Snowball {Coconut} Cupcakes

Tis the season! I had a white party this weekend to kick off the holiday season, with a little pre christmas rush get together to eat drink & be merry. I wanted to make coconut cupcakes for a while now! And of course, they fit the white theme! I tried my hand at meringues but they didn’t quite work out (hence the reason I didn’t take a picture of them!) So here’s my recipe for coconut cupcakes. My friends liked them so much they left with a few for the road!

First off I’d like to say that Box is not a four letter word (in fact its three, but it doesn’t have to be a bad word!)

Vanilla Cupcakes:

As I was running around Saturday I needed a quick and easy way to make these, so I started from a {box} and went from there. I made French Vanilla cake mix and I added some extra vanilla (mexican vanilla that my brother brought me back from cancun) and added about 1/2 cup of low fat vanilla yogurt to it. Bake for the time it says, about 17-20 minutes.

Remove from oven and let cool in pan for a few mintues, so they can set before lifting and you wont smoosh them!

Let cool completely on rack.  While they are cooling, you can make the frosting!

Creamy Coconut Frosting:

• 1/4 cup shortening
• 3/4 cup butter, softened
• Icing Sugar, Sifted ( approx. 4 cups)
• 1-2 tbsp. Coconut milk (Sweetened)
• 1 Tsp. Vanilla
• Shredded Sweetened Coconut for Decorating

Directions:

Cream butter and shortening together in mixer on medium speed until creamy and fluffy.

Add 1/2 cup of icing sugar, and then add a tablespoon at a time of the milk, and rest of icing sugar alternating. Mix in vanilla and rest of sugar until you reach the consistency you want. Since you are just going to use these to frost with a spatula, you dont need to worry about it’s consitency for piping.

Once you’ve gotten it to the texture you want, using a small spatula (or back of a spoon) frost the tops of your cupcakes.

After you have all the peaks frosted add about 2 cups of shredded coconut to a small bowl. Dip/Roll the tops of the cupcakes into the coconut, try not to press too hard so they keep their shape. You can also set them on the wire racks with parchment underneath, and sprinkle it on top. Reserve the droppings from the cupcakes and re-use them on the other ones.

& Voila! Some pretty yummy and pretty looking cupcakes for your holiday party! These cute little ones resemble snow balls, but I’m sure you’d rather eat them, than throw them at someone..or maybe youd like to do both! You can make the tops/peaks rounder or bigger depending on the size you want your balls (snow balls that is.)

Happy Holiday Baking!

Enjoy!