Monday, April 30, 2012

Coconut And Chocolate Chunk Cupcakes / Muffins? - For SRC



As another hot month whizzes by its already time for another SRC post! This time around Nicole's The Daily Dish Recipes . Meet the super busy mother to five kids, who dabbles in DIY, home-improvement projects and photography part from blogging. Can imagine what a busy life she must lead, kudos! While I can barely manage my kids, barely been able to feed my blog the last couple of months, no prizes for guessing this really short post is being written at the last moment ( I procrastinate to a certain extent, but rarely this much!).


Many yummilicious desserts, food and bakes on Nicole's blog, I chose to make these simple cupcakes (just a couple of days ago, almost last-minute again!)  I have so begun to love brownies, but I had to stop myself from baking  Dorie Greenspan's QuintupleChocolate Brownies and bake something else.. cupcakes? Yes, been seriously long since I baked some. Coconut cupcakes, why not? Now that my baking goodies will arrive with sis-in-law who will be visiting soon, I can afford to spend some of the coconut extract! Reading through the recipe, it sounded faintly familiar. The Pistachio Hot Milk Sponge I had baked earlier!


 Cupcakes or muffins? While I am aware that these are two different things, am no baking geek and I really don't know what to call these! Cupcakes are supposed to be cakes in miniature and muffins are mini quick breads.  These little things have very little fat but in the form of butter yet are light textured, quite soft and spongy ,almost like a cake, sans the richness factor (without the topping).


Recipe from here. The recipe proportions on Nicole's blog will yield a substantial number of cupcakes (at least 32 at a guess) But since we are currently over-loaded with goodies from visiting grand parents and the frequent holiday eat-outs, I have made a tiny batch with a quarter of the recipe. I have also reduced the sugar and skipped the topping. Do double for more.

Ingredients:( To make about 8 small cupcakes)

All Purpose Flour - 1/2 Cup 
Baking powder - 1/2 teaspoon
Caster sugar - 5 tablespoons 
Unsalted Butter - 1 tablespoon
Eggs - 1
Milk - 1/4 cup
Coconut extract - 1/4 teaspoon
Dessicated Coconut / coconut powder - 1 tablespoon
Dark chocolate chunks - 3 tablespoons (optional)
Unsweetened coconut flakes - 2-3 tablespoons for topping

Procedure: Pre heat oven to 180 degrees C / 375 degrees F. Line a muffin tray with paper liners.
Sieve the flour and baking powder twice, stir in the dessicated coconut. Keep aside. Heat the milk in a saucepan, add the butter to it. Cover to keep it hot.
In a medium sized bowl, beat the egg till thick, about 2 minutes on medium high speed with a hand mixer. Add the sugar and beat for 5 minutes on medium high speed. Mix in the coconut extract. Fold in the flour mixture. Gently stir in the hot milk mixture into the batter. (In case, the milk is no longer hot, heat it again) Stir it into the batter gently. Fill the liners about 2/3 full. Bake for 15-18 minutes or till a wooden skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean. Do not over bake. The cupcakes will brown lightly around the edges and turn a light golden on top. Cool the cupcakes on a wire rack.

Eat them as is or with a topping of flaked coconut, brown sugar, butter and cream as Nicole does. 

Please note : Dessicated coconut here is the very fine almost powdery kind of dried coconut. If you add more of it your batter will be firmer and probably the cakes dry. Use good quality coconut extract and in a small quantity or the smell can be quite over-powering and unpleasant. Try using crushed cardamom and omit the chocolate, then you may wish to add a tablespoon more of sugar. The procedure for preparing the batter is slightly different on Nicole's blog, I have made the cupcakes the same way as I have made pistachio hot milk sponge.






18 comments:

The Double Dipped Life said...

Coconut? Yes, please! These look fabulous!

Carrie B said...

YUMMM I love anything with coconut. Looks amazing!

Kirstin said...

YUM! and I love the wrappers

Jocelyn said...

Right now I am in love with all things coconut!!! These sound great paired with the chocolate chunks!!!

Dorothy at Shockinglydelicious said...

I’m visiting from Group D, and love what you did this month! Beautiful (AND delicious, I’m sure)!

Nicole @ The Daily Dish said...

I'm so glad you made these. I love your twist with the added chocolate - I thought about that too late when I made them the first time (so we improvised and after baking them and photographing them we melted chocolate and drizzled it over the tops.) I will remake these again using your addition of chocolate chips... and yeah we wound up with about 30 cupcakes total.

Cooking Rookie said...

They look so delicate and adorable :-). Great pick for SRC!

Melissa said...

These look delicious! Muffin or cupcake...I'd still eat them for breakfast!

Kelsey said...

Hmm, yes cupcakes or muffins? That is the question. These sound delicious either way!

Kelley @ The Culinary Enthusiast said...

I love coconut anything! And I hear ya on the procrastination. I was bad this month too! :)

Priya Suresh said...

Fantastic bakes,super inviting.

dena @ohyoucook said...

I could eat the photos!

amy @ fearless homemaker said...

coconut + chocolate are one of my favorite flavor combinations + these sound just divine. lovely pictures, too! i'll definitely have to try 'em soon. unless you want to deliver a dozen or so to me, that is! =)

amy @ fearless homemaker said...

coconut + chocolate are one of my favorite flavor combinations + these sound just divine. lovely pictures, too! i'll definitely have to try 'em soon. unless you want to deliver a dozen or so to me, that is! =)

Shoba Shrinivasan said...

Coconut and anything and I am agoner. First time on your page and I loved the post I saw...

Shobha

Rituparna said...

Love the look of those muffins. Coconut & chocolate. what a delicious combo those must have made.

lubnakarim06 said...

Coconut and chocolate are made for each other combo....muffins looks delectable....

Nisha said...

They look great.
I've fallen in love with the aroma of coconut lately!