Coconut Cupcakes with Salted Caramel Frosting
Cupcake Notes:
- 5 large eggs + 1 yolk =5 extra large eggs
- I used butter flavored and coconut flavored extracts instead of vanilla & almond. It was very tasty and the butter complimented the caramel frosting nicely.
- Do not beat the butter & sugar on high for 5 minutes. This adds way too much volume and instead of the 18-20 piece yield, this recipe made 24 full size & 24 mini cupcakes. Most of the cupcakes had flat, wide tops that required trimming to neaten up spillover.
Frosting Notes:
- Don’t add sea salt to the caramel. If using salted butter, it should be enough. Adjust within final product if needed.
- Pop the caramel in the fridge or freezer to cool thoroughly while prepping the meringue. I didn’t do this and the caramel addition melted my frosting. To rectify, I popped the whole bowl in the freezer for 15-20 minutes and then re-whipped to add volume after the mixture was cool and the butter firmed back up.
- I added a touch of rum extract to the frosting and it didn’t seem noticable.
Carrot Cake Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting
Cupcake Notes:
- This was too fluffy and cakey for my taste. I like carrot cake very dense and moist. My favorite thus far is the Betty Crocker recipe, but I tested this because I wanted the additions of pineapple, coconut and raisins. I did not use the nuts. I would consider using the BC recipe and simply adding the extras and tweaking a bit on my next attempt.
Frosting Notes:
- I used 1 brick fat free and 1 brick neufchatel cream cheese. Didn’t make a super notable difference in taste or texture.
- It’s an OK recipe, but I think I’d add less sugar next time, and possibly some cinnamon and lemon or orange zest to perk up the flavor.
