Coconut cupcakes with a passionfruit filling and coconut-passionfruit buttercream

You know those days when you’re just in the mood for cupcakes?

Baking them, decorating them, eating them? Just as long as cupcakes are involved?

Well over the weekend I had one of those days. I had intended to make cakes later in the week, but I just COULDN’T wait!

So I baked these adorable little coconut cupcakes, filled them with passionfruit curd, and topped them with coconut buttercream. Yum!

They were really scrumptious- the filling made them really moist, and the coconut and passionfruit were perfect together!

The cake itself is based on a combination of two Martha Stewart recipes, the passionfruit curd is a Stephanie Alexander recipe and the icing is just a variation of my standard buttercream.

The icing makes enough for a fairly flat covering of all the cakes, but if you want to do piped swirls, you’d need to double it.

And let’s face it, the more icing, the better!

I’ve got some leftover passionfruit curd and cake crumbs from the centre, too. I’m thinking passionfruit cake pops!

Coconut cupcakes with a passionfruit filling and coconut-passionfruit buttercream

Based on: http://www.marthastewart.com/336105/basic-cupcake-how-to, http://www.marthastewart.com/316189/coconut-cupcakes-with-seven-minute-frost and Stephanie Alexander’s passionfruit curd from ‘The cook’s companion’ pg. 681

Ingredients:

Cakes:

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup packed desiccated coconut

150g unsalted butter, softened

1 & a 1/3 cup sugar

2 large eggs, plus 2 large egg whites

3/4 cup unsweetened coconut milk

1 & a 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Filling:

½ cup sugar

60g butter

2 eggs, well beaten

Pulp of 6 passionfruit

Icing:

150g unsalted butter

250g icing sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

½ cup dessicated coconut

Pulp of 3 passionfruit

Directions

To prepare the passionfruit curd, combine the sugar and butter in a small saucepan over medium heat until the butter has melted and the sugar is completely dissolved. Reduce heat, add the remaining ingredients and stir until the mixture thickens (this will take quite a while, but you’ll know when it happens!) Set aside and allow to cool.

For the cakes, preheat the oven to 180˚ c (350˚ f) and line a small cupcake tin with patty-pans. Combine flour, baking powder, salt and desiccated coconut. Using an electric mixer in a separate bowl (or a food processor with a whisk attachment), cream butter and sugar light and fluffy. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating after each addition.

Reduce speed to low. Mix coconut milk and vanilla extract in another bowl. Gradually add both the wet and dry ingredients and combine. Divide batter among muffin cups, filling each 2/3 full.

Bake cupcakes until testers inserted into centers come out clean, about 20 minutes. Let cool in tins on wire racks.

Meanwhile, prepare the icing by draining the passionfruit pulp in a medium sized sieve, reserving the liquid. Beat together the butter and icing sugar until smooth and creamy. Add vanilla extract, coconut and the drained passionfruit liquid, and combine.

When the cakes have cooled, use a knife and a teaspoon to dig a small well in the centre of each cake. Fill with the passionfruit curd, and top each cake with the icing and remaining, drained passionfruit seeds.

Enjoy!

Mia