Put the Lime in the Coconut and call it Delicious!

I enjoy watching the show "Bones", but for some reason I missed last season's final episode. I know, I know, I could have watched it online, but just never got around to it. This past week I got the chance to watch a rerun of it and at the end of the show, the characters sang Harry Nilsson's classic song "Coconut". For those who don't know the song, where the heck have you been? It's available on YouTube and even the Muppets did their version of the song on The Muppet Show.

It got me to thinking, why not put the lime in the coconut? How would it taste anyway...a weird Pina Colada? I didn't go down the drink route, instead I decided to make cupcakes. A dumb downed version of a vanilla cupcake with lime curd mixed in, topped with a ginger frosting and either sweetened or toasted coconut. Num Yummy!!! is all I can say.

So put the lime in the coconut and the only doctor you'll be calling is the dietitian.

Lime in the Coconut Cupcakes
(with Ginger Frosting)

Ingredients:

2 cups sugar
1 cup butter
3 eggs
¾ cup lime curd
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 cups flour
3 tsp baking powder
¾ cup milk
1 cup shredded, sweetened coconut
1 cup shredded, toasted coconut
¼ cup additional lime curd

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350F; line muffin tins with cupcake liners.

In a large bowl, cream together sugar and butter until fluffy; beat in one egg at a time, then the lime curd and the vanilla extract.

In another bowl, sift together the flour and baking powder; stir into the creamed mixture. Add the milk and stir until batter is smooth. Use an ice cream scoop to fill the cupcake liners up halfway.

Bake for 20-25 minutes; until toothpick comes out of center cleanly. Remove to wire racks to cool before lightly frosting; put coconut into separate bowls and dip frosted cupcake into one or the other. Spoon a dollop of lime curd into center of each cupcake.

Makes 24-26 cupcakes.

Ginger Frosting

Ingredients:

1/3 cup unsalted butter, softened
3 ½ cups confectioners’ sugar
1 ½ tsp fresh ground ginger or 3 tsp dried ground ginger
½ tsp vanilla extract
2 Tbsp cold milk

Preparation:

In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar together until fluffy; add in ginger, vanilla extract and milk; continue to beat until smooth and spreadable.

Makes 2 cups.

Mary Cokenour