Coconut Cupcakes

I made about 100 cupcakes recently for an open house for a dear friend.  This was, without a doubt my favorite, simply because it's coconut.  And if you love coconut as much as I do, you'll love, love, love these cupcakes!  I prefer them in all their 100% coconut glory, but just for fun, I made some with a little Hershey's chocolate cake batter swirled in.  I didn't have cake flour on hand, so I just made my "own".  To make your own cake flour, simply measure out the amount of flour you need, remove 2 tablespoons of flour for every cup in the recipe, and replace that with 2 tablespoons of corn starch, then sift, sift, sift.  They are a little denser than a box mix, but I think those are too light and airy.  I will try them again with regular cake flour and see if there's any difference, but the flavor is incredible!     

1-1/2 cups cake flour
1/4 cup coconut milk powder
1/4 cup toasted sweetened coconut
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 cup granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon coconut extract
3 large egg whites
3/4 cup milk, room temperature

Frosting:

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/4 cup coconut milk powder
pinch of salt
1-1/4 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon coconut extract

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.  Spray a 12-cup muffin pan with cooking spray, or line with cupcake liners.  For the cupcakes, whisk together the cake flour, coconut milk powder, and toasted coconut.  Set aside.  (I ended up not toasting it, to keep it white.)  In a large, separate mixing bowl, cream together the butter, sugar, salt, baking powder, and extracts until the mixture is well blended.  Now beat in the egg whites, one at a time, beating until light and fluffy.  Add the dry ingredients alternately with the 3/4 cup milk, combining well.  Use a large tablespoon to scoop about 1/3 cup batter into each muffin well.  Bake for 16 to 18 minutes, just until they're lightly browned and a cake tester inserted in center comes out clean.  Remove from oven to rack for 5 minutes, then place cupcakes on rack to cool completely.  For the frosting, beat the butter, coconut milk powder, and pinch of salt until fluffy.  Add the powdered sugar, beating well until fluffy.  If the frosting is too thick, just add a little milk until it's of spreading  consistency.  Beat in vanilla and coconut extracts.  Frost each cupcake with about 2 tablespoons of frosting, then roll in coconut flakes.   (If you have have a hard time finding coconut milk powder, I was able to find it through Amazon.)