Coconut cupcakes with white chocolate icing

I was preparing some bruschettas for lunch last Saturday when I heard Joao screaming like mad from the living room: “Hurry up! Come over here, quickly!” – it was a TV article about cupcakes in New York City and they showed some of the city bakeries, including Magnolia – so beautiful! My heart was filled with joy just by looking at those pretty places... *sigh*

While I don’t get to know the bakeries personally, I make my own cupcakes – these are from DH mag #17.

Coconut cupcakes with white chocolate icing
from Donna Hay magazine

Cupcakes:
¾ cup + 1 tablespoon (184g) unsalted butter, room temperature
¾ cup + 1 tablespoon (162g) caster sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 eggs
1 ½ cups + 1 ½ tablespoons (225g) all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
3 tablespoons unsweetened desiccated coconut

Whipped white chocolate icing:
500g white chocolate, chopped
1 cup (240ml) heavy cream*
140g unsalted butter, room temperature
2 cups flaked coconut

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F; line twelve ½ cup capacity muffin pans with paper cases.
Place the butter, sugar and vanilla in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well. Sift the flour and baking powder over the butter mixture, add the coconut and combine. Line twelve ½ cup capacity muffin pans with paper cases. Spoon in the prepared pan and bake for 35 minutes or until cooked with tested with a skewer. Cool completely on wire racks.
To make the whipped chocolate icing, place the chocolate, cream and butter in a small saucepan over low heat. Stir until melted and smooth. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool completely. Once cool, beat with a hand-held electric mixer until thick and fluffy. Ice the cool cupcakes and top them with the flaked coconut.

* as my icing wouldn’t whip, I refrigerated it for 30 minutes then beat it again with the mixer – I recommend using less cream and less butter

Makes 12 – I halved the recipe above and got 7 cupcakes (using 1/3 cup capacity pans)