High Altitude Chocolate Coconut Cupcakes
Soft and moist chocolate cupcakes, filled with homemade coconut milk custard, and frosted with coconut buttercream.
All recipes on Curly Girl Kitchen are developed for high altitude at 5,280 feet. See FAQs for adjusting to higher or lower elevations.
Equipment
- Muffin Pans + Paper Liners
- Stand Mixer with Whisk Attachment
Ingredients
Coconut Custard
- 1 ½ tbsp granulated sugar
- 2 ½ tsp corn starch
- 1 egg yolk
- 7 oz (1/2 can) full-fat unsweetened canned coconut milk
- 2 tsp unsalted butter
- ¼ - ½ tsp coconut extract
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
- ½ cup shredded coconut (either natural or sweetened)
Chocolate Cupcakes
- 1 cup all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
- ¾ cup + 2 tbsp granulated sugar
- 6 tbsp unsweetened, Dutch-processed cocoa powder
- ¼ tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp coarse Kosher salt (if using table salt, use half the amount)
- 2 large eggs
- ½ cup whole milk
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- ½ cup sour cream
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Coconut Buttercream
- 1 cup unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 2 tsp meringue powder
- ⅛ tsp coarse Kosher salt (if using table salt, use half the amount)
- ¾ tsp coconut extract
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 cups shredded coconut (either natural or sweetened)
Instructions
Custard
- In a small saucepan, whisk together the sugar, corn starch and egg yolk until you have a smooth paste. Whisk in the coconut milk.
- Over medium heat, cook the custard, while whisking constantly. Once it starts to boil and thicken, continue to cook for 1 full minute.
- Remove from the heat and stir in the butter, extracts and coconut.
- Transfer to a container, cover and refrigerate until well chilled. You can make the custard up to 2 days in advance.
Cupcakes
- Preheat the oven to 350 F, and line a muffin/cupcake pan with 16 paper liners. Position a rack in the center of the oven.
- In a bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
- Separately, whisk together the eggs, milk, oil, sour cream and vanilla. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and whisk until smooth.
- Use a scant 1/4 cup measuring cup to fill the paper liners about 2/3 full. (If you only have a 12 cup pan, you can let the remaining batter rest while you bake the first batch of cupcakes. Without stirring the batter again, spoon the remaining batter into the pan and bake the second batch.
- Bake the cupcakes until the tops spring back when gently touched, about 15-20 minutes. Check for doneness at 15 minutes.
- Cool the cupcakes in the pan for several minutes, then gently transfer to a cooling rack. Cool completely before filling and frosting.
Buttercream
- In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the butter for 1 minute until smooth.
- With the mixer on low, add the powdered sugar by spoonfuls, the meringue powder and salt, mixing until combined, but clumpy. Add the extracts.
- Increase speed to medium (#6 on a Kitchen Aid), and beat for 4-5 minutes, scraping the bowl occasionally, until light and fluffy. If you need to, add 1-2 tablespoons of milk for desired consistency - this is usually not needed in the summer, but you may need to add milk in the winter when your kitchen is colder.
Assembly
- Use a cupcake corer (or a small paring knife) to remove the centers of the cupcakes.
- Spoon some of the custard into the centers, keeping it level with the top of the cupcakes.
- Pipe or spread a mound of buttercream on top of the cupcake, then gather handfuls of coconut and lightly sprinkle/press it onto the buttercream.
Notes
- Keep cupcakes refrigerated in an airtight container until ready to serve, then let them come to room temperature for about an hour before serving.
- If you have leftover custard, you can make little trifle cups with the custard and the cupcake centers that you removed.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
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