Tropical Paradise Cupcake Recipe

*Zest your lemons first. 

Tropical Paradise Cupcake Recipe:

1 cup plain flour

3/4 cup coconut flour  (*If you don't have it, plain flour is fine as well. The coconut flour makes the cakes moister, more coconut-y, and tropical-ly. But it's fine without so don't fret.)

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

Mix in a bowl and set aside.

In your electric standing mixer-

1 cup sugar + 1/2 cup virgin Coconut Oil (I heated mine to melting so I could accurately measure.)

Beat until well combined--a few minutes.

Add juice of two lemons,  zest from two lemons, and 1 tsp vanilla extract. 

Mix a bit. Add eggs one at a time, mixing after each one. 

Add the flour mixture and milk like this: a bit of flour, a bit of milk, flour, milk, flour.  Pour batter into baking cups 2/3 full and bake at 350F /190C for 23 minutes. *Ovens vary, so watch those babies. They should spring back when touched on top.

***Get some coconut oil on your fingers/hands? Great! Put it on your face and run it through your hair, a luxe beauty treatment! I use coconut oil on my face twice a day and my skin is SO MUCH clearer!

For the icing:

Mix 1 cup cream cheese (I used the lower fat version by Phily) + 3 tbsp Coconut Oil + juice of one lemon + zest of one lemon + 1 cup icing sugar (powdered sugar) + handful of desiccated coconut bits. 

Mix all of these together well to form a nice thick icing. Then if you have them, toast some coconut shavings in a saucepan (no oil or butter, just dry)- on med heat for a few minutes. 

Cut lemon slices and then halve them for prettiness.

Once the cupcakes are cool, ice them and sprinkle coconut shavings and a slice of lemon for garnish. 

After eating two of these lil' babies I was geared up for sewing, so I made my friend a lemony bunting in her home color palette:

See you soon!