Strawberry Cupcakes with Coconut Frosting

A cupcake that is.  I've recently made Fresh Strawberry Cupcakes with Coconut Frosting from Jessica's blog, How Sweet It Is.  I made a few changes, but this was the easiest cupcake recipe I've ever made.  And they were so delicious.  It tastes like summer.  Really.  The recipe makes 12 cupcakes.  (I think from what I made, it could have been 15.)

Fresh Strawberry Cupcakes:

• 1 cup sugar 
• 1/2 cup butter
• 2 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/4 cup chopped strawberries
• 1/4 teaspoon red food coloring
• 1-2 tablespoons milk, if needed

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Beat butter and sugar together in the bowl of an electric mixer until fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. Add eggs and vanilla extract and mix until combined. Add flour, baking powder and salt with the mixer on low speed, then gradually increase speed. Add in chopped strawberries and beat on medium speed until the strawberries break down, about 1-2 minutes. At this point, the strawberries most likely have enough liquid that you don’t need to add any milk to the batter. Add food coloring and mix until desired pink/red.  If you batter seems dry and is not like typical cake batter, then add milk 1-2 tablespoons at a time, beating until incorporated.

Pour into cupcake liners, filling 2/3 of the way full, and bake for 20-25 minutes or until cake is set. Let cool, then frost.

Coconut Frosting:

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 2 1/2 cups powdered sugar + more if needed
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon of coconut extract
• 1 tablespoon of lite coconut milk

Cream butter in the bowl of an electric mixture until completely smooth and creamy. With the mixer on low speed, add in powdered sugar slowly. Gradually increase mixer speed and add vanilla and coconut extracts, then beat for 2-3 minutes, scraping down sides and bottom of the bowl. If frosting is too thick, add coconut milk.  If it’s too thin, add powdered sugar gradually until it thickens.

I made a few changes to her original recipe.  Her's called for shredded coconut to be folded into the frosting.  No one in my house is a big fan of shredded coconut (especially not me), so I left that out.  It was actually by fate that I was able to make the frosting anyway.  I was going to just make plain vanilla since I didn't go shopping before starting this adventure, but we happened to have coconut extract and coconut milk.  This frosting was probably the best frosting I've ever had!

I didn't have to use milk in the batter, but I did fill the cupcake liners a little too full, so they capped again (like the carrot cupcakes), so I probably could have made 15 cupcakes that would have just had a nice dome shape on top.

Bake these cupcakes immediately.  They are so yummy.

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