Lemon Coconut Cupcakes

So this week at work there was a bake sale and I was forced to eat a total crap chocolate cupcake.  Packaged cake mix with zero flavour and, I'm sure, store bought chocolate icing with no flavour but super sugar-y sweet.  The icing was nicely piped on and the cake looked really pretty but it was not worth the calories to eat it.  Seriously, put some effort in people!

This week was also Caitlin's last day at work ... and after taking votes at the mess, the winner was lemon coconut for her 'goodbye' cupcakes.  Caitlin even found a recipe on-line for me.  I love lemon anything ... so yummy, but coconut is not my favourite ... especially the sweetened packaged coconut.  I like fresh raw coconut and coconut curry but I've never understood the point of sweetening fruit.  But obviously I have to give the people what they want, so lemon coconut cupcakes it was.

Now Caitlin chose not to make her own drawing of what the lemon coconut cupcakes would/should look like, as she had done with the   vanilla blueberry ones.  And clearly, I really have to learn how to take better photos -- I'm sure a hand drawn facsimile would look more beautiful than my poor pics!  Its hard to tell but these are the super cute purple gingham cupcake papers that Caitlin bought for me.

Anyway here is the recipe that I used with my comments on changes I'd make next time (if I ever bother to make them again!)

Lemon Coconut Cupcakes

1/2 cup unsalted butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup shredded sweetened coconut
3 teaspoons lemon rind (use a rasp if you have one .... as I do; using a zester will make the shreds of rind too large in the cakes)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
1/4 cup milk

Beat butter and sugar until light; beat in eggs one at a time, continuing to beat in between each.  In a separate bowl, whisk flour, coconut, lemon rind, baking powder and salt.  Stir into butter mixture alternating with liquid; making three additions of dry ingredients and two of liquid.  Spoon into paper lined cups.
Bake at 350*F for 20 minutes.  Remove from pan and cool completely before icing.

Here they are cooling on my new cooling rack.  They were actually a little over cooked and in future I would only bake them for 16-18 minutes.  Also, my oven runs a little hotter than the thermostat so perhaps I would turn the oven down just slightly.  They looked perfectly lightly browned when I took them out of the oven, but when they were unwrapped from the papers, they were a little too dark on the bottom and they were a bit dry.  In future I'd put a bit more lemon zest in to keep them more moist along with baking them for less time.

Lemon Coconut Icing

3/4 cup unsalted butter
1-2 teaspoons lemon rind
1/4 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
2 cups icing sugar
1 cup (or as much as needed) flaked sweetened coconut for topping

Beat butter until fluffy; add lemon rind and juice.  Stir in icing sugar and beat until fluffy.  Add more lemon juice, if necessary to obtain desired consistency.  Ice cakes and dip in the coconut topping.

After beating up the icing, I left it at room temperature for some time, to make sure it was soft enough for the coconut to adhere when I dipped the tops in.

I piped the icing on, but you really don't have to do this because when you dunk the little cakes in the coconut the icing gets flattened out anyway.  I left a couple with no coconut dip for me ... and this icing is freaking awesome.  I could just eat bowls of it.  Its super zesty and good lemon flavour.  It's ever so pale yellow from the butter and lemon juice and it tastes great.  It made the cupcakes.  For sure.