Limoncello Coconut Cupcakes

If there are two things that go over well in this household its lemon and coconut. We bought a bottle of limoncello for a delicious limoncello tiramisu for my birthday. However, it needs to be used in more than just the occasional martini! I've been itching to bake and what else to do but use some of those delicious ingredients for a tart, delicious summertime cupcake. It's time for some Limoncello Cupcakes!!

Lemon Cupcakes

1 1/2 Cups Flour
1 Cup Sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 stick butter
1/2 cup sour cream (I used 1/4 C Sour cream 1/4 C buttermilk)
1 large egg
2 egg yolks
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 Tablespoons of lemon zest

1) Add flour, sugar, baking powder and salt to your mixer. Use paddle attachment and beat until combined. 2) Add butter, sour cream, buttermilk (if using it, eggs and vanilla. Beat until smooth. Add in lemon zest.
3) Divide into cupcake liners and bake at 350 for 18-20 minutes










Limoncello Curd

1 cup lemon juice (preferably fresh squeezed)
1 cup sugar
Zest from about 2 lemons
7 egg yolks
10 Tablespoons of butter
1/2 C Limoncello

1) Whisk egg yolks and set aside in a medium sized sauce pan.
2) Please lemon juice, zest and sugar in another sauce pan. Heat until sugar is dissolved. Add butter until melted.
3) Temper the eggs with the sugar/lemon mixture by slowly adding hot mixture to eggs while whisking quickly to avoid cooking the eggs before incorporated. Continue to mix until fully combined.
4) But mixture back to heat until reaches 160 Degrees.
5) Take off heat and add limoncello.
6) Cool













Coconut Frosting
2 Sticks of Butter
1/2 Cup cream of coconut
1 teaspoon coconut extract
4-5 Cups of Powdered sugar

1) Cream butter in mixer.
2) Alternate cream of coconut with powdered sugar until desired consistency is achieved.

*Side Note*
If you can keep yourself from thinking inappropriate things whole using cream of coconut you get bonus points!
I'm fairly certain its impossible.









Assembly:

Cut holes in your cupcakes using a large piping tip or a paring knife.

Fill with delicious lemon curd.

Frost cupcakes and top with toasted coconut. 

Enjoy!!

If this doesn't look absolutely delicious than you are absolutely crazy!!

Super, Super Yum. 

Coconut Lime Cupcakes

Long story short with these cupcakes. They are pure and simple delicious...if you like coconut.
If friends offer to make you birthday cupcakes for your outing and give no input what-so-ever you may end up with coconut cupcakes when you don't like coconut. If nothing else, we enjoyed making them and many more will enjoy eating them. Don't stay silent!

I will say that if you enjoy lime and/ or coconut, these cupcakes are absolutely delicious. They are tart and not overly sweet. The toasted coconut on the top gives it a great texture that pairs really well with the citrus lime flavor. I will definitely be making these again.

Super yummy delicious coconut lime cupcakes

Coconut Lime Cupcakes

Makes 12 regular or about 40 mini cupcakes

I doubled the recipe and it made 31 perfectly sized cupcakes. 

Ingredients

Cupcakes:

§                                 1/3 cup vegetable oil

§                                 3/4 cup granulated sugar

§                                 1 cup coconut milk

§                                 1/4 cup milk

§                                 1 tsp vanilla extract

§                                 1 tsp coconut extract 

§                                 1 tbsp lightly packed, finely grated lime zest

§                                 1 cup all purpose flour

§                                 1/2 tsp baking soda

§                                 1/2 tsp baking powder

§                                 1/4 tsp salt

§                                 1 cup sweetened coconut

Lime Buttercream Frosting:  (I thought this frosting was AMAZING and I don't even like frosting!)

§                                 2 sticks butter

§                                 1 tsp vanilla extract

§                                 1/4 cup fresh lime juice

§                                 3 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar

§                                 1 tsp finely grated lime zest (or more because its delicious)

Optional topping:

§                                 1 cup sweetened coconut, toasted in the oven until browned and crunchy

Directions

Can you tell I like green?

Cupcakes:

1.                              Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a cupcake pan with liners. 

2.                              In a medium bowl, mix together the vegetable oil and sugar. Add the coconut milk, milk, vanilla, coconut extract, and lime zest. Mix to combine.

3.                              Add the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Mix until smooth. Add the coconut and mix to incorporate.

4.                              Bake for about 20 minutes for regular cupcakes and slightly less for mini cupcakes, until the cupcake top springs back when touched and a toothpick inserted through the center comes out clean.

5.                              Cool completely on racks before icing.

Frosting:

1.                              Beat the butter until fluffy.

2.                              Add the sugar and beat for about 3 more minutes.

3.                              Add the vanilla and lime juice, beat for another 5 to 7 minutes or so until fluffy.

4.                              Add the zest and mix to distribute.

5.                              Chill until ready to use.

To Assemble:

1.                              Heap the frosting onto the cupcakes or pipe onto cupcakes using a pastry bag and decorating tip of your choice.

2.                              If using toasted coconut on top, sprinkle the cupcakes with the toasted coconut and press lightly so that it adheres to the frosting.

3.                              Keep refrigerated until ready to serve.

If any of you know how Teresa and I bake together, it usually involves me baking and Teresa doing the dishes, snitching batter and frosting and taking pictures. This venture was no different. 

Teresa's job while I finished frosting the cupcakes.

Everyone deserves a little reward. 

The frosting was absolutely amazing if you like limes. As you can see Teresa took the liberty of dipping the paddle from the frosting INTO the toasted coconut. 

May Update

May has been a very busy month! Jon and I both had our birthdays. I had graduation. We had our birth mother's day picnic. I served dinner one night at the Ronald McDonald House with my boss. Work has been busy and Jon and I have started house hunting. I haven't been baking a whole ton but I've been able to get a few things in. I made a cake at the end of April for a lovely lady who I used to work at Old Chicago with. I also made some super cute cupcakes for birthmother's day. I also decided to jump into macaroons over the long weekend, which I'm super happy to say was a success! I made both American and French macaroons and I can't wait to try them again.

First things first.
Dee's Birthday Cake:

Dee's cake was a 4 layer cake that had two layers of chocolate cake and two layers of white cake dyed a burgundy wine color. I piped grapevines all over the cake and I think it turned out really cute. She said she liked it and that there were left overs for days, which doesn't surprise me since this cake has two full cake recipes in it! 

NEXT!

I absolutely love my job at the Ronald McDonald House. My boss and I served dinner with another board member one night in May. It was a great way to really sit down with the families who are at the House and chat with them. One of my recent favorites, Jaxson, was finally going home the next day after an 8 week feeding clinic at Monroe Meyer. I thought that a funfetti cake would be appropriate for the little ones at the House. I had some fun decorating the cake as well. 

I'm all for sprinkles and I probably could have put more in!

We were all happy to see Jaxson be able to go home but we definitely miss him at the House.

Birthmother's Day was next and I have always wanted to make these cupcakes and so I figured it was worth a shot. Next time I make these cupcakes, I'm going to allow myself more time. I didn't start baking the cupcakes until 9 am and I had to be at Nebraska Children's Home at 11:30, needless to say we were late because I was frantically piping petals on the cupcakes! I made them as cookies and cream cupcakes. Each cupcake had chunks of oreos in them and them had an oreo on the top for the center of the flower. 

Birthmother's Day was great. I got to spend some time with the Harters and my Calvin. He and Jon had fun at Gramp's and Grammy's place. 

Run, Calvin, Run!

Last, but not least, MACAROONS! 

I've always wanted to try and make French macaroons because I figured they would be a good challenge and they are a light yummy treat. I found a really easy recipe for American coconut macaroons and threw them together on Friday night. It makes a really small batch but they were really good and Jon enjoyed them.

1 1/3 Cup coconut flakes

1/3 C sugar

2 T all purpose flour

1/8 t Salt

2 egg whites

1/2 t vanilla

In a small bowl, combine the coconut, sugar, flour and salt. Stir in egg whites and vanilla; mix well.

Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto greased baking sheet. Bake at 325 for 18-20 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on a wire rack.

I ended up making ones that were a little bigger than a teaspoon so my recipe only make 7 macaroons but it was worth it. Crispy on the outside and soft and coconutty inside. 

I also made French Macaroons with blackberries.

I used Martha Stewart's recipe for macaroons. I will do another post that goes through the process soon but I didn't take pictures as I went this time. But I think macaroons deserve their own post.

I hope everyone enjoyed their holiday weekend! I hope this summer brings good things and lots of baking!

Jon's Law School Graduation

Jon is finally graduating from Creighton Law School! I'm so very proud of him. It's a big accomplishment and he did an awesome job. To help us celebrate his graduation, his Mom, his sister Trina and his nephew Page are coming into town to attend the ceremony. I'm sure he'll look very smart in his robes :) We are having dinner with everyone (which will be the first time our parents actually meet, a whole 2 years later). This cake is a combination of his birthday cake (30!) and his graduation cake so of course he needed a coconut cake. Last year for his birthday I made him a coconut cake from a different recipe that actually had me breaking down my own coconut, including shredding it myself and baking both coconut milk and coconut cream. It was insane...and quite messy. This recipe is actually a recipe that my Mother uses all the time and insisted I use because of course hers is better, if nothing else it is easier and less sticky. I'm not a huge fan of coconut so I actually haven't had a slice of it in years but I know that everyone raves about it. I hope that trend continues tonight.

Coconut Layer Cake (care of Cook's Illustrated)

1 Large egg plus 5 large egg whites
3/4 C Cream of Coconut
1/4 C Water
1 t vanilla extract
1 t coconut extract
2 1/4 C Cake flour, sifted
1 C Sugar
1 T baking powder
3/4 t salt
12 T (1 1/2 stick) unsalted butter, cut into 12 pieces, softened, but still cool

2 cups packed (about 8 oz) sweetened shredded coconut

Buttercream
4 Large egg whites
1 C Sugar
Pinch salt
1 pound (4 sticks) unsalted butter, each stick cut into 6 pieces, softened, but still cool
1/4 C Cream of Coconut
1 t Coconut extract
1 t Vanilla extract


1. Adjust oven rack to lower middle position and heat the oven to 325 degrees. Grease 2 9" round cake pans.
2. Beat egg whites and whole egg in a large measuring cup with a fork to combine. Add cream of coconut, water, vanilla, and coconut extract and beat with fork until throughly combined.

3. Combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in bowl of stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on lowest speed to combine, about 30 seconds. With mixer still running on lowest speed, add butter one piece at a time, then beat until mixture resembles course meal with butter bits no larger than small peas, 2 to 2 1/2 minutes.

4. With mixer still running add 1 C liquid. Increase speed to medium- high and beat until light and fluffy, about 45 seconds. With mixer still running, add remaining 1 C liquid in steady stream (should take about 15 seconds) Stop mixer and scrape down sides then beat at medium high speed to combine. (Batter will be thick).

5. Divide between pans and level with offset or rubber spatula. Bake until deep golden brown, cakes pull away from sides of the pans and toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean, about 30 minutes. Do not turn off the oven.

To Toast the Coconut:
While cake cools, spread shredded coconut on a baking sheet; toast in oven until shreds are a mix of golden brown and white, about 15 minutes, stirring 2-3 times. Cool to room temperature.

And for the finish we use a buttercream frosting. This frosting is basically just coconut flavored butter and honestly how you could you go wrong! 

Buttercream:

1. Combine whites, sugar and salt in a bowl of stand mixer; set bowl over saucepan containing 1 1/2 inches of barely simmering water. Whisk constantly until mixture is opaque and warm to the touch and registers about 120 degrees, about 2 minutes.

2. Transfer bowl to  mixer and beat whites on high speed with whisk attachment until barely warm (80*) and whites are glossy and sticky, about 7 minutes. Reduce speed to medium high and beat in butter 1 piece at a time. Beat in cream of coconut, coconut and vanilla extracts. Scraps down sides of bowl and mix on medium high until well combined, about one minute. 

When I went to decorate the cake I cut each of the layers in half so that there were 4 layers total. I put two different pieces of parchment paper under the cake so that I could keep the cake stand clean while I was decorating the cake. When I went to put the coconut on the cake I put the stand in the middle of the sheet pan with the coconut on it so that the excess could just fall off. 

After the coconut was covering the sides I piped the scales of justice on Jon's cake since he is graduating from law school after all. I'm so very proud of everything he's done over the last 3 years! 

Congratulations Jon! It's been an eventful month...turned 30 and graduated from law school all in less than two weeks! The cake was a success. It is very delicate and doesn't over power you with coconut. Delicious!

Jon with his graduation present from Calvin. It's a bookmark that Calvin wrote Jon's name himself. Very cute!