Coconut Lemon Cupcakes
My Lemon Coconut Cupcakes have a coconut cake base, lemon curd filling, lemon cream cheese frosting and shredded coconut. They are very easy to decorate and will be the perfect addition to your Easter spread. I like to top some with another dollop of curd, creating an egg yolk design. The rest I top with mini Cadbury eggs. You can also toast the coconut if you prefer, to create a nest for the chocolate eggs to sit in.
coconut cupcakes
The base for these lemon coconut cupcakes is my go-to vanilla cupcake recipe with a few tweaks. I replaced the buttermilk with coconut milk and I mixed in some sweetened shredded coconut. I find that full fat coconut milk works best. Shake the can before opening to redistribute any solids that separated. For the shredded coconut I used sweetened shredded coconut, but you can also use unsweetened if you prefer. I like to mix some coconut into the batter for extra coconutiness. However, I have also made them without coconut into the batter and just topping with coconut, both ways are delicious.
reverse creaming
For most of my vanilla cake bases I use a technique called reverse creaming. It’s the opposite of creaming which is probably what you’re used to when making cakes. Instead of creaming the butter and sugar together first and then mixing in the dry ingredients we are going to reverse that order. Starting with the dry ingredients in the bowl we add chunks of room temperature/softened butter and then end with the wet ingredients. I add the butter one tablespoon at a time and mix on low just until there are no large chunks of butter left. The mixture should resemble wet sand. By coating the butter in flour, this method is reducing the gluten formation and results in a nice, tender crumb.
filling the cupcakes
In order to fill the cupcake you will need to remove some of the cake in the center. You can use a cupcake corer, a spoon, or what I often use, a piping tip. I take the wide end of the tip and press down about halfway into the cupcake and then twist and remove. Remove the cupcake from the piping tip and repeat on the remaining cupcakes. I don’t put that piece of cake back on the cupcakes so you can snack on them or save them and turn them into cake pops.
lemon cream cheese frosting
I love coconut cake with cream cheese frosting and the lemon compliments the cream cheese frosting so well. Be sure to use a fresh lemon because the zest is what makes this so delicious. This will make enough to spread on a dozen cupcakes but if you want to pipe a more generous amount of frosting you should double the recipe.
ingredients + tools for lemon coconut cupcakes
Coconut Lemon Cupcakes
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups flour
- 1 cup sugar
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 ½ tsp baking powder
- ½ cup (1 stick) salted butter, softened
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup full fat coconut milk
- 2 tbsp vegetable or canola oil
- ½ cup shredded coconut, optional
- ¼ cup lemon curd, plus additional for decorating
- 4 oz cream cheese, softened
- ¼ cup (½ stick) salted butter, softened
- ½ Lemon, juiced and zested
- 2 ½ cups powdered sugar
- 1 cup shredded coconut for topping
- Mini Cadbury Eggs for topping, optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350. Line a muffin tin with 12 cupcake liners.
- Combine the flour, sugar, salt and baking powder in a large mixing bowl or bowl of your stand mixer. While mixing on low speed add the softened butter 1 tablespoon at a time. Continue mixing until no large chunks of butter remain.
- Add the eggs and beat to combine.
- Add the coconut milk, oil and vanilla bean paste and beat just until combined and the batter is smooth.
- Fill cupcake liners ¾ of the way full. Bake for 18 minutes. Allow the cupcakes to cool a few minutes in the pan and then move to a cooling rack to cool completely before frosting.
- Beat together the cream cheese and butter with an electric mixer for 2-3 minutes until smooth. Mix in the lemon juice and zest. Slowly add in the powdered sugar a little bit at a time until fully incorporated.
- In order to fill the cupcake you will need to remove some of the cake in the center. You can use a cupcake corer, a spoon, or what I often use, a piping tip. I take the wide end of the tip and press down about halfway into the cupcake and then twist and remove.
- Add about a teaspoon of lemon curd to the cavities of each cupcake.
- Spread or pipe the lemon cream cheese frosting on each cupcake. Place the remaining shredded coconut in a bowl and dip the cupcakes to cover the coconut. If desired, top with a little more lemon curd or Cadbury Eggs.
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