coconut cupcakes with coconut butter cream

I picked up a coconut at H&W on a whim and contemplated its arrival for a few days. I thought about utilizing it in a savory dish (coconut breaded chicken, thai curry), but the sweet side of life won again!

A good coconut will show no mold or dampness around the 'eyes' and should sound full of liquid when you shake it. Pretty simple rules to follow. If you google, how to crack a coconut, you'll find a few different techniques. The two most common, (1) drill the eyes, drain and bake for 20 minutes, or (2) hit with the back of a heavy knife or hammer. I opted for choice 2, as I wanted some smashy smashy.

The outside shell came off with ease. Once free, I gave another quick whack and broke the interior open over a bowl (to catch the coconut water). I used my vegetable peeler to skin the meat, and grated it in my food processor.

I popped open my cookbook collection, and along with a google search found one big theme. Seems that most people use coconut for the famous coconut cake. But I didn't want to eat cake! So I decided to have a go at some cupcakes.

To create an even more over the top flavor, I used fresh coconut and coconut milk in the cupcake and icing.

The cupcakes were nice. The texture was good, icing was right up my 'sweetness alley', and the fresh coconut was a great touch. It's chewier texture was a welcome change to the store bought version.

Maybe I'll have a go at that cake one day. I seem to remember Alton Brown doing a whole episode on coconut cake....