Coconut cupcakes with Lemon Frosting

So last weekend was the daughters birthday. Most likely the last one she will be living at home for. I decided to make something different with a lot of flavor, so I made up coconut cupcakes with lemon frosting.

Start by creaming together 1 cup of butter, 2 cups of sugar and 4 eggs. Add eggs one at a time.

In a separate bowl combine 3 cups of all purpose flour, 1/2 tsp. salt and 2 tsp. baking powder. In a measuring cup pour 3/4 cup of milk and 1-2 tsp. coconut extract (I used 1/2 cup whole milk and 1/4 cup buttermilk). Alternate between the dry ingredients and wet and mix into butter and sugar mixture. If the cake mix is a little too thick for your liking you can add up to another 1/4 milk or buttermilk.

Fold into cake batter roughly one cup of toasted coconut. I used sweetened shredded coconut that I toasted on a parchment lined cookie sheet in a 350 degree oven.

We did cupcakes. I love the stuff in this Etsy shop

I baked the cupcakes in a 350 degree oven for about 20 minutes.

Just waiting for the frosting.

The lemon frosting was a cinch. Combine in a bowl 1 cup very soft butter, 5 1/2 cups powdered sugar, 1 tablespoon lemon zest, 4 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1-2 tablespoons heavy whipping cream, for desired consistency

The final touch was a little coconut sprinkled on top. Perfection.

I halved the cake recipe and frosting recipe for this occasion and it still made 14 regular sized cupcakes and the halved frosting recipe covered them perfectly with just enough left over in the bowl for me to taste.

Busy Weekend

I was sooo busy last weekend I didn't have time to blog... I hope you can forgive me. We had a couple nice days and things just had to get done and bike rides had to happen. Plus I had a huge side job that I was on a mission to get at least half done...and I did.

Saturday I had decided Friday night that I needed to reduce the amount of containers in my freezer so I could reuse the containers for something else and so I could locate the North Pole (o.k. kidding). I had a few partially full, frozen quart containers of some interesting looking brown sauces (you know the mystery gravy that you are not sure when you had it, or one hundred percent sure of it's origin). So after thawing and really close inspection Saturday morning I determined, and that they were not some horrible lab experiment (kitchen mistake) gone wrong I decided they were beef in origin and most likely safe for human consumption. I made beef stew using the gravies as the base for the stew... It turned out amazing. Plus as a bonus I got to use my brand new shiny crock-pot. Thanks again sweetie! So I guess the moral of this portion is: Don't be afraid of things in the freezer that time has forgotten (unless moving or breathing)...experiment.

Sunday I did reuse my containers on Sunday morning. I made my homemade Spaghetti Sauce, but I made enough to last somewhere around 4 months. I simply make a quadruple batch of my sauce and cook it til it is almost done. Then I shut off the burner let the sauce cool. After the sauce has cooled completely I put equal amounts into clean plastic quart containers and put in my freezer for later use. This works perfectly on those weeknights when your mind draws a blank and the only thing your capable of is heating up food and boiling water (I know this isn't just me everyone goes through this). So pour the thawed sauce into a sauce pot and bring it to a simmer, add a 14 oz. can of diced tomatoes, maybe some more spices...whatever. Let it simmer for an hour to get the full flavor, boil some water for pasta and you have dinner. If you manage to have a green salad and some crusty bread well then you have a feast. Open a bottle of wine invite a friend over and they will think you spent all day on this.

Back to Saturday While my stew was blurbing (should be a word) away on the side counter I decided that I needed cake and not just any cake but a Toasted Coconut Pound Cake My daughter had suggested this pin to me so I took a look at the recipe a month back and honestly it has been haunting me ever since, so Saturday was the day to make this cake. I followed the directions to the letter except I added coconut flavoring instead of vanilla, and I used some salted butter. I think next time (and there will be a next time) it might be fun to add a little rum extract and some finely chopped and toasted almonds along with the toasted coconut. It was amazing. I had one piece and sent the rest away. Seriously I don't need those calories lingering around the next day when I am back on my calorie counting week...haha.

Saturday afternoon and evening I also put together some of my Artisan Bread (October 5th 2013 blog) for dinner on Sunday and some of my Cajun biscuits for the stew Saturday night (September 27th 2013 blog). So besides the baking, cooking, cleaning, shopping, side project and bike ride on Sunday I think I had a pretty full weekend. As usual the weekend was too short and on Tuesday I thought it was Wednesday...which means it has been a long week so far.

I hope one and all had great weekends last weekend and are looking forward to the weekend just around the corner. Me I plan on going to my favorite kitchen shop and using the coupon I just noticed in yesterday's mail...I see a shiny new cheese knife in my future along with maybe some cake decorating supplies. Carpe diem!