#142 Fluffy Coconut Cupcakes with Mango & lime curd and whipped coconut cream.

Friends! Hello! How are we? I’m fairly sure that about 500 years have passed since last weekend, doesn’t it feel like AGES since we last spoke?

SO much for us to discuss, maybe grab a coffee (or tea), pull up a chair, get yourselves comfy.

You know what? I’m a bit wobbly this week, tired (following a string of unsleepy nights), and angsty, with good reason, I suppose. A close friend of mine underwent open-heart surgery on Thursday and is in intensive care as we speak. This is the kind of stuff you only see or hear about on TV, isn’t it? Like totally unfathomable… scary, torture to witness a friend fearful (beforehand) and suddenly at their most vulnerable. I’m clinging on to the belief that he’s in incredibly safe hands right now, arguably the best there are! A team of human-mechanics working together to restore a slightly wonky engine, people doing what they love with a proficiency and composure that defies logic. It’s breathtaking stuff. Nevertheless, my stomach has been in knots all week… ridiculous life trivia pales into insignificance, I can’t get images and thoughts of what he’s going through out of my head.

Has also made writing harder this week, forgive me! … I just want him to be back fighting fit… soon, very soon please.

… this reality did, however, make my bi-annual haircut feel a lot less traumatic. I mean, I really can’t moan about having my hair chopped when my mate’s literally being chopped, can I?

Anyway, sorry to make things feel a little sombre, let’s talk butterflies and Unicorns (also LEGO Formula 1 cars - WOW) … and CAKE…

I know you’re all DESPERATE to hear about the ‘not wedding’ cake (please note sense of irony here, I’m sure it’s not top of your priority list), so let’s debrief…

Well, I did it!!! I mean, it wasn’t without drama, would it ever be drama-less where I’m concerned? But, it ended up in one piece (always a bonus!!!), it was joyously consumed (also a positive) and… (crucially), I loved doing it! OK, I didn’t love the erection/plastering element, that was hell… slippy, slidey cake layers, some capricious chocolate buttercream, and a kitchen showered in various forms of cake effluent (the Sunday deep-clean was extensive), but the baking and making, the decorating, the bringing it to life, that was all so very magical… what do you think?

… I learned quite a lot, of course. Things like:

• The disadvantages of a ganache buttercream. Yes, it’s INSANE flavour-wise, but it works best in a narrow temperature window, that’s annoyingly tricky to maintain. I discovered this the hard way… there was a short period of sobbing over the muddy cement-like situation that occurred mid application, before I realised (later than I would have liked) that a little heat was all it required to work happily again.

• Also, that chunky jam is a bit annoying - I love a cherry conserve with fat cherries in it but they can lead to a few structural issues.

• That you should check your ingredients list at least 15,000 times before you get going because you can bet that you’ll be lacking in a fundamental ingredient… like chocolate…. for a chocolate cake (yup, did that).

• And finally, to not faff around with the finished cake endlessly… you WILL undoubtedly thump your fist (or just a thumb) into the side of it, it will create a dent, and you will be mortified. Good.

Despite the mini dramas, the occasional crumpled, ‘I’ve done it all wrong face’, and the kitchen clear up that followed this project, I really did love it… it made me realise how much I would love to do it more (said nervously), how wonderful cake mechanics, and plastering, and decorating is, and the joy it brings others. Yes, it’s a fun job, isn’t it? Is this the beginning of more? Maybe… just maybe it is!!! Eeek!
*note ALL flowers were sourced from a local florist, the stems were meticulously wrapped in floral tape, and they were removed before the cake was eaten.

Other bits:

• Hilarious moment driving Mum’s car - she has an automatic, I’ve only driven it once before - to the end of our approx.12m drive - and my old car was a manual… needless to say, my journey of around 800m to the Co-op, was eventful. Who knew that you only use one foot to operate both pedals? My left foot was constantly trying to join the party! Also, that ‘drive’ is at the bottom and ‘reverse’ is at the top (of the ‘not gear stick’), that the key seems fairly irrelevant… until you’ve left it in the car (you’re out of said car) and it’s locked itself - oops. And that you can make it do a lot of things via the steering wheel- including accidentally turn the volume up so loudly on the radio that you terrify everyone within a 5-mile radius… and subsequently spend several frantic minutes thumping buttons in the hope that it will stop serenading the whole estate with ‘Barbie Girl’. Honestly the ordeal was traumatic, but we live to tell the quite comical tale.

• St Ewes* Eggs - I’m obsessed! Their yolks give cakes and choux pastry and custard… (and other things that include lots of eggs) the most BEAUTIFUL yellow hue. Gowjus. Also, they taste great, an added bonus, obvs.
  *Had been calling them ‘Stews eggs’ until about a week ago… embarrassing!!

• … especially good in pasta as well. OMG, tomato mascarpone sauce sloshed over fresh eggy pasta - HEAVEN.

• Some purple asparagus from Tesco that was sweeter than any asparagus I have eaten before. Delightful.

• On that note, May is an exciting month for fresh produce, don’t you think? Fruit and veg shops seem to pulsate with colour, choice, possibility!! We’re spoilt for choice… I’m guilty of greedily filling my shopping basket with too much of the good stuff - it all just seems so wickedly enticing.

• I mentioned them above, but did everyone catch the full-size LEGO cars that the Formula 1 drivers drove around in for the track parade on Sunday? As a LEGO mega fan - this was thrilling, literally blew my mind.

• Blue skies… with tiger bread clouds, and endless kisses.

• Other foodie bits: omg some SOFT, squishy milk rolls (with spelt flour and honey and olive oil) - no faffy tangzhong or niche ingredients (like milk powder or small portions of condensed milk), simple, honest, goodness - divine! Also, a super-soft carrot cake (made just to use up a re-tested portion of whipped coconut cream) so serendipitously perfect and ridiculously easy (must double check the recipe and share some time). More simple Victoria sponges, my therapy bake always. And finally, this week’s showstopper - coconut and mango cupcakes - a mouthful of tropical paradise - cannot wait for you to try below.

  

  

  A selection of loveliness...

OK, I think we’re done… promise me something? Go hug the people you love, a big hug. Remember what’s important - happiness! health! - enjoy the sunshine, revel in your favourite things, drink life in, it’s mega when you stop and look around.

Sending so much love to you all, hugs too obvs,

Steph X X X

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Fluffy Coconut Cupcakes with Mango & lime curd and whipped ‘coconut cream’.

Right, about these cupcakes/muffins/small cakes - they’re SUMMER and sunshine and everything good about the sweet world, OK?

Starting with the sponge, fun fact, (might have said this before) the cake I baked during the showstopper for the first week on Bake Off was a coconut cake, which, I think demonstrated my naivety for baking at the time; I was blissfully unaware that coconut cakes are generally prone to being quite dry… which it was, btw and also notoriously taste quite ‘un-coconutty’ - it’s just hard to impart XXL coconut flavour without using flavourings (which taste artificial), or drastically compromising the texture of the baked cake. ANYWAY, since then, I’ve flip-flopped around with recipes, and this one is 100% my new favourite, it’s seductively fluffy, wickedly moreish, and lasts superbly - so much to love about it. Does it completely slap you in the face with coconut? Alone, possibly not, although it’s still SO GOOD, but eat it paired with the coconut cream and mango curd, plus the toasty coconut on top, and yes, it’s fully loaded Malibu vibes.

In the middle of each cake is a mango and lime curd that I centred this whole recipe around. It’s sweet, tropical, rich & creamy, also with a little zing… I could eat it alone, straight from the jar… ok, I did this, it rivals peanut butter for spoon-ability!!! It’s peak mango season at the moment, and this is a great way to showcase their beauty. I suggest hunting down one of the speciality mango varieties - something like an Alphonso mango - if possible. However, I’ve also made it with the standard mangoes you get in most supermarkets (just make sure it’s really ripe) OR you can use the tinned mango pulp you get in a can (also available in most supermarkets).
One thing to note, similar to the coconut cakes, mango curd never tastes richly of mango - I think if you want something thick and ultra mango-y, your best bet is to do as Nicola Lamb recommends here and make a ‘not curd’ situation with corn flour as a the primary thickener; there are less competing flavours (like egg and butter as with curd) this way. That all being said, this still really packs a fabulous tropical punch. ALSO… I employ a little trick to enhance the mango-y-ness, and that is simply chucking a few chunks of fresh mango on top. Y-UM.

Finally, the whipped coconut cream - a combo of coconut milk, mascarpone, double cream (coconut rum if you’re feeling wild) a squeeze of lime and obvs a sprinkle of icing sugar - is absurdly fantastic. It’s ethereally light, moussey, dissolves on the tongue… and it helps elevate the coconut-flavour. Topped with a super-cute, toasted coconut flake ‘bouffant’, we have a very happy, sunny, summer combo.

Verdict from my local taste-testers is that this was a goodie… so I hope you like them too!!!

Quick note:
- I divided the batter between 12 quite large cupcake cases - and they over-flowed, classic. I recommend going for more like 14 cupcakes for this quantity of batter and keep an eye on the bake time - you may need to whip them out a little sooner than directed.

Capturing coconut & mango cupcakes from all their best angles... also just LOOOOK at that curd - looks like something you should rub on your skin, silkyyyyyy, luscious, YUM!