These Coconut Strawberry Cupcakes have a strawberry surprise centre and are topped with a delicious cream cheese frosting. 

Yep, all of that in one little cupcake 🙂 I tried to make the name shorter but then it’d be missing one of the awesome ingredients that go into these little pretties.

So Monday 15th of August was RSPCA cupcake day. One of the ladies at work organised a morning tea to raise some money for it. Thanks Lisa 🙂 What a great morning. We all got into the spirit and made heaps of yummy goodies and then everyone donated some money to tuck in. All donations go to the RSPCA. My contribution to the mix? These Coconut Strawberry Cupcakes.

I had a hard time deciding how to decorate them, after all they had to be amazing so that people would pay to eat them. In the end I went for some crushed up freeze dried strawberries (yum, by the way) and some shards of white chocolate also sprinkled with freeze dried strawberries. It’s amazing how much flavour they have.

The cupcakes are a lovely vanilla cake with shredded coconut and coconut milk added to the mix. They’re soft and fluffy, just like a cupcake should be. The strawberry comes not only in the form of the freeze dried strawberries but also in the strawberry jam surprise centre. And with a topping of cream cheese frosting, they’re just like a mini cheesecake cupcake.

All sunshine and sweetness and luxuriously soft, creamy frosting. So good.

And as for the results of our morning tea ….. we raised over $250 and still growing. Plus, everyone had a great time, to boot. We even had a mascot. A gorgeous, 2 month old, English Staffordshire called Eddie 🙂

I have such a soft spot for all creatures great and small. I’ve had pets in my life for as long as I can remember, and lots of them. We grew up with dogs, cats, rabbits, horses, budgies, quails and chickens and still now I have to have pets in my life. The RSPCA does such an amazing job. I’m really excited to make this morning tea an annual event in our office.

Anyway, it’s time for you to bake some amazing Coconut Strawberry Cupcakes now and don’t forget the yummy cream cheese frosting.

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Coconut Strawberry Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

Prep Time

30 mins

Cook Time

20 mins

Total Time

50 mins

 

These Coconut Strawberry Cupcakes have a strawberry surprise centre and are topped with a delicious cream cheese frosting. 

Course: Afternoon Tea, Dessert, Snack, Sweets

Servings: 12 cupcakes

Author: Marie

Ingredients

For the Coconut Strawberry Cupcakes

• 1/2 cup (115g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
• 1 cup (200g) granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs, room temperature
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups (195g) plain flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/3 cup shredded coconut
• 1/2 cup (125ml) coconut milk
• ½ cup (125ml) milk (or you can use all coconut milk

For the Cream Cheese Frosting

• 1 cup (230g) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 250 g cream cheese
• 3 cups Icing (confectioners / powdered) sugar
• 1 ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
• Pinch of Salt (If using salted butter, omit additional salt)
• 2 tablespoon milk or cream (note 1)

For the topping & filling

• 100 g good quality strawberry jam
• Handful of freezdried strawberries, crushed
• 50 g white chocolate

Instructions

1. For the cupcakes Preheat the oven to 180C. Line 12-count muffin pan with paper liners. Set aside.

2. Using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar together on medium-high speed in a large bowl until light and creamy. About 2-3 minutes. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl a few times as you go. 

3. Add eggs 1 at a time until fully incorporated and then the vanilla. Make sure to keep scraping the sides of the bowl as required.

4. In a separate bowl, toss together the flour, baking powder, salt and coconut. Add a third of the flour mix to the wet mix and gently mix together until just mixed through, add half of the milk/s. Continue until all flour and milk/s are mixed through. Be careful not to overmix at this stage as that will make your cupcakes dense. 

5. Spoon batter evenly into 12 cupcake liners. Bake for about 20 minutes. Check at 18 minutes, then again at 20. A toothpick inserted in the middle will come out with just a couple of crumbs clinging to it. Cool for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack, then cool completely before filling & frosting.

6. Once cooled, use a knife or cupcake holer to cut roughly a 1 inch hold in the top centre of the cupcake. Fill the hole with the strawberry jam. Plugging it with an off-cut of the cake will mean less chance of getting messy when you frost the cupcakes but is not necessary.

Cream Cheese Frosting

1. In a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, beat butter and ½ cup of the icing sugar until light and creamy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the cream cheese and beat well until thick and creamy. Scrape down the bowl again. 

2. Add the vanilla and salt and beat through. Add the sugar ½ cup at a time and beat well after each addition. Add the milk or cream and beat for a final couple of minutes. The mixture should be pale and creamy. Pipe onto cooled cupcakes.

For the White Chocolate topping

1. Line a baking tray with baking paper. Melt the white chocolate and spread in a thin layer onto the baking paper. Sprinkle over the crushed freeze dried strawberries and place in the fridge until set. Once set, break into shards and use to top your cupcakes.

Recipe Notes

1. I use a standard Australian 20ml tablespoon (equiv. 4 teaspoons worldwide)