When Maeve made these fancy-looking, winter-appropriate cups of cakey goodness for her husband’s December birthday, Ali declared the recipe too good to be left unshared. We love the snowy look and coconut-y taste of these little pretties. Yet another reason to love the Barefoot Contessa, and snatch up more of her cookbooks.

Ina Garten’s Coconut Cupcakes:

3/4 lb. (3 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 cups sugar
5 extra-large eggs at room temperature
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 teaspoons pure almond extract
3 cups flour (Maeve recommends baking flour for lighter, smoother texture)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup buttermilk
14 ounces sweetened, shredded coconut

For the frosting:
1 lb. cream cheese at room temperature
3/4 lb. (3 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon pure almond extract
1 1/2 lbs. confectioners sugar, sifted

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar on high speed until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. With the mixer on low speed, add the eggs, one at a time, scraping down the bowl after each addition. Add the vanilla and almond extracts and mix well.
In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. In three parts, alternately add the dry ingredients and buttermilk to the batter, beginning and ending with the dry. Mix until just combined. Fold in 7 ounces of coconut.
Line a muffin pan with paper liners. Fill each liner to the top with batter. Bake for 25 to 35 minutes. Remove to a baking rack and cool completely. Meanwhile, make the frosting. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with paddle attachment, on low speed, cream together the cream cheese, butter and vanilla and almond extracts. Add the confectioners sugar and mix until smooth. Frost the cupcakes and sprinkle with the remaining coconut.

Enjoy!

This entry was posted on Monday, January 22nd, 2007 at 2:23 am and is filed under Cupcakes, Recipes. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.