MACADAMIA COCONUT CUPCAKES

Ingredients

Vanilla Cupcakes

• 1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon table salt
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 cup canola oil
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup buttermilk

Swiss Meringue Buttercream

• 4 egg whites
• 1 cup sugar 200g
• 24 tablespoons unsalted butter cold
• 2 teaspoons vanilla

Coconut Fudge balls (Beijinho)

• 1 can condensed milk 14 oz.
• 1 /2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
• 1 tablespoon butter

Macadamia Custard

• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 cup ground macadamia nuts
• 2 egg yolks
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 2 teaspoons vanilla

For the top

• 2 cups shredded coconut

Instructions

Vanilla Cupcakes

1. Pre-heat oven to 350F.
2. Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt together. Set aside.
3. Whisk eggs with a wire whisk for about 1 minute. They will become frothy and lightened in color. Add oil and whisk until combined.
4. Add sugar and whisk for about 1 minute. You can use a mixer to do this, or simply a whisk. I usually go with just a whisk.
5. Add vanilla extract and half of the buttermilk. Whisk briefly until just combined.
6. Now, add half of the dry ingredients and whisk gently until combined.
7. Finally, add rest of the buttermilk. Whisk and then, add remaining flour. Make sure to just whisk the mixture until combined.
8. Don’t overmix it!
9. Pour batter evenly into a cupcake pan lined with cupcake liners, or buttered and floured.
10. Bake for 12-15 minutes. Until puffed, and lightly golden.

Swiss Meringue Buttercream

1. Right before you start to make your buttercream, remove butter from the fridge. Cut it into thin slices, about 1/4 inch thick. Set aside.
2. Place egg whites and sugar in a heat-proof bowl or in a double boiler pan.
3. Bring a pot of water to a boil, then reduce it to a simmer. Set bowl on top of the pan with simmering water.
4. Whisk constantly until egg whites and sugar reach 138F temperature. This ensures that the egg whites will have reached a safe temperature. The temperature of pasteurized egg whites is actually 140F, however, if you bring it up to 138F, the temperature will raise a couple degrees even after you take it out of the heat source.
5. Keep whisking mixture for about 30 seconds after you take it off the heat.
6. Pour mixture into the bowl of a stand mixer. Be sure to wipe dry the bottom of the bowl to get rid of the condensation that formed before you transfer mixture. Because if a drop of water gets in contact with your egg white/sugar, it will ruin your meringue.
7. With the whisk attachment, beat meringue on medium-high speed.
8. You are going to beat the meringue until stiff peaks form. Now, this might take a while. Usually takes me about 10 minutes. The reason for that is that the egg whites have to cool down first and then they will be able to reach stiff peak.
9. Just let the mixer do its job and cool down the meringue as it whisks it.
10. Once your meringue has reached stiff peaks, start adding butter, with the mixer on medium-high speed.
11. Add one slab of butter at a time. Waiting a few seconds before adding the next one.
12. This should take you a while. Get there slowly.
13. At times, you will question yourself if your meringue will ever form, the answer is mostly likely: yes it will form. Just be patient. Keep whisking it.
14. Add vanilla once you’re done adding the butter.
15. At this point, you should see your meringue having hardened up and formed into a smooth cream.
16. If not, there are a few troubleshooting tricks you could try.
17. Please refer to the post above for troubleshooting.

Coconut fudge balls (Beijinho)

1. Mix all ingredients in a medium saucepan.
2. Over medium heat, stir mixture without stopping, while you bring it to a boil.
3. Once mixture comes to a boil, reduce heat to medium low.
4. Keep stirring non stop while it cooks.
5. You should cook it for about 15 minutes.
6. To test if your beijinho is ready, simply tilt the pan and if the mixture all come off from the bottom of the pan, leaving just a fuzzy layer of fudge on the bottom of the pan, you’re good to go. Mixture will look shiny and firm. If you run a spatula on the bottom of the pan, fudge will take about 5 seconds to come together again. You are looking for a very thick stage.
7. Remove fudge to a buttered plate. Let it cool down until it gets to room temperature and then stick it in the fridge.
8. Let it sit in the fridge for an hour or so until it’s cool.
9. With buttered hands, scoop a small amount of fudge and roll between your palms to form a smooth ball. Coat the ball in shredded coconut or granulated sugar. Put in small baking cups (I use those 1 inch ones)
10. Do this until you’re done with all the fudge. You’ll obtain around 20 balls depending on how big you make them.

Macadamia Custard

1. Bring milk to a boil in a small saucepan. Turn off heat as soon as you see the first bubble emerge. Set aside.
2. Whisk yolks and sugar in a bowl for about 1 minute, until lightened in color.
3. Add cornstarch and whisk.
4. Add ground macadamia nuts and mix everything together.
5. Now, add a couple of tablespoons of milk to mixture, while whisking non stop.
6. Add a couple more tablespoons and keep whisking.
7. Finally, add the rest of the milk whisking everything together.
8. Pour this back into saucepan where you heated milk.
Bring it to a boil over medium low heat, while stirring with a wooden spoon, non stop.
9. Stir vigorously for a minute to thicken mixture. Once custard is creamy and thickened, remove it to a heatproof bowl.
10. Let it cool down for about 5 minutes. Add vanilla and stir.
11. Cover with a piece of plastic wrap. Place the plastic wrap directly on the surface of the custard, because this prevents a skin from forming.
12. Once macadamia custard cools down, you can start assembling cupcakes.

To assemble

1. Place 2 cups of coconut flakes on a non-stick frying pan. Over medium heat, stir coconut flakes while you toast them. Once you see the flakes start to get brown, turn off the heat, they will continue to darken even after you remove them from the heat. Set them aside to cool down.
2. With a spoon, make a 1 inch hole on top of each cupcake.
3. This step is not so necessary, but highly recommended: eat all little holes you removed from the cupcakes!
4. Place a small amount of custard inside of each cupcake. About 1 heaping teaspoon of custard per cupcake.
5. Pipe swiss meringue buttercream on top.
6. Roll frosting on toasted coconut flakes to coat.
7. Place a beijinho on top.
8. Keep in refrigerator for up to 3 days.

https://www.piesandtacos.com/macadamia-coconut-cupcakes/?utm_medium=social&utm_source=pinterest&utm_campaign=tailwind_tribes&utm_content=tribes&utm_term=349929614_10996528_224665