Raspberry Coconut Cupcakes

Cupcake Wars should not be watched unless accompanied by delicious cupcakes. So that is what a friend and I did Friday night.

Once we had settled on a few main ingredients (coconut and raspberries), I picked the recipe with the pretties picture. The French blog Les Friands d´Lise won that competition, and it helped that I already had all the ingredients it called for. Luckily, I had google to help me translate the French recipe, and I think it turned out great. We only did a few minor tweaks along the way, adding raspberries and coconut to the cupcake batter. This may be my best attempt at cupcake baking - ever, so the recipe has my recommendations!

RASPBERRY COCONUT CUPCAKES

Makes about 18 small cupcakes with non-heaping frosting.

Cupcakes:
240 g flour
200 g sugar
2 tsps baking powder
80 g cold butter, cut in small pieces
160 g coconut milk
120 g milk of your choice
2 eggs
100 g frozen raspberries in small pieces
3 tbsp shredded coconut

In a mixer, mix flour, sugar, and baking powder with the cold butter till it resembles bread crumbs.
Add coconut milk, milk, and an egg at the time till the batter is combined well.
Carefully fold in the raspberries and the coconut at the end.
Fill cupcake liners 4/5 full.
Bake on 180 C for 15-17 minutes.
Mine came out with a perfect dome shape, but it might have been mirage, cause a few seconds later the tops were flat as pancakes. Also, the picture below shows my kitchen mid-cooking.

Raspberry compote:
300 g raspberries (fresh or frozen)
Juice from 1 lemon
A little sugar to taste

Cook everything on low heat till most of the liquid has evaporated. Make sure you don't sweeten the raspberries too much. The tartness of the compote is a wonderful addition to the cupcakes

Frosting:
125 g softened butter
175 g powdered sugar
75 g cream cheese
A pinch of salt

Beat the butter to a creamy consistency. Add sifted sugar, some at the time, and mix well. Mix in the cream cheese in the end. If you have any raspberry compote left after filling the cupcakes, it can be added to the frosting. Double the frosting if you want mounds of it, we went for the lighter route.

Assembly:
Once the cupcakes have cooked and cooled down, cut a small hole in the top of each cake and fill with a teaspoon of raspberry compote. Frost the cupcakes to your liking/according to your abilities. I need a frosting class, since I am obviously clueless. Garnish with shredded coconut. I have tried hard to find coconut flakes here in Skien, but no luck yet. Can anyone help me figure out where to get it?