Coconut Cupcakes

For my first cupcake, I decided to make Coconut Cupcakes using Paula Deen's Coconut cake recipe. My plan was to make these and using Paula's filling on top (which sounded like it was going to soak in, because you poke holes in the cake) - and then ice them with the 7-minute frosting.I had some issues with this cupcake, however.

First off - when making the batter, I opened my can of coconut milk, and it smelled "funny"... not rancid, but just not what I expected, and not sweet at all. Second, I poked holes in all the cupcakes and the filling didn't soak in. So my extra-moist (or so I thought)... weren't - and not anything in the cake to make it taste like coconut. The cake was very airy, light and spongy - but maybe it was best for layer cakes after all.

If I make this again, I would use cream of coconut instead of coconut milk (or a combination of regular milk and cream of coconut). For the filling, I would use less sour cream and maybe some cream of coconut to make it more thin to soak in the cupcake.
The frosting turned out great. I had never made a 7-minute frosting before, and it was much easier than I expected. I also chopped up about 1 cup of flaked coconut into the frosting to have more coconut flavor (which it why it looks lumpy - the frosting was SMOOTH and nice by itself).

Coconut Cake
Source: Paula Deen - FoodNetwork.com

Ingredients

Cake:
2 sticks butter, at room temperature
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
3 cups sifted self-rising flour
1 cup coconut milk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Filling:
3/4 cup sugar
1 cup sour cream
4 tablespoons milk
1/2 cup flaked sweetened coconut (left out for "soaking" into cupcakes)

7-Minute Frosting:
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar or 1 tablespoon white corn syrup
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup water
2 egg whites
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 to 3 cups flaked sweetened coconut

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour 3 (9-inch) cake pans.

Using an electric mixer, cream butter until fluffy. Add sugar and continue to cream well for 6 to 8 minutes. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Add flour and coconut milk alternately to creamed mixture, beginning and ending with flour. Add vanilla and continue to beat until just mixed.

Divide batter equally among prepared pans. Level batter in each pan by holding pan 3 or 4-inches above counter, then dropping it flat onto counter. Do this several times to release air bubbles and assure you of a more level cake.

(NOTE: As cupcakes, I came out with exactly 30, and they baked for about 14-18 minutes - depending on the type of pan)


Filling:

Stir together sugar, sour cream, milk, and coconut in a bowl until well blended. Place the first cake layer onto pedestal. Using the wrong end of a wooden spoon, poke holes approximately 1-inch apart until entire cake has been poked. Spread a third of filling mixture on cake layer. Top with second layer, repeat process. Top with last layer and repeat process again.

Frosting:

Place sugar, cream of tartar or corn syrup, salt, water, and egg whites in the top of a double boiler. Beat with a handheld electric mixer for 1 minute. Place pan over boiling water, being sure that boiling water does not touch the bottom of the top pan. Beat constantly on high speed with electric mixer for 7 minutes. Beat in vanilla. Frost the top and sides of the cake. Sprinkle top and sides of cake with coconut. (NOTE: I added 1 cup flaked coconut, finely chopped to icing after it was complete.)