Coconut Cupcakes

Hello.

Yay! My friend Sian and I are now in the 'market business' - last weekend we sold our handpainted plates at the Blackbutt Rotary Markets, and made a humble profit! But more importantly, we had fun sitting around, having chats to the lovely people, old and young, that passed us.

This sets us up for markets in the near future, which is very exciting as it's Christmas coming up! Now we'll actually have some level of understanding of how the Arts and Crafts game works, so we won't be so petrified/ unnaturally happy-looking to the point where it's kind of creepy when potential customers approach our table!

Aside from that, I'm pretty busy, but happy at school. However I suspect I won't be so happy when our big and scary assessment period looms closer and closer!

But for now, I can relax and show you guys the deliciously light and fluffy coconut cupcakes I made on the weekend! {Adapted from 'Cupcakes' - Juliet Rogers}

These are what I imagine biting into a tasty, coconut-flavoured pillow would be like. Need I say more?

Coconut Cupcakes

Makes 12

Ingredients:

2 cups self-raising flour

1/2 cup shredded coconut

1 cup caster sugar

1 cup buttermilk

2 eggs, lightly beaten

125g unsalted butter, melted

Coconut icing:

2 1/4 cups icing sugar

1 1/2 cups dessicated cocnut

75g unsalted butter, softened

1/2 tsp coconut essence

2 tbsp hot water

Shredded coconut, lightly toasted, to sprinkle on top!

Method:

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees celsius. Line 12 cupcake holes with cute little cupcake cases!

Combine flour, coconut and sugar in a mixing bowl and make a well in the centre.

In a separate bowl, combine the buttermilk, eggs, coconut essence and melted butter, using a wooden spoon. Pour the mixture into the well and mix until combined (but don't mix too much - the 'less is more' approach works best when it comes to fluffy cupcakes!)

Divide the mixture evenly among the cupcakes cases and bake for 16 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

To make the icing:

Combine the sifted icing sugar and coconut in a mixing bowl.

Add the butter, coconut essence and 1 tbsp of the hot water to the dry ingredients. If, when mixed, the icing does not loosen up to become spreadable, add the other tablespoon of hot water.

Using a spoon, spread a layer of icing over each cooled cupcake, and sprinkle with the toasted coconut.