This is one of the many, many cupcake recipes posted in the Something Awful cake thread. PezMaster also posted it on her own blog. I'm glad to finally get the chance to try this one. It came out really well.

The cupcakes were simultaneously dark and rich while also being light and fluffy. If you really like your chocolate (cup)cakes dense and heavy, this might not be the recipe for you. But I really enjoyed the texture. Even if it did confuse my mouth a bit at first. With a chocolate that dark and intense, my mouth was expecting a close, dense texture. The first bite was a little disorienting. But once I got used to the fact that these were light, airy cupcakes that somehow had the rich flavour of a dense chocolate cake, I liked them quite a lot!

The icing was also lovely. This was my first attempt at a Swiss meringue. I've only ever made French meringues before. The cooking process for Swiss meringues has always intimidated me. And my buttercreams have always been American. Again, because I've never been confident in my ability to make any of the more involved buttercreams. I tend to go with very simple icings, when I bother to ice my cakes at all: glacé, royal, American buttercream, or a simple glaze. I was really pleased with how this one came out. And the Swiss meringue wasn't as tricky as I'd feared. My one complaint with this recipe is that the author recommended a bit of orange juice as an optional extra. As soon as I added the orange juice, the mixture instantly seized and curdled and no amount of warming, chilling, or beating could salvage it. I had to start over again from scratch. And when I started over, I also doubled the recipe. There's no way that the original amount would've been enough to decorate all the cupcakes!

And my last comment on this recipe is that I was in a bit of a flap and totally forgot to add the semisweet chocolate that was supposed to get sprinkled over the cupcakes just before they went in the oven. I'm sure they would've been even richer and more chocolate-y with it, but they were beautiful and delicious without it. So, use it if you have it, but don't worry about it if you don't. You'll get lovely cupcakes either way.

Chocolate-Coconut Cupcakes with Orange Swiss Meringue Buttercream

Slightly adapted from C&C Cakery

Ingredients

Cupcakes

• 1/2 c. cocoa powder, preferably Dutched
• 1/2 c. boiling water
• 1 3/4 c. soft (cake/plain/standard) flour
• 3/4 tsp. baking soda
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1 c. coconut milk¹
• 1/2 Tbsp. vanilla extract
• 3/4 c. unsalted butter, softened
• 3/4 c. brown sugar
• 3/4 c. sugar, divided
• 3 large eggs, separated, at room temperature
• 3/4 c. shredded coconut²
• 85g (3 oz.) semisweet chocolate, chopped (optional)

Icing

• 4 large egg whites
• 1 c. sugar
• 3/4 c. unsalted butter, softened
• 1/2 tsp. orange oil³
• zest of 2 oranges

Garnishes

These are optional. I left a few cupcakes plain and then tried out different toppings on the rest.

• chocolate sprinkles
• chocolate shavings
• shredded coconut (toast it if you feel like being extra fancy)
• giant orange "sprinkles" (the bottle says sprinkles, but they're the size of small blueberries!)
• chocolate fudge sprinkle mix
• candied orange slices

Directions

Cupcakes

1. Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C).
2. Combine cocoa with boiling water and set aside.
3. In a separate bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
4. In a measuring cup, combine coconut milk and vanilla. Set aside.
5. In a large bowl, beat butter, brown sugar, and 1/2 c. of the granulated sugar until light and fluffy.
6. Add egg yolks to butter mixture one at a time, beating well after each addition.
7. Add cooled cocoa mixture and beat until well-combined.
8. Add 1/3 of the flour mixture followed by 1/2 of the coconut milk mixture. Repeat this, ending with the final 1/3 of the flour mixture. Set aside.
9. Clean and dry your beaters very well.
10. In a clean bowl, beat egg whites until frothy.
11. Add remaining 1/4 c. sugar, 1 Tbsp. at a time, until whites hold firm peaks. (You should be able to hold the bowl upside down without it dripping or sliding around.)
12. Mix about 1/3 of the meringue into the batter to loosen it. (You don't need to worry about knocking the air out at this point.)
13. Gently fold in the remaining meringue being careful to mix it in thoroughly while deflating it as little as possible. Toward the end of the folding process, sprinkle in the shredded coconut.
14. Spoon batter into lined cupcake tin(s). (This made two dozen 2" cupcakes for me.)
15. Optional: Sprinkle with chopped semisweet chocolate.
16. Bake at 350°F (180°C) for ~20 minutes.
17. Remove to wire rack to cool.

Icing

1. Combine egg whites and sugar in a large heatproof bowl.
2. Place bowl over a pot of boiling water and whisk egg whites until sugar is completely dissolved and egg whites have gone from clear to white.
3. Remove from heat and beat until stiff glossy peaks form.
4. If meringue is still hot, allow to cool to about body temperature before continuing.
5. Beat in softened butter, a little at a time.
6. Beat in the orange zest and oil.

Assembly

1. Once cupcakes are completely cool, pipe on the icing and decorate with garnish(es) of your choice.

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¹ The recipe specifically calls for full-fat coconut milk, but I only had "lite" coconut milk in the pantry so I just used that. I was very happy with my results. I wouldn't hesitate to use lite/light/low-fat coconut milk for this recipe in the future. ^Back
2 The recipe doesn't specify whether the coconut should be sweetened or unsweetened. I only keep unsweetened coconut on hand as a general rule, so I just used that. If you're going to use sweetened coconut, it might be wise to cut back on the sugar a little. I found the sweetness just right with the unsweetened coconut. Also, if you want the coconut to have a bit more presence, use a medium or large/coarse shred. I used fine which pretty much just disappeared into the batter. You could still taste it, but you couldn't see it or feel it. For some, that might be a selling point. For others, it might be a detraction. Adjust accordingly. ^Back
3 The original recipe calls for 2 Tbsp. orange concentrate. (Well, 1 Tbsp. actually, but for half as much icing as I made. So, scaled up, it would be 2 Tbsp.) I have no idea what that means. Perhaps orange juice concentrate? I'd be wary of putting that in though, considering how my experiments with adding orange juice went. Perhaps orange extract? I couldn't find that. The best I could do was orange oil. But that came in tiny little one dram bottles, so I assumed it was quite a bit more potent than orange extract. Zest from two oranges + 1/2 tsp. of orange oil seems to have done the job nicely. If you have some orange extract on hand, try putting in a teaspoon or two and see how it tastes. If you feel like experimenting with orange juice concentrate, go ahead, but be aware that your icing might curdle. ^Back