Practically Magic...

Baking really is, isn't it? You put such simple ingredients together - butter, eggs, flour - add heat, and hey presto! Something delicious appears! Magic. I think that's what fascinated me so much about baking as a kid - that, or the strong possibility I would get to lick the spatula. Yeah... one of the two...

Anyway, reminiscing aside - it's Cupcake Hero time again! Woo hoo! This month it's being hosted by Sharlene of Small Town Oven, and she has chosen the theme ingredient of... Coconut!

My favourite thing ever with coconut is lime. I do a killer lime and coconut friand, for example. So I decided on lime and coconut, and then of course immediately got that Harry Nilssen song in my head. Oh, you know what I mean: "She put de lime in de coconut, she drank 'em both up..."

And from there, my head immediately goes two places: the Muppets, and that Sandra Bullock/Nicole Kidman movie, Practical Magic. I know, chick flick, right? But one of the few I actually really like. It's fun. And the funnest scene of all is the one where they're all dancing around the kitchen getting roaring drunk on Tequila. So in homage to this scene, I decided there had to be Tequila in the icing.

No, I'm not an alcoholic, I swear.

So here it is: my entry for Cupcake Hero: July (Coconut).

Lime in The Coconut Cupcakes

This is a three parter: there's the coconut cupcake, the gorgeously zingy lime curd filling, and finally the Tequila coconut buttercream. So, literally, the lime in the coconut. :o)

The Lime Curd
Zest & juice of 3 limes (about 100mL juice, maybe a little over)
100g butter
175g sugar
3 eggs

Combine butter, zest, juice and sugar in a saucepan and stir constantly over heat until the butter has melted and the sugar has dissolved. Remove from heat and whisk in eggs. Return to gentle heat and cook, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens, but do not allow it to boil. Allow to cool completely before using.

The Tequila Coconut Buttercream
200mL coconut cream
250g butter
350g icing (confectioner's) sugar
2 tsp Tequila

Put coconut cream into a small saucepan and bring to the boil. Simmer until it has reduced to 100mL. Allow to cool completely.
Cream butter and sugar until very pale and fluffy. Beat in Tequila. Finally, beat in reduced coconut cream, then pipe a beautiful fluffy swirl onto filled cupcakes.

The Cupcakes (recipe adapted from The Essential Guide to Cake Decorating, by Murdoch Books)
125g butter
180gcaster sugar
2 Tbsp coconut liqueur
2 eggs

75g desiccated coconut
1 tsp lime or lemon juice (just for acidity - you shouldn't be able to taste it)
210g SR flour
200mL milk

Cream butter & sugar. Beat in coconut liqueur and then one egg at a time, beating well after each addition. Fold coconut into mixture. Add the lime juice and half the milk and fold through, then half the flour, then the rest of the milk, and finally the rest of the flour. Don't worry if the mixture looks a bit lumpy:


It's because of the coconut.

Spoon mixture into cupcake cases (I got 18), and put in the oven:



Bake at 180 degrees Celsius for 10-15 minutes, or until cakes test clean with a toothpick.

At five minutes mine looked like this:


At ten minutes:

And done at twelve minutes:

Once cakes have cooled, fill with lime curd using the cone method:


And then top with a swirl of Tequila Coconut Buttercream.

Eat. Sing if desired... "Brother bought a coconut, he bought it for a dime, his sister had another one, she paid it for a lime... She put the lime in the coconut, she drank 'em both up, she put the lime in the coconut..."