High Altitude Coconut Caramel Cupcakes

Soft and fluffy, high altitude coconut cupcakes, filled with sweet caramel sauce and frosted with coconut cream cheese buttercream. These coconut caramel cupcakes are so moist and flavorful, made with rich and creamy coconut milk. The coconut and caramel makes a luscious combination that you’ll just love.

You might also love these high altitude recipes for Italian cream cake (coconut pecan cake), strawberry coconut cake, and coconut cream pie.

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Why You’ll Love This Recipe

So Much Coconut Flavor. With rich, creamy coconut milk in the cupcakes, as well as a little coconut extract and crunchy coconut flakes, these coconut cupcakes have the dreamiest flavor.

Soft, Moist and Fluffy. I based these cupcakes on my popular high altitude vanilla cupcakes recipe, which have the best soft and fluffy texture.

Perfect for Easter. When it comes to Easter baking, coconut cake and carrot cake are my go to desserts. These cupcakes would look lovely topped with little edible birds nests filled with Cadbury mini eggs.

Quick and Easy to Make. The cupcake batter comes together fast, with just a bowl and whisk.

High Altitude Tested. I develop all the recipes on my site for Denver’s altitude of 5,280 feet. If you’re at a lower or higher elevation, please see my FAQs for guidance on adjusting recipes for your altitude.

See the recipe card at the end of the post for the full ingredients list and instructions.

Ingredients

Cupcakes

• Cake Flour. With a lower percentage of protein than all-purpose cake, cake flour is ideal for white cakes and coconut cakes, making a lighter, fluffier, more tender cake.
• Granulated Sugar. Sweetness and moisture.
• Baking Powder. Leavens the cake and makes it rise.
• Salt. Balances the sweetness. I use coarse Kosher salt in all my baking.
• Eggs. Add structure and moisture.
• Coconut Milk. Use canned, unsweetened coconut milk from the ethnic food aisle, not the coconut milk that you can find in the dairy section. If the cream has separated from the water in the can, be sure to whisk it together first, before adding it to the cake batter.
• Butter + Oil. The butter adds moisture and a rich, buttery flavor, while oil keeps the cupcakes soft and moist.
• Vanilla + Coconut Extracts. Flavor.
• Natural Unsweetened Coconut Flakes. To decorate your cake, you’ll be covering the frosting with coconut. It’s such an easy, but beautiful way to decorate coconut cupcakes. This is my favorite natural unsweetened coconut to use. It’s so much tastier than sweetened shredded coconut, and looks much prettier, too.
• Caramel Sauce. To fill my cupcakes, I used some of this Trader Joe’s Fleur de Sel Caramel Sauce.

Buttercream

• Cream Cheese + Butter. For a more stable cream cheese frosting, use a combination of cream cheese and butter. If you use just cream cheese, the frosting will be softer and harder to manage.
• Powdered Sugar. Sweetens and thickens the buttercream.
• Meringue Powder. Adds stability and improves the texture.
• Corn Starch. Helps to thicken and stabilize the cream cheese.
• Salt. Balances the sweetness.
• Vanilla + Coconut Extracts. Flavor.
• Natural Unsweetened Coconut Flakes.

Instructions

Cupcakes

• Preheat the oven to 350 F, and position a rack in the center of the oven. Line your muffin pan/s with 14 paper liners.
• In a bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.
• Separately, whisk together the eggs, coconut milk, melted butter, oil, vanilla and coconut extract. Add the liquid ingredients to the dry, and whisk just until combined.
• Fold in the coconut.

• Use a 1/4 cup measuring cup to spoon the cake batter into the prepared pan, filling each cup about 2/3 – 3/4 full.
• Bake the cupcakes for about 18-20 minutes, until the tops spring back when gently touched, or a toothpick comes out clean.

• Cool the cupcakes in the pan for several minutes, then gently transfer to a cooling rack. Cover the cupcakes with a clean kitchen towel and cool completely before filling and frosting.
• If filling with caramel sauce, use a cupcake corer to remove the centers of the cooled cupcakes. Spoon the caramel sauce into the centers of the cupcakes before frosting.

Buttercream

• In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the cream cheese and butter for several minutes until smooth.
• In a separate bowl, combine the powdered sugar, meringue powder, corn starch and salt. With the mixer on low, add the powdered sugar mixture by spoonfuls.
• Add the vanilla and coconut extracts, and increase the speed to medium. Whip the buttercream for 4-5 minutes until fluffy. If it’s too thin, add a little more powdered sugar. If it’s too thick, add some milk, 1 tablespoon at a time.
• Spread or pipe the buttercream onto the cupcakes.
• Press the coconut flakes all over the buttercream.

Recipe Variations

Coconut Custard Filling. These chocolate coconut cupcakes are filled with homemade coconut custard, which is just dreamy. This filling would also be great for today’s recipe.

Chocolate Filling. Dark chocolate ganache filling inside the coconut cake would be fabulous.

Jam or Lemon Curd. Any type of jam or lemon curd makes a delicious cupcake filling. Blueberry, blackberry, raspberry or apricot jam would all be great options.

These coconut cupcakes are also great without any filling! The next photo shows an unfilled cupcake, so you can see the soft, fluffy texture of the coconut cake.

Be sure to read all of my BAKING FAQs where I discuss ingredients, substitutions and common questions with cake making, so that you can be successful in your own baking! I also suggest reading these comprehensive posts on making Perfect American Buttercream, How to Stack, Fill, Crumb Coat and Frost Layer Cakes and How to Use Piping Bags.

Frequently Asked Questions

How should I store the leftover cupcakes?

Keep the cupcakes in an airtight container for up to 3 days. Since they have cream cheese frosting, you should keep them refrigerated, but let them come to room temperature before serving.

Can I use a carton of coconut milk from the dairy aisle instead of canned coconut milk?

No. The fat content is quite different between these two products, and they are not interchangeable in baking.

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