Bounty Inspired Cupcakes

I'm a bit of a late bloomer when it comes to the cupcake craze. It was really only this time last year that I started to cotton on and now my book shelf positively groans from the weight of the cupcake recipe books that live there. It would be fair to say that I've been playing catch up ever since, my favourite to date is Mint Choc Chip (but I've had to promise my hips and thighs not to make them any more) and Hubby's is Banana Caramel, no surprises there.

Despite my often frenetic cupcake making sessions it is a very rare occasion when they actually make it through to the icing stage. Usually they get picked off one by one from the cooling rack until there is all of three left. When this happens there is very little point in making an entire batch of cream cheese frosting or butter icing (eating these things straight from the bowl is also against the rules of my hips and thighs promise).

So the long and short of this is story is that tonight's creation is rare on two counts, they survived long enough to be iced!

Last nights dinner (a really yummy Thai Sweet Potato Soup) required the opening of a tin of coconut milk, and then had the cheek to only need 125ml! What do you do with pretty much an entire tin of coconut milk? Coconut cake seemed to return the most hits on google and then I stumbled onto Bakespace and a recipe for Coconut Cupcakes, a few tweaks later and I am pleased to introduce ... fanfare ... Bounty Cupcakes!

Bounty Cupcakes

170g unsalted butter, at room temp

1 1/4 cups caster sugar

3 eggs, at room temp

1 cup coconut milk (make sure it is well shaken)

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 1/4 cups SR flour

A pinch salt

1/2 cup dessicated coconut

250g milk chocolate, melted

Preheat oven to 180C.

Cream the butter until light and fluffy. Add sugar and cream until light and fluffy, again scrapping down the sides halfway through to ensure even mixing.

Add the eggs, one at a time, beating for 30 seconds each to ensure mixing. Be sure to scrap down the sides and bottom every once and a while.

Combine the flour and salt in one bowl. In another add the coconut milk and the vanilla.

Add 1/3 of the dry ingredients and mix, then add 1/2 of the wet ingredients. Continue alternating with the wet and dry mixtures, ending with the dry. Turn off the mixer once ingredients are just combined.

Fold in the coconut.

Scoop into cupcake papers and bake for 18-22 mins, rotating the pan halfway through if needed. Transfer to a wire rack to cool. Meanwhile, melt chocolate in a double boiler and use to ice cupcakes once they are cool.

Makes 27

Adapted from Bakespace

The original recipe was supposed to make 20 cupcakes. I over filled my first 24 cupcakes and still had enough to make another 3 before the batter was all gone!