Coconut Cupcakes with a Tall Crown

For Coconut Cupcakes with a Tall Crown, the counter starts with cake flour, cornstarch, and baking powder. Portion it for 9 people.

Count on 35 minutes of prep, 18 minutes of cooking, about 1 hour from the first measurement to the plate.

Ingredients Method

What goes in the bowl

• 1¾ cups cake flour
• 3 teaspoons cornstarch
• 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
• ¾ teaspoon kosher salt
• ½ cup unsalted butter soft and pliable
• 1 ¼ cups sugar
• 4 egg whites
• ¼ cup sugar for the meringue
• Pinch cream of tartar
• 13 tablespoons coconut milk
• 6 ½ tablespoons sweetened coconut toasted
• Marshmallow Fluff Frosting

How the cooking goes

1. Heat the oven to 325°F, then line 18 cupcake tins with liners.
2. Lay the shredded coconut on a sheet pan lined with baking paper and toast, stirring often, until golden. Remove and cool.
3. Sieve together the cake flour, cornstarch, baking powder, and salt. Keep it to one side.
4. In a electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, begin whisking egg whites with cream of tartar on medium-low speed. Once the egg whites become frothy, slowly add the ¼ cup of sugar. Whip until they reach stiff peaks.
5. Remove the meringue from the mixer bowl and move it onto a clean bowl (or switch to a second mixer bowl if you have one! Lucky!).
6. Put the butter and sugar to the bowl. Switch to the paddle attachment and cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. This will take at least 5 minutes, depending on your mixer. It will also depend on how soft your butter was before mixing. The softer, the faster.
7. With the mixer on low, alternately add the flour mixture and the coconut milk. You never allow the flour mixture to mix in completely before adding the next round. This helps prevent overmixing.
8. Take about ¼ of the meringue and fold it aggressively into the batter. This is called “sacrificing” because you are sacrificing the aeration in the meringue to loosen the batter. Fold through the remaining meringue in 2-3 additions, being careful not to over fold.
9. Once the meringue is completely incorporated into the batter, fold through the toasted coconut. You used sweetened, but you don’t have to.
10. Portion between the lined cupcake tins. You used a medium ice cream scoop, but a spoon works too! They should be about ¾ full.
11. Oven-bake in the preheated oven for 14-18 minutes or until a cake tester or cake tester comes out from the center with only clinging crumbs.
12. Remove from tins and cool until it is no longer warm before frosting.

After it comes off the heat

Let the pan settle before you slice, so the crumb stays together. Cover leftovers once they are cool.

If you want another plate from Cupcakes, open Carrot Cake Cupcakes for a Party Tray and Vanilla Cupcakes with a Tall Crown.