Easy Coconut Cream Cupcakes with Whipped Cream Frosting (2024)

Prep Time10 minutes mins

Cook Time16 minutes mins

Dry Ingredients

• 200 grams (1 ½ cups) All-Purpose Flour (I use Gold Medal)
• 1 ½ teaspoons Baking Powder
• 1 teaspoon Baking Soda
• ¾ teaspoon Salt
• 2 Tablespoons Instant Clearjel (A bakery ingredient you can use at home--see Note #1. Please make sure your clearjel is labeled as "Instant")
• 200 grams (1 cup) Sugar

Wet Ingredients

• 1 large Egg
• 2 Egg Whites
• ¾ cup Buttermilk
• ¼ cup Water
• ¾ cup(s) Vegetable Oil
• 1 Tablespoon Pure Coconut Extract (I use Olive Nation)
• 1 ½ teaspoon Vanilla Extract
• ¾ teaspoon Almond Extract

Other Cake Ingredients

• ¾ stick(s) (3 oz) Salted Butter
• 1 to 1 ¼ cup Cream of Coconut, stirred or shaken until smooth (Not to be confused with coconut cream. Cream of Coconut is sweetened and often found in the beverage mixer aisle. See Note #2.)

Stabilized Vanilla Whipped Cream

• 2 cups Heavy Whipping Cream
• 1 ½ teaspoons Pure Vanilla Extract
• 1 ½ teaspoon Pure Coconut Extract (I use Olive Nation)
• 75 grams (⅔ cup) powdered sugar
• 1 Tablespoon Instant Clearjel (A bakery ingredient you can use at home--see Note #1. Please make sure your clearjel is labeled as "Instant")

Topping

• 2 cups Unsweetened desiccated Coconut flakes, Coconut Chips, or shredded coconut, divided (I use Olive Nation Desiccated Coconut. See Note #3.)

Make Coconut Cream Cupcakes

• Preheat oven to 335 degrees. Fill cupcake tins with 17 cupcake liners.

• Using a sifter or fine mesh strainer, sift the Dry Ingredients into a large bowl. Whisk the sifted ingredients until well blended.

• Combine Wet Ingredients in a separate large bowl and whisk until smooth and well-blended.

• Melt salted butter in the microwave (or over the stove) until just melted. Avoid overcooking.

• Pour Wet Ingredients into Dry Ingredients and whisk until incorporated. Pour Melted Salted Butter over batter and whisk until smooth and shiny.

• Using a 2-oz scoop or ¼ cup measuring cup, scoop batter into prepared cupcake tins. Allow tins to set for 5 minutes before putting them in the oven. This will give time for the instant clearjel to thicken the cake batter before it bakes, allowing for a better rise.

• Bake in the middle or top rack (avoid bottom rack) of the preheated 325-degree oven for 8 minutes. Without opening the oven, turn the temperature down to 300 degrees and bake for another 6-8 minutes. The cupcakes are done when a toothpick or small paring knife comes out mostly clean when quickly stuck in the cupcakes. Because these cupcakes are so moist, it is okay to see a couple of moist crumbs on your knife when you check the finished product for doneness. But any wet-looking crumbs mean they need more time in the oven.

• With a sharp paring knife, repeatedly poke the hot baked cupcakes all the way through to the bottom of the cupcakes. Poke each cupcake with cuts ¼ inch to ½ inch apart (I recommend watching therecipe video). Spoon or squeeze (if you are using cream of coconut in a squeeze bottle) a total of 1 Tablespoon Cream of Coconut on top of each cupcake while they are still warm, which will soak into the cupcakes. I find it the least messy to start by squeezing ½ Tablespoon Cream of Coconut mostly in the middle of each cupcake, then slowly and carefully spreading it with a silicone pastry brush over the cupcake. After it's melted into the cupcake, I'll go back to add an additional ½ Tablespoon Cream of Coconut on top of each cupcake, and then spread that in. By dividing it up, each cupcake will get the correct amount of Cream of Coconut with less drizzling down the sides of the cupcake liner.

• If you are frosting and serving them the next day, wrap the cupcakes in the cupcake tin and leave at room temperature overnight. You may also freeze the unfrosted cupcakes wrapped tightly in the cupcake tin up to a week in advance and they will stay very moist.

Make Stabilized Whipped Cream Frosting

• Whisk thePowdered SugarandInstant Clearjeltogether. (Instant Clearjel must always be whisked with dry ingredients before adding to liquid to avoid clumping).

• Using a whip attachment and a stand mixer (preferred) or handheld mixer, whip theHeavy Cream, Pure Vanilla, and Pure Coconut Extractuntil stiff peaks form.

• Turn the mixer on low, and slowly add in thePowdered Sugar/ Instant Clearjel mixtureuntil incorporated. The Instant Clearjel will thicken the whipped cream instantly, which is why we want to make sure the whipped cream is nicely whipped and fluffy before we add in our thickener. Refrigerate until using.

Make Toasted Coconut

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

• Spread one cup of coconut flakes onto a sheet pan lined with parchment paper. Bake in the preheated 350 degree oven for around 2 minutes, or until just lightly golden around the edges. (Baking time will vary based on your oven and the thickness of the coconut. Watch towards the end of baking to avoid over-browning).

• Add one additional cup of untoasted coconut flakes and mix until blended. (I prefer the look and texture of toasted and untoasted coconut mixed together, but you can use all toasted or all untoasted if you prefer). Allow to cool.

Decorate and Serve

• I like to use 18" disposable pastry bags and a Round Cupcake Tip to pipe a medium-sized swirl of whipped cream on top of each cupcake. Gently rotate each cupcake and press the cooled coconut flakes into the whipped cream (as seen in the recipe video).

• Serve immediately or refrigerate until serving. Enjoy!