Vanilla Bean Cupcakes with Coconut Cream Cheese Icing

It was my friend Danielle's birthday, and since I am a big preggo, our usual celebration at the pub was not really looking that appetizing to me, so we had her and her boyfriend over for dinner. I made Thai chicken satay with peanut sauce and an Asian Noodle Salad. It was yummy. But it was nothing compared to the cupcakes; at least in my opinion! 

I thought about picking some up from the local bakery that makes to-die-for cupcakes, but then I knew that I would just end up picking up 2 dozen and eating one of them all by myself. And also spending like $50. So I decided I would attempt to make some instead and try to compete. 

I used the basic Vanilla Bean Cupcake recipe from How Sweet It Is, and then added my favourite icing recipe. I also attempted to make them look a little prettier than my normal cupcakes by using an icing piper thingy for the first time. I obviously need to work on some technique, but I think they turned out relatively nice. At least better than usual, where I just slather icing on with a spoon. They did, however, turn out to be absolutely delicious, if I do say so myself. The dozen I made didn't last more than a few hours between the 4 of us. Mmmm...

Vanilla Bean Cupcakes from How Sweet It Is

(makes 12 cupcakes)

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup butter

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

contents of 1/2 a vanilla bean

1 1/2 cups flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 cup milk

Preheat the oven to 350F. 

Cream butter, sugar and eggs together until fluffy. Add vanilla and the contents of the scraped vanilla bean. Mix into the batter. 

Combine the dry ingredients in a bowl. Add 1/2 of the dry ingredients to the batter, mixing until just combined. Add the milk. Once incorporated, add the remaining dry ingredients and stir until combined. 

Pour into cupcake tins. Bake for 20-25 minutes. Let cool before frosting. 

Coconut Cream Cheese Frosting

1/4 cup cream cheese, softened

2 tbsp butter, softened

1 tbsp milk

1/4 tsp vanilla

1/4 tsp coconut extract

2 cups of icing sugar

In a bowl, beat cream cheese with butter until light and fluffy. 

Beat in milk, vanilla and coconut extract. 

Reduce speed and beat in icing sugar, 1 cup at a time until fluffy. I usually add a bit more milk until I get it to the right consistency. 

Try not to eat all the icing before you get all the cupcakes iced. It's hard, I know. 

Hope you enjoy them!