Each month, Ryan Brockington, host of "Living Today," joins Betsy and Brian on "Morning Living" to share his latest and greatest cupcake recipe. In anticipation of the upcoming holiday, B and B (maybe we should just call them BK squared and keep it simple?) challenged Ryan to come up with the most creative and delicious 4th of July cupcake he could imagine. Here are some photos of Ryan's baking process and the recipe is below.
1 Reduced coconut milk
2 Ingredients
3 Fresh out of the oven
4 Topped with a strawberry and umbrella for a festive look
5 Frosted and dusted with coconut
Coconut/Vanilla Bean Cupcakes with Strawberry Coconut Frosting
Ingredients
Reduced coconut milk:
2 13-to-14-ounce cans organic unsweetened coconut milk
Cake:
2 cups unbleached cake flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup unsalted butter
1/2 cup organic apple sauce
1 1/3 cups sugar
3 large eggs
Seeds scraped from 1 split vanilla bean or 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup reduced coconut milk (see above), room temperature
Frosting:
1/2 cup unsalted butter
2 cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup reduced coconut milk (see above), room temperature
The seeds of 1 split vanilla bean
Garnish:
1 1/2 cups toasted organic flaked coconut
24 cleaned, ripe strawberries
Method
1. For the Reduced Coconut Milk: In a large saucepan, bring unsweetened coconut milk to boil, then reduce heat to medium/low for 30 minutes. Let cool completely and transfer into a small bowl. Cover and chill for at least one hour.
2. For the Cupcakes: Preheat to 350 degrees and line or spray two 12-cupcake tins. Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt in medium bowl. Once smooth, mix in butter and sugar on medium-high speed until blended. Add vanilla seeds and eggs and occasionally scrape down sides of bowl. Add one cup of pre-prepped reduced coconut milk and mix just until blended. Once fully mixed, divide batter among muffin cups with ice cream scoop. Bake cupcakes about 20 minutes (ovens vary, test after 18 minutes). Let cool 15 minutes.
3. For the Frosting: In a standing mixer, whisk cut butter while slowly adding sugar, 1/3 cup Reduced Coconut Milk and vanilla seeds. Whisk on medium speed, stopping to scrape down sides of bowl twice, for a total of five minutes. Then increase the speed and beat until fluffy. Using a small icing spatula, frost cupcakes and sprinkle (or roll) with coconut. Garnish with strawberries.
From: Nootsie Brooks | 6/29/11 at 4:33 pm
I am assuming the amount of butter in the batter recipe is 1/4 cup and stick. Please advise if incorrect.
From: Jillian Macdonald | 6/29/11 at 5:24 pm
It calls for a 1/4 cup in the cake batter. Sorry about that!
From: Angela | 6/29/11 at 6:35 pm
I love Ryan! This show is such a step for for this channel, kudos to Martha!
From: Valerie | 7/2/11 at 11:38 am
I made these cupcakes yesterday and I've come to the conclusion, I just can't bake. I can cook, but I can't bake. For me, these turned out like paper weights so I'm hoping I can relay how I made them, and figure out where along the way I went wrong (since this is the second time this has happened to me when baking cupcakes from scratch). It might be worth noting that in most baking recipes, i think you usually cream the butter/sugar (and other wet ingredients first) then add the dry ingredients to the bowl. I noticed the steps in this recipe were in a different order, so I found another cupcake recipe online and followed those steps using the ingredients for this recipe. OK, so here's what I did:
- reduced 2 cans of coconut milk as indicated
- in a standing mixer creamed room temperature butter and sugar then incorporated the 3 eggs (at room temperature, one at a time) and 1/2 cup vegetable oil (I didnt have applesauce and it appears - via my online research - that oil/applesauce can be substituted at a 1:1 ratio) coconut milk and vanilla extract
- in a separate bowl I had sifted the unbleached cake flour, baking powder and salt. Once the wet ingredients were ready, I gradually added the dry ingredients to the wet until combined
- I filled the cupcake liners so they were about 1/2 to 2/3 way full (12 cupcakes per pan) and let cook in a preheated oven at 350 degrees for about 18 minutes
- When done, to let them cool i put them in the fridge and then to cool even faster (since it was late when I was baking and I wanted to frost them sooner) i put them in the freezer. I think I may have done this the last time I attempted baking cupcakes when the also turned out as dense, heavy paperweights, is this where I went wrong? Thinking maybe something happens to the molecules as they cool quickly making them condense? I have no idea.
Anyway, I did end up finishing them with frosting/shredded coconut and they look good, I just know they didnt turn out. Also, aside from my baking screw-up, they only other thing I was disappointed in was that they didnt taste very coconutty at all. I'm thinking I should have substituted coconut extract (if that's even a real thing) with the vanilla. But, maybe at this point I should hold-off on taking any my own initiatives when baking since clearly it doesn't seem to work out for me.
Whew, thanks for reading - hoping someone can give me insight to my little briquettes.