Coconut Cream Cupcakes - Light & Refreshing for Summer!

Hey friends! We celebrated another birthday at work last week and it was delicious! To say that the birthday girl LOVES coconut would be an understatement. She adores it. She talks about it all the time. In fact, everything she got that day had something to do with the stuff. Her husband started her day off with her favorite coconut candy. She got to work where I had coconut creamer for her coffee. Then, of course, the special cupcakes I made for her were....yep, Coconut Cream cupcakes with a pineapple and coconut cream filling. We also had vanilla ice cream and crushed pineapple to go on top.

The recipe comes from a cake we used to make at a bakery I ran in Georgia. I have never been much of a coconut fan myself. I like it fine, but it's not usually something I would pick when given a choice. However, this cake is so light and delicious that it has made a coconut lover out of me. The secret to this cake is coconut creamer from CoffeeMate and I have only ever been able to find it at Walmart - don't ask me why. No idea why other stores don't carry it. But, trust me. Save yourself the time and frustration looking for it at other places and just go straight to Walmart. Anyway, back to the cupcakes....

I wanted to do these a little differently to make them more special for the birthday party. I pulled the liners off the cooled cupcakes and cut them in half horizontally. I then put a heaping tablespoonful of the filling on the bottom layer, cut a whole out of the middle of the top layer, placed it on the filling, and then filled the hole with crushed pineapple for an extra layer of flavor. Pineapple and coconut - such a classic summer flavor combination! I piped the coconut whipped cream on top of the whole thing. The cupcakes look like mini layered cakes and everyone really loved them!


Coconut Cake:

2 sticks unsalted butter
2 cups sugar
5 eggs
3 1/2 cups AP flour
3 t baking powder
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup Coffee Mate coconut creamer
2 t vanilla extract

Cream butter and sugar until fluffy.

Add eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition.

Combine dry ingredients and add alternately with milk and creamer. Add vanilla last and stir until combined.

Bake at 350 degrees until lightly golden brown and toothpick inserted in middle of cupcakes comes out clean.



Coconut Cream Filling/Icing:

1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup coconut creamer
2 cups sour cream
2 cups confectioner's sugar, sifted
1 t vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups shredded coconut, plus more for topping

Whisk sugar and sour cream together. Add vanilla extract and coconut and mix until combined. Meanwhile, whip heavy cream and creamer until stiff peaks form. Fold whipped cream into coconut mixture until just combined and fluffy.


Coconut Whipped Cream:

1/4 cup coconut creamer
3/4 cup heavy whipping cream
1/4 cup confectioner's sugar
1/2 t vanilla extract

Whip ingredients together until stiff peaks form.

One thing I forgot to do was sprinkle a little coconut on top...next time! :)

These were really delicious, fun to look at, and very refreshing. I definitely recommend them for a summertime get together! Hope you enjoy!! As always, happy reading and, more importantly, happy cupcake-ing!