These vegan coconut ice cupcakes are perfect little party cakes for someone who loves coconut: a light coconut sponge with a coconut frosting, sprinkled with a bit more coconut for good measure.
The coconut added to the sponge is blitzed in a grinder or mini processor first, with the result that the cake is very soft, with a smoother texture than an ordinary coconut sponge.
Because desiccated coconut is naturally quite high in fat, this recipe uses less oil than you might expect. The jury still seems to be out on whether coconut oil itself is, on balance, quite good for you or really bad for you. In case you’re aiming for moderation, each of these cupcakes contains around 5g of fat from coconut overall (if my calculations are right) and the same amount from olive oil.
The reason for using coconut oil in the frosting is that it sets firm, reminiscent of coconut ice. I did experiment with hibiscus tea to produce a traditional pink and white effect, but coconut oil, or at least the extra virgin variety I’ve been using, turns out to be alkaline and the resulting frosting was a curious muted lilac-grey colour – more suggestive of Miss Havisham’s drawing room than an old-fashioned sweet shop.
The recipe will produce sixteen cakes. The pictured cakes were made in muffin cases, though. If you use the smaller cupcake cases, it will probably produce around twenty-four.
Coconut ice cupcakes…
Ingredients
- 90 g desiccated coconut
- 185 g self-raising flour
- half teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
- 200 ml oat (or other non-dairy) milk
- 1.5 tsp apple cider vinegar
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 80 ml light olive (or other mild tasting) oil
- 120 g white sugar
for the frosting
- 50 g coconut oil
- 30 ml oat (or other non-dairy) milk
- a few drops of vanilla extract (optional)
- 200 g icing sugar
- desiccated coconut for sprinkling
Method
- Set the oven to 180°C/360°F and line enough tins with cases to make sixteen large or up to twenty-four small cupcakes.
- Using a grinder or mini processor, grind the 90 g desiccated coconut until it is a mixture of powder and slightly larger pieces. (This step is not essential if you don’t have a suitable grinder, but it improves the texture of the cake.)
- Sift the flour and baking soda into a large bowl and whisk through the ground coconut.
- In a separate smaller bowl, or jug, mix the apple cider vinegar and vanilla into the milk, followed by the oil and sugar, whisking well to combine.
- Make a well in the flour mixture and pour in the liquid, stirring as you go. Continue to stir, or whisk, the mixture until there are no significant lumps of coconut or flour. (It doesn’t have to be perfect – the ground coconut tends to form little clumps.)
- Using two dessert spoons, fill each of the cases no higher than halfway, before baking for around 18 minutes. The exact time will obviously depend on your oven, but they should have risen well and settled back a little, and be light golden brown on top like a victoria sponge.
- Allow the cakes to cool completely before frosting.
- Soften the coconut oil until it is starting to turn to liquid before beating in the icing sugar, milk and vanilla (if using) to form a soft frosting. It should be soft enough to form a smooth surface on its own but not so soft that it will drip down the sides of the cake.
- Apply the frosting using a spoon and sprinkle each cake generously with desiccated coconut before it sets.
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