Coconut Buttermilk Cupcakes

I was trying to think of some kind of pudding/cake thing that would go with curry and this is what I came up with. I admit the coconut is a tenuous link to Indian cuisine, but we all know this was just an excuse to have cake with curry.

Ingredients

175g golden caster sugar

75g butter

3 eggs

½ tsp vanilla extract

175g self-raising flour

Pinch salt

1 ½tsp baking powder

50g desiccated coconut

100ml buttermilk

To decorate

Butter

Splash double cream

Icing sugar

Vanilla extract

Strawberry jam

Desiccated coconut

Preheat the oven to 180⁰C. This mixture made 16 large cupcakes, but would easily stretch to 24 if you made them smaller. Prepare your trays with cases- went for the strawberry pattern ones from Lakeland this time.

In a large mixing bowl whisk together the sugar and butter until creamy using an electric hand-held whisk.

Add the eggs and the vanilla extract and whisk again.

Sift in the flour, baking powder and salt and gently mix again to combine everything.

Add the coconut and stir in using a spatula.

Finally pour in the buttermilk, and stir in until combined.

Spoon large dollops into each case and bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes, or until golden brown on top and springy to the touch. Leave to cool on a wire rack.

Once the cakes have cooled make the icing. Cream a large knob of butter. Sift in some icing sugar. Splash some double cream in and mix. Add a drop of vanilla extract, a handful of coconut and more icing sugar until it’s reached the consistency where it will hold its shape.

Using a small sharp knife cut a circle in the middle of the cupcake.

Fill the hole with jam.

Cover the whole cupcake with a generous amount of icing.

Sprinkle with coconut to finish.

If you have any icing left over at the end you can mix it with the discarded bits of cake to make some cake pop filling that you can freeze for when you need it. (Or just eat it like we did).

Laaavely. I’d say these are best eaten on the day, with a cup of tea- obviously.