High Altitude Coconut Caramel Cupcakes
A high altitude recipe for soft and fluffy coconut cupcakes, filled with sweet caramel sauce and frosted with coconut cream cheese 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
- Stand Mixer with Paddle Attachment
- 2 Standard Muffin Pans with 12 Cups
Ingredients
Cupcakes
- 1 ¾ cups cake flour, fluffed, spooned and leveled
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 1 ½ tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp coarse Kosher salt (if using table salt, use half the amount)
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- ¾ cup unsweetened full fat canned coconut milk (if the cream and water is separated, whisk it together first, before adding to the cake)
- ¼ cup unsalted butter, melted
- ¼ cup vegetable oil
- 1 ½ tsp vanilla extract
- ½ tsp coconut extract
- ½ cup unsweetened coconut flakes
- ¾ cup caramel sauce, optional, for filling
Buttercream
- ½ cup (4 oz) full fat cream cheese, cold
- ½ cup unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 2 ½ - 3 cups powdered sugar
- 1 tbsp meringue powder
- 1 tbsp corn starch
- ¼ tsp coarse Kosher salt (if using table salt, use half the amount)
- 1 ½ tsp vanilla extract
- ½ tsp coconut extract
- 1 cup 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.
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