Vanilla Bean-Coconut Cupcakes with Coconut Frosting

I have been on a huge baking kick lately.  Makes sense as it's a perfect kick to be on while on a diet.  My thing to make this month?  Cupcakes!  I know they are so last year but I still like them more than the cake pops and they are conveniently portioned so that I can't cheat and say cut a bigger cupcake like I could should I have made this as a cake.  My first cupcake batch was a cream cheese mini chocolate chip stuffed chocolate cupcake with a fudge frosting which will be coming soon but I need to tweak the frosting to ensure yours will not melt off the cupcakes like mine did.

I may have mentioned my obsession with coconut once or twice before.  Like the Chocolate-coconut creme brulee here , Swedish dream cookies here, or the coconut blondies here, but I am always happy to add another one to the recipe box, which is what this blog really is, as much as a way to share great recipes with family and friends.  No matter where my husband and I go if there is Internet or phone service we can look up a recipe to share, and you will want to share these.  Actually you will want to horde all 18 for yourself but don't be selfish, share with your friends.  Your friends and waistline will thank you.

I love it when you can see the specs of vanilla

Michael brought some to the daycare for his and Juliet's teachers, and I gave some to my partners in crime from school.  The rest we shared with visiting family, now I'm not going to name names or anything but when I went to bed there were some left and when I woke up there was an empty cupcake holder (ahem.... cupcake thief 1 and cupcake thief 2).

Vanilla Bean-Coconut Cupcakes with Coconut Frosting

Bon Appetit

Ingredients

Reduced coconut milk 2 13-to 14-ounce cans unsweetened coconut milk* (preferably organic)

Cupcakes 2 cups all purpose flour
2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/3 cups sugar
3 large eggs
Seeds scraped from 1 split vanilla bean or 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup reduced coconut milk (see above), room temperature

Frosting1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup reduced coconut milk (see above), room temperature
Seeds scraped from 1 split vanilla bean or 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups sweetened flaked coconut, lightly toasted (for garnish)

Reduced Coconut Milk

Bring coconut milk to boil in large deep saucepan over medium-high heat (coconut milk will boil up high in pan). Reduce heat to medium low; boil until reduced to 1 1/2 cups, stirring occasionally, 25 to 30 minutes. Remove from heat; cool completely. Transfer to small bowl. Cover; chill (coconut milk will settle slightly as it cools). DO AHEAD: Can be made 2 days ahead. Keep chilled.

For cupcakes

Position rack in center of oven; preheat to 350°F. Line eighteen 1/3-cup muffin cups with paper liners. Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt in medium bowl. Using electric mixer, beat butter in large bowl until smooth. Add sugar; beat on medium-high speed until well blended, about 2 minutes. Add 2 eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition and occasionally scraping down sides of bowl. Beat in seeds from vanilla bean and remaining egg. Add half of flour mixture; mix on low speed just until blended. Add 1 cup reduced coconut milk; mix just until blended. Add remaining flour mixture; mix on low speed just until blended. Divide batter among muffin cups. Bake cupcakes until tops spring back when gently touched and tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Transfer cupcakes in pans to rack; cool 10 minutes. Carefully remove cupcakes from pans and cool completely on rack.

For Frosting

Using electric mixer, beat butter in large bowl until smooth. Add sugar, 1/3 cup reduced coconut milk, seeds from vanilla bean, and salt. Beat on medium-low speed until blended, scraping down sides of bowl. Increase to medium high and beat until light and fluffy.

Using pastry bag fitted with large star tip, pipe frosting onto cooled cupcakes. (Alternatively, top each cupcake with 2 tablespoons frosting. Using small offset spatula, swirl frosting over top of cupcakes, leaving 1/2-inch plain border.) Sprinkle with coconut. DO AHEAD: Can be made 1 day ahead. Store in airtight containers; chill. Bring to room temperature before serving.

* Available at many supermarkets and at Indian, Southeast Asian, and Latin markets.

I wasn't sure which would be better toasted coconut or plain coconut so I did both... do the toasted coconut.  There were only plain coconut ones left at the end of the night so I knocked off the regular coconut and added the toasted.  The original recipe says to use it sparingly as a garnish.... I happily threw that recommendation out the window and loaded them with it.  I urge you to do the same.

Swedish Dream Cookies (Drommar)

Drommar is the Swedish word for dream, as in Swedish Dream Cookies.  Fitting as they look like little pillows to me, but do not let that fluffy looking exterior fool you.  These little babies are crispy, light, and crumbly, but they are dreamy.  At least I think so.  They have coconut, J'adore coconut!  More than is normal I think.  In fact the day before I made these I made cherry balls that are also covered in coconut, yum.  Probably not the best combination to bring to a teacher appreciation cookie swap, but when I saw the table heavy with every kind of cookie under the sun I didn't think two coconut treats would call any attention.  How could they... that table was ridiculous, I think they were a little overwhelmed by the response.

'Tis the season for Christmas baking!  Everywhere I look the blogs are all abuzz with Christmas cookies, but I haven't seen these anywhere yet this year.  These are (I believe) a traditional Christmas cookie for some.  I had my first one last year from a very talented baker friend and I had to make them.  "Be warned," she said "they use baker's ammonia."  What is baker's ammonia you may ask... well lets just call it baking sodas distant and more stinky relative.  And I'll end the description there so as not to scare you off. 

As I mixed this stuff up I was certain my house was going to stink to high heaven and that we were all going to be gassed in an attempt at obtaining these delights, but to be honest it wasn't too bad.  Every now and then you catch a whiff of the ammonia, but it disapates quickly and the cookies neither smell nor taste like ammonia in any way, shape, or form.  They are quite simple really.  Mix up the batter, refrigerate for an hour.  Roll into balls (mine was super stiff so I had to ply it between my hands to get it into ball form... I left it in the fridge for about 8 hours).  The recipes says to bake the balls but it was some serious dough so I didn't want them to come out in ball form, so I smushed them a little (as recommended by others who have actually made them or at least seen them made) as you can see above.  Throw them in the oven for 22  minutes exactly if you're making them in my demented oven (we're cursed, the new oven has a million problems).

Cool on a rack next to an open window if possible, because this is where it is a little smelly.

 

Swedish Dream Cookies
adapted from Gourmet

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, softened
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 teaspoon crushed ammonium carbonate (also called baker’s ammonium, available at a pharmacy)
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1 1/2 cups sweetened flaked coconut

Method

Sift together flour and salt.

Beat together butter and sugar with an electric mixer until pale and fluffy. Beat in ammonium carbonate and almond extract until combined well. Mix in flour mixture at low speed just until blended, then stir in coconut. Form dough into a disk and chill, wrapped in plastic wrap, until firm, about 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 300°F.

Roll dough into 1-inch balls and arrange 1 inch apart on greased baking sheets. (Smush a little)

Bake cookies in batches in upper third of oven until pale golden around edges, 18 to 22 minutes. Transfer cookies to a rack to cool.

Coconut-Chocolate Creme Brulee

After all of the recipe stealing I do around here I am happy to post one of my own recipes.  This dessert was inspired by Smokejacks on Church Street in Burlington, Vermont.  A restuarant I am sorry to say no longer existed the last time I visited. 

We served this at the end of a wine tasting this weekend and it won over even those that aren't big fans of coconut and probably ate the dessert just to be polite.  The chocolate was the main flavor with a mild coconut finish.  If only all the dirty stemware had dissappeared as fast as the dessert my Sunday probably would have been more enjoyable.

Coconut-Chocolate Crème Brulee


Ingredients

For Custard
2 cups whipping cream
2/3 cup unsweetened canned coconut milk
1/3 cup sugar
6 ounces semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
2/3 cup flaked sweetened coconut
6 large egg yolks
1 whole egg

For Topping
12 teaspoons sugar (2 teaspoons per custard)

Method

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Place three crème Brulee dishes in each of two 13X9X2-inch baking dishes (or whatever you have that fit your dishes, I needed three random baking dishes). Mix cream, coconut milk, sugar and flaed coconut in heavy medium saucepan. Stir over medium heat until sugar dissolves and mixture comes to a simmer, add chocolate and mix well until combined. Cover pan, and reduce heat to a very low simmer (or turn off after 5 minutes) and let sit for 10 minutes to infuse flavors. Pour mixture through a strainer into a large measuring cup.

Making the custard (Crème):
Whisk egg yolks in a medium to large bowl with whole egg until well blended. Temper the egg yolks but whisking quickly and slowly pouring a small amount of the chocolate mixture into the eggs. Mix thoroughly before adding more of the chocolate mixture. After a few mixes you can dump the rest of the chocolate mixture into the large bowl. Whisk until mixed thoroughly. Return custard to measuring cup. Divide among dishes. The custards do not rise so you want them poured fairly full. Pour enough hot water into pans to come halfway up sides of dishes. I pour a little in then place the pan and dishes into the oven, and then pour the rest in to reach half way. Carefully transfer pans to oven and make about 30 minutes or until custards are almost set in the center when pans are gently shaken. Using a spatula carefully transfer custards in dishes to work surface or cooling rack. Cool 30 minutes. Chill at least 3 hours or up to 2 days.

Making the crunchy top (Brulee):
When ready to serve, sprinkle 2 teaspoons sugar evenly over each custard. Working with 1 custard at a time, hold Brulee torch so that the flame is 2 inches above the surface. Direct flame so that sug melts and brown, about 2 minutes. Keep the flame moving in a circular pattern to avoid burning the sugar in any one spot.