Thirty!

Yesterday was my birthday. I turned 30. And the best part of having a birthday, in my opinion, is the excuse to eat birthday cake! This year, I had a little barbecue in the park with some of my friends on Saturday. I wanted to make sure I had enough of everything to go around, so in addition to cake, I made birthday cupcakes.

Now, because the Tummy flies so frequently, he has a lot of miles to use up. One thing he uses them for is subscribing to magazines. So I have this subscription to Bon Appetit magazine that I almost never use. (I generally look through it and drool, but that's about it.) And that's where I found this AMAZING recipe. I could not believe they were so easy and so good. And, although the original recipe called for vanilla bean, I used vanilla extract, because it's cheaper. They were still wonderful. I'll definitely be making them again.

Vanilla Bean - Coconut Cupcakes with Coconut Frosting
Bon Appetit, April 2009

REDUCED COCONUT MILK
2 (13-14 oz) cans unsweetened coconut milk

CUPCAKES
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter
1 1/3 cups sugar
3 large eggs
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract (or seeds from a split vanilla bean)
1 cup reduced coconut milk ( see above) room temperature

FROSTING
1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup reduced coconut milk (see above) room temperature
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract (or seeds from a split vanilla bean)
1/8 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups sweetened flaked coconut, lightly toasted (for garnish)

DIRECTIONS:
REDUCED COCONUT MILK - In large, deep saucepan, boil coconut milk over medium-high heat for 25-30 minutes or until reduced to 1 1/2 cups. Remove from heat. Cool completely. Chill in small, covered container. This can be made up to 2 days ahead.

CUPCAKES - Preheat oven to 350. Line muffin cups with paper liners. Whisk together dry ingredients. In separate bowl, beat butter until smooth. Then, add sugar and blend (about 2 minutes). Add eggs one at a time, beating and scraping sides after each addition. Add vanilla. Add half the dry ingredients. Add coconut milk and beat just until blended. Add remaining dry ingredients and mix just until blended. Divide batter among muffin cups and bake about 20 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pans for 10 minutes. Then, remove from pans and cool completely.

FROSTING - Beat butter until smooth. Add everything else except the flaked coconut. beat until light and fluffy. Frost cupcakes and then sprinkle with toasted coconut.