with Almonds and Lime Zest

I've been curious about coconut oil lately. Maybe my recent trip to a tropical locale heightened my curiousity but whatever it was inspired me to run over to Whole Foods yesterday to pick up a jar of the stuff and give it a try.

I found this article from the NY Times and decided on this poundcake. It sounded easy enough to throw together and the combo of coconut and lime...one of my favorites. And I was really wanting to make something with coconut oil.

I know I followed the directions correctly but the jury's still out on the result.
I thought I'd wait til today to taste it again. These kind of cakes usually improve with age so I figured an extra day would make the flavors come out more.

So what do I think? It is certainly a dense cake and the flavor of the coconut is subtle. But considering it includes the zest of a whole lime, it's really not a strong lime taste, which could be a good thing, depending on how much you love lime.

The one problem I did have was with mixing the dry with the wet. The recipe said to fold the two together but there was no way this mixture would have combined. It was, to say the least, very lumpy! I had to mash the mixture with a whisk to get out some of the lumps. So I was very skeptical about the final outcome, but all worked out, except for the light spots throughout where you can see that the batter didn't fully mix together. It is moist and it has a nice flavor.

Have you ever baked with coconut oil? Would love to hear how your recipes turned out.

Combine the dry and then the wet ingredients.
Then over low heat, melt the coconut oil.

Pour the melted oil in a large bowl and add in the wet ingredients and whisk together.

Now here's where I had trouble. You can see how lumpy the mixture is.

No way it could be folded in.

So I had to mash out the lumps with a whisk!

Pour the batter into your prepared loaf pan and make the topping.

Sprinkle the topping over the batter and bake about an hour.

My topping got swallowed up by the cake!

Coconut Oil Poundcake with Almonds and Lime Zest ( from the NY Times)

1/2 cup sliced almonds

1 cup plus 2 tbsp. sugar

1/2 cup virgin coconut oil

3/4 cup milk

3 large eggs

Zest one lime

1 3/4 cup AP flour ( mine weighed 8.2 oz.)

1 3/4 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. nutmeg (I used freshly grated)

1/4 tsp. salt

Preheat oven to 350. Grease a 9x5" loaf pan.

1. Make topping by stirring together almonds, 2 tbsp. sugar and 1 tbsp. water in a small bowl. Set aside.

2. In a small saucepan, melt coconut oil over low heat til melted. Pour into a large bowl.

3. In a small bowl whisk together remaining sugar, milk, eggs and lime zest. Add to bowl of melted oil.

4. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, nutmeg and salt.

Fold (Ha!) into the wet ingredients to combine.

5.Pour the mixture into your prepared loaf pan and sprinkle on the topping.

6. Bake for about an hour, or til a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

7. Cool in pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes, then turn out and cool completely before slicing.

Nanaimo Bars

When I read this recipe in the King Arthur Flour Cookie Companion and saw that it originally was from Nanaimo, a city on Vancouver Island in British Columbia, I thought it would be a perfect choice, kind of my nod to the Olympics!

I hadn't even looked up any info on this bar or noticed how many others had baked it and commented on it before I had made it myself. Then, after I had made it, I checked it out on line and saw many variations, the peanut butter one sounds good! Or, how about using mint flavor?

I couldn't wait to taste it and once it had done time in the fridge, I took it out to take a photo and took a bite. It really has a nice, creamy texture from the pudding filling and the chocolate layer on top adds a wonderful chocolatey silkiness ( using semi sweet Belgian chocolate doesn't hurt, either!). The only objection I have it that the bar seems very elegant and the graham cracker crumbly crust doesn't seem to go with the two top layers. It seems to need a less crumbly, more sophisticated crust, maybe something like a chocolate shortbread? The flavors and textures are better, I think, if the bar is at a cool room temperature, rather than straight from the fridge.

So, let's make Nanaimo Bars.
First make the crust by combining butter, sugar and cocoa in your mixing bowl.
Mix in egg and stir in coconut, walnuts, vanilla and crumbs.

Pat the dough into your prepared pan and bake 10 minutes.

Once it bakes and cools, make the filling and spread over top and refridgerate til chilled.

Once that has cooled, make the frosting and spread that over the top and refridgerate again til set.

Kind of alot of steps!

Nanaimo Bars ( from King Arthur Flour Cookie Companion)

Crust:

1/2 cup ( 1 stick) unsalted butter, melted

1/4 cup sugar

1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, regular or dutch process

1 large egg

1 cup sweetened flaked coconut

1/2 cup chopped walnuts ( the recipe didn't specify how finely chopped but I took mine for a spin in the food processor til they were finely chopped).

1 tsp. vanilla

2 cups graham cracker crumbs

Filling:

1/2 cup ( 1 stick) unsalted butter

2 cups confectioners sugar

1/2 tsp. vanilla

2 tbsp. instant vanilla pudding mix

2 tbsp. milk

Frosting:

1 cup chopped semisweet chocolate or chocolate chips

2 tbsp. vegetable shortening, unsalted butter or heavy cream

Preheat oven to 350. Lightly grease a 9" x 9" pan or an 11" x 7" pan.

Crust:

1. In medium sized mixing bowl, combine butter, sugar and cocoa.

2. Mix in the egg, then stir in the coconut, walnuts, vanilla and crumbs.

3. Press the mixture into the prepared pan and bake 10 minutes.

4. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely.

Filling:

1. In medium sized mixing bowl, cream butter, then add 1 cup confectioners sugar and the vanilla.

2. In a small bowl, stir the pudding into the milk and add to the butter mixture.

3. Add the remaining cup of confectioners sugar and beat til the filling is smooth.

4. Spread it over the cooled crust and refridgerate til cooled.

Frosting:

1. Melt the chocolate and shortening in a small saucepan set over medium heat or in the microwave. ( I used the double boiler method). Stir til smooth.

2. Spread the frosting over the chilled bars and refridgerate til chocolate is set.

3. Cut into bars, using a very sharp knife.

Key Lime Bars in Coconut Crust

I tried very hard to get this recipe posted yesterday, as promised, but when I sat down at the computer at 10 o'clock last night, not only did I have trouble forming words into sentences, but I could barely keep my eyes open. Okay, enough excuses! This recipe is from The King Arthur Flour Cookie Companion Cookbook. It combines the flavors of coconut and lime and makes a wonderfully refreshing bar cookie. A kind of sweet and tart combo that is so very good. As a matter of fact, everyone who tried it today just loved it, so don't just take my word for it!
I especially love the crunch of the toasted coconut in the crust. I made one small change to the filling, which was to add some lime zest to give it more "punch". I halved the recipe and used a 9" square pan.


Begin by combining all the crust ingredients in a food processor, reserving 1 cup for the topping and press into the bottom of your pan and bake.
Make the filling and pour onto the crust.

Bake the bars and sprinkle on the reserved crumbs. bake another 10 minutes and that's it! Let it cool 1 hour and chill.

Key Lime Bars in Coconut Crust

Crust:

2/3 cup ( 5 3/8 oz.)brown sugar

1 3/4 cups (7 1/4 oz.)unbleached AP flour

3 cups ( 9 oz.) shredded sweetened coconut, toasted*

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. coconut extract

1/2 cup ( 1 stick, 4 oz.) unsalted butter, cut into cubes

Filling:

One 8 oz. package cream cheese ( reduced fat, Neufchatel, or full fat), softened

1 3/4 cups ( 12 1/4 oz.) sugar

Pinch salt

3 tbsp. ( 3/4 oz.) unbleached AP flour

4 large eggs

1/3 to 1/2 cup ( 2 3/4 to 4 oz.) Key lime juice or fresh lime juice, to taste

zest of half lime ( this is my addition)

Preheat oven to 350. Lightly grease a 9 x 13 inch, 11 x 11 inch or similar sized pan.

Crust:

1. Combine all the crust ingredients in a medium sized mixing bowl or in the bowl of a food processor. Mix or process til mixture is crumbly. Set aside 1 cup of the crumbs and press the remaining crumbs into the bottom of the pan.

2. Bake 16 to 18 minutes, til it's golden brown.

Filling:

1. In a medium sized bowl, beat the cream cheese til soft. Add the sugar and salt and beat til well blended.

2. Stir in the flour, then beat in the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.

3. Stir in the lime juice ( and zest if using) mixing til smooth. Pour onto the crust.

4. Bake the bars for 15 minutes.

5. Sprinkle top with reserved crumbs and bake an additional 10 minutes or til set around the edges but still slightly wobbly in the middle.

6. Remove from oven and let cool at room temp. for 1 hour.

7. For easiest slicing, refridgerate for several hours.

* To toast coconut, place in a shallow baking pan and spread in a single layer. Bake in a 325 oven for 8 to 10 minutes or longer if needed til nice light golden brown . Check toward the end to be sure coconut doesn't burn.*