Coconut Cupcakes with Seven-Minute Frosting and Coconut Flakes

Ingredients for Coconut cupcake
Makes 21
* 1 3/4 cake flour
* 2 teaspoons baking powder
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1/2 cup packed sweetened shredded coconut
* 6 ounces (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
* 1 1/3 cups sugar
* 4 large egg whites
* 3/4 cup unsweetened coconut milk
* 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract




Ingredients for Seven-Minute Frosting
Makes about 8 cups
* 1 1/3 cups large-flake unsweetened coconut
* 1 1/2 cups plus 2 tablespoons sugar
* 2/3 cup water
* 2 tablespoons light corn syrup
* 6 large egg whites

Directions: Coconut cupcakes
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners.
2. Whisk dry ingredients in a large bowl. Add sweetened coconut.
3. Cream butter and sugar with a mixer until light and fluffy. Mix dry ingredients alternating with coconut milk and vanilla.
4. Beat egg whites until fluffy, fold batter mixture.
4. Scrape sides of bowl. Divide batter among muffin cups, filling each 2/3 full.
5. Bake cupcakes until testers inserted into centers come out clean, about 20 minutes. Let cool in tins on wire racks. Cupcakes will keep, covered, for up to 3 days, unless otherwise noted.

Directions: Seven-Minute Frosting
1. Mix 1 1/2 cups sugar, the water, and corn syrup in a small saucepan over medium heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, until sugar dissolves. Bring to a boil, and cook until mixture registers 230 degrees on a candy thermometer.
2. Meanwhile, whisk whites with a mixer on medium speed until soft peaks form. With mixer running, add remaining sugar. With mixer on medium-low, pour sugar syrup in a slow, steady stream down side of bowl. Increase speed to medium-high, and whisk until stiff peaks form and mixture is cool, about 7 minutes. Use immediately.

Pineapple Upside Down Cake

Ingredients

Topping:*
1 cup of firmly packed dark brown sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1 can (20 oz) of pineapple slices

Cake:
1 1/2 cups cake flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup of sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter at room temperature
4 large eggs
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup skim milk / pineapple juice

Method

1. Start by making the caramel topping. Take brown sugar and butter and combine and melt in a saucepan on medium heat until sugar dissolves and the mixture is bubbly, this should take several minutes. Pour mixture into a 10 inch diameter stick-free cake pan with 2 inch high sides. Arrange pineapple slices in a single layer on top of the caramel mixture.

2. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Whisk the flours, baking powder, and salt in a large mixing bowl. In a separate bowl, use an electric mixer to beat the sugar and butter together until light. Add eggs one at a time, beating after each addition. Beat in the vanilla. Add dry ingredients alternately with skim milk/pineapple juice, beating well after each addition. Pour cake batter over caramel and pineapple in pan.

3. Bake cake until tester inserted into the center comes out clean, about 1 hour to 1 hour 15 minutes. Cool cake in pan on a rack for 10 minutes. Turn cake out onto a platter. Serve warm or at room temperature.