When I first saw the Zoku Quick Pop Maker, I thought it was pretty neat.  I contemplated on purchasing one, but eventually I talked myself out of it.  My reasoning was that it wasn’t much different than the traditional way of making popsicles… in that, you still have to freeze the Zoku base for 24 hours, but you only have to freeze popsicles 8-12 hours or so.  Plus, after waiting the 24 hours to freeze the base, you still have to wait another 7-9 minutes to freeze the actual popsicles.  I could just place my traditional plastic popsicle molds in the freezer overnight and have my popsicles sooner.

I could still see some flaws in my reasoning, but I couldn’t really afford the Zoku anyway, so I let the idea slip away for a while.

Until my mom gave me a $50 gift certificate to shop at Kitchenware Direct.  I contemplated for a couple of weeks on what to buy, placing things in my online shopping cart to see the total price, then emptying the cart and starting again with another collection of goodies.  Then I found that Kitchenware Direct stocked the Zoku Quick Pop Maker.  Hm.

A few days later, I was opening my package from Kitchenware Direct and placing my new Zoku Quick Pop Maker in the freezer.

We made a strawberry and raspberry yoghurt-based popsicle after the Zoku’s initial 24-hour freeze.  It was just a simple concoction of frozen strawberries, raspberry yoghurt, milk and honey.  We poured the “smoothie” into the three popsicle molds, waited for 7 minutes and checked them.  Not frozen solid.  I left them in about 3 minutes longer and they were frozen enough to pull out.  We screwed the orange knobby thing into the popsicle handles and they lifted out easily.

They had a great texture and I was really pleased with them.  I couldn’t wait to make something more fun.  I went searching online for fudgesicle recipes and came across a mocha one.  It looked really tasty and was based on a recipe from David Lebovitz (so I knew it had to be good).

Before I begin with the recipes, I want you to know that you don’t need to have a Zoku to make these.  You can just as well use the traditional popsicle molds!

This is basically a Vietnamese iced coffee popsicle with some cocoa powder mixed in.  It is super easy to make and you should already have all the ingredients (coffee, sweetened condensed milk and cocoa powder) in your pantry.

It took over 7 minutes for these popsicles to freeze as well.  I figured out that it could be that the Zoku base was not completely frozen, as when I gently tilted it back and forth I could hear a slight sloshing sound inside, which indicates that it’s not entirely frozen and that it may take longer to freeze popsicles.

These popsicles were just beautiful and tasted simply amazing.  This is one recipe I’ll be using over and over again.  They have a super strong hit of coffee, but it’s a lovely mocha taste.

The next recipe I wanted to try comes from Zoku’s own blog and is a super tropical treat.  I’m sure this particular popsicle would cool off anyone on a hot day with the refreshing tastes of pineapple and coconut.

These were super delicious as well and I’ll definitely be making this recipe again and again!  I suppose the only thing I didn’t like was the fact that the stringy fibers of the pineapple gave these popsicles a slightly odd texture and with some bites, made the popsicle look like it had hair sticking out of it!  Other than that though, the taste of these popsicles deserve a 10 out of 10!

Yes, we were very cold when we were done enjoying our popsicles (it is winter here, after all), but it’s worth it.

But is the Zoku worth it?  I suppose it is, after all, especially if you enjoy popsicles.  Just keep the Zoku base in your freezer at all times, and yes, you really can have popsicles in under 10 minutes (if you don’t count the time it takes you to make whatever is you’re making to pour in the molds).  The drawback is, you can only make 6 before you have to refreeze the base.  But unless you’re trying to make popsicles for a crowd, 6 should be plenty (or at least it is for our family of 5!).

Do you have a Zoku?  What is your favorite popsicle recipe?

 

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Mocha Popsicles
Adapted from A Cozy Kitchen, who adapted it from David Lebovitz
Makes 5 Zoku popsicles

Ingredients
1 cup extra strong coffee or espresso, chilled or at room temp
1/3 cup sweetened condensed milk
2 1/4 teaspoons unsweetened Dutch-processed cocoa powder

Method
Pour the sweetened condensed milk into the coffee and stir until thoroughly combined.  Sift cocoa powder over the top and stir until combined.  I found this part a bit tricky because the cocoa powder kept clumping up!  Taste the mixture and add more milk or cocoa, depending on your taste.  I didn’t need to add any extra.

Pour into molds, as per the instructions for the Zoku, and wait up to 10 minutes to freeze (or just simply pour into plain old popsicle molds and freeze overnight).

 

 

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Pineapple Coconut Popsicles
Adapted from Zoku’s blog
Makes 4 Zoku popsicles

Ingredients
4 ounces fresh pineapple (I used canned pineapple in natural juice)
1/4 cup pineapple juice (I used the juice from the can)
2 tablespoons unsweetened coconut milk
2 tablespoons milk
1 tablespoon sugar
2 tablespoons sweetened shredded coconut

Method
Combine all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth.  Pour into molds, as per the instructions for the Zoku, and wait up to 10 minutes to freeze (or just simply pour into plain old popsicle molds and freeze overnight).

Whatever their true history, lamingtons are an Australian icon and you can find them in any bakery across Australia.  Lamingtons are cube-shaped pieces of sponge cake, usually day-old sponge cake, that are dipped in chocolate icing and then rolled in shredded coconut.  You might also see lamingtons that are filled with either jam or cream.  They look very pretty (and sometimes they look very messy) and they are very yummy, especially when enjoyed alongside a hot cuppa.

Not all lamingtons are created equally, however.  I’ve tasted yucky, stale lamingtons and just plain yucky lamingtons.  I’ve also had very nice lamingtons – one of my favorites come from the bakery directly next to Pablo & Rusty’s Espresso Bar in Epping, across from the train station.

The recipe for lamingtons that I’m posting today comes from Issue #3 of MasterChef Australia magazine, and was used in the Country Women’s Association episode of MasterChef Australia.  There’s nothing difficult about making lamingtons, it just takes a little bit of time.  You’ll first need to prepare and bake the sponge cake, let it cool, then cut it into cubes.  Next, you’ll need to make the chocolate icing and set out a plate with the shredded coconut in it.  Finally, you’ll roll the cubes of cake in the chocolate icing, and then roll them into the shredded coconut.

As I said, the process is a little time-consuming, but not difficult at all.  The end result makes a great little snack.  My experience with this particular recipe is that these lamingtons taste better the next day (the cake and coconut both seem to be a little moister and softer), so I’d recommend making them a day beforehand if you’d like to serve these for morning or afternoon tea to guests.

Alternatively, you could buy a premade sponge cake to save having to prepare and bake the cake yourself.

Lamingtons
Adapted from MasterChef Australia magazine, Issue #3
Makes 16

Ingredients
4 eggs
125g caster sugar
125g plain flour
1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
50g unsalted butter, melted
200g shredded coconut

Chocolate Icing
25g unsalted butter
160ml (2/3 cup) milk
500g icing sugar
50g (1/2 cup) Dutch cocoa powder

Method
Preheat the oven to 190C. Grease and line the base and sides of a 20cm square cake pan with baking paper. Fill a sink one-third full with water. Place eggs and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer. Place bowl in sink and whisk for 2 minutes or until mixture is runny and slightly foamy. Remove from sink. Using an electric mixer, whisk on high speed for 4 minutes or until mixture is pale and triples in volume.

Using a sieve, sift just enough flour to cover the top of the egg mixture. Using a large metal spoon, fold in flour in one light motion. Repeat sifting and folding with remaining flour until just combined.

Combine vanilla and butter in a bowl, then add a large spoonful of batter and stir to combine. Gently fold the butter mixture into batter until just combined, then spoon into the prepared pan.

On a work surface, spin the pan to level, then bake for 25 minutes or until centre springs bake when pressed with your fingertip. Cool in pan for 5 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely. Freeze for 20 minutes; this will make the sponge easier to cut.

To make icing, stir butter and milk in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of gently simmering water until butter is melted. Sift over sugar and cocoa, then stir until smooth. Turn off heat.

My note – I didn’t use the double-boiler method as described here to make the icing, I just put the ingredients in a saucepan and had the burner set very, very low.

Using a large serrated knife, trim sides of sponge, then cut into 16 cubes. Scatter coconut over a tray. Insert a skewer into the crust side of a piece of sponge (don’t go all the way through). Holding the skewer over icing, and, holding a spoon in the other hand, spoon icing over the sponge, rotating the skewer to coat evenly. Shake off excess, then slide sponge off the skewer onto the tray of coconut. Scatter coconut over the top and sides of sponge, then transfer to a tray lined with baking paper. Repeat with remaining sponge cubes, icing and coconut. If the icing starts to thicken, stir in a little water to thin.

My note – using a skewer was useless! I ended up just dropping the sponge cube into the icing, spooning icing over it, then using a fork to lift it out and sit it on the coconut.

First of all, let me say that I’ve been planning these cupcakes for weeks.  It all started when I made the coconut pancakes with bananas, creme fraiche and caramel sauce last month, which was a recipe from Valli Little in delicious. magazine.  I loved those pancakes.  The combination of those flavors was like nothing else my tastebuds have ever experienced (probably mostly because I had never eaten creme fraiche!).  I started thinking that this flavor combination would taste great as a cupcake as well, and I haven’t made cupcakes in ages!

Over the past week I finally made up my mind as to how I would make these cupcakes.  I would use a banana cupcake recipe and stir sweetened shredded coconut into the batter.  The frosting would be something of my own creation, which turned out fabulous – creme fraiche whipped with confectioners’ sugar.  I made the same caramel sauce for these cupcakes as I made for the pancakes, except I replaced the thickened cream with coconut milk (I would have used coconut cream if I had had any).  This turned out fabulous as well, such a great flavor.

The assembly was easy.  The creme fraiche frosting was a perfect consistency and instead of using my piping bag I just used a Ziploc bag, snipped a corner off and piped a small mound on top of each cupcake.  I wanted the coconut caramel sauce to be concentrated in one spot, as opposed to just drizzling it over the frosting) so that it’d be able to be tasted and the only way I could think of to do this was to use a baby spoon to make an indentation on the very top of the frosting (see photo below this paragraph) and fill it with the coconut caramel sauce.  I then placed a slice of banana on top of the hole and gently pushed it down to cover the pocket of sauce (and threw on a bit of extra sauce just for the fun of it).

I’m very pleased with how these turned out.  They very closely match the flavor of those coconut pancakes, which is what I was aiming for.  The creme fraiche is slightly sweet with the addition of some confectioners’ sugar, yet still slightly tangy.  These cupcakes are best served on the day of baking due to the creme fraiche, as well as the use of fresh sliced bananas, which can turn brown quickly.  Be sure to place the sliced bananas on top of the cupcakes just before serving.

If you are interested in making these cupcakes yourself, I realize that the main problem you may have is in finding, or even affording, creme fraiche.  Creme fraiche is not available at every grocery store.  Luckily I can find it at my local store, but it comes at a price.  It is $6 for 250g.

Don’t despair though, you can make your own creme fraiche.  I haven’t done it myself, but it is so easy that I may just do this in the coming weeks.  You can find the instructions at joyofbaking.com.

I’d also like to point out that you can use whatever banana cake/cupcake recipe you prefer for these cupcakes.  I chose one of the first ones I came across that I had all the ingredients for!

And yes, you guessed right, I am watching too much MasterChef – look at those silly “artistic” blobs and smears of coconut caramel sauce on the plate!

On a sort of related note, I’d like to say how shocked I was to find the above chocolate-brown cupcake liners at my local grocery store!  This particular color of cupcake liner is very much sought after.  I bought a pack of 100 for $2.65 at Woolworth’s (in Sydney, Australia).  Awesome!

Anyway, here are the recipes, enjoy!

Banana Coconut Cupcakes
Adapted from Food Network
Makes 12 cupcakes

Ingredients
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 stick butter (113g), softened
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup sour cream
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 large eggs
2 large ripe bananas, peeled, and mashed
1/2 rounded cup sweetened, shredded coconut
1 fresh banana, sliced, for decoration

Method
Preheat the oven to 350F (180C). Line 1 (12-cup) muffin pan with paper cupcake liners.

In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

In a large bowl, add the butter and the sugar. Beat with a hand-held mixer until combined. Add the sour cream and the vanilla extract. Slowly beat in the eggs, 1 at a time. Incorporate the dry mixture and wet mixtures together until thoroughly combined. Add the bananas and shredded coconut, being careful not to over mix. Using an ice cream scoop, fill each cupcake liner 3/4 way full. Bake in the preheated oven until the tops turn golden-brown and when a toothpick, inserted in the middle of the cupcake, comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Remove the cupcakes from the oven to a wire rack and let cool before frosting.

Creme Fraiche Frosting
Adapted from myself
Makes enough to frost 12 cupcakes, plus some leftover

Ingredients
250g creme fraiche
1/4 cup confectioners’ sugar

Method
Combine creme fraiche and confectioners sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer. Using the whisk attachment, whisk until thick and creamy, being careful not to overmix or it may become grainy. Use immediately.

Coconut Caramel Sauce
Adapted from delicious. magazine, November 2009
Makes about 2 cups, you’ll have plenty leftover

Ingredients
50g unsalted butter, cut into cubes
1/2 cup firmly packed (100g) brown sugar
3 tablespoons honey
150ml coconut milk or coconut cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Method
Stir all ingredients in a pan over low heat to dissolve sugar, then simmer for 5 minutes, until thickened. Cool to room temperature before using on cupcakes, otherwise it will melt the frosting.

Use leftovers for pancakes, pies or ice cream.

Assembly
Pipe a small mound of creme fraiche frosting on top of each cupcake using a plain round tip, or a Ziploc bag. It doesn’t have to be perfect. Using a small spoon or butter knife, insert the tip into the very top of the frosting and turn in a circular motion while pushing down to make an indentation, or pocket, in the frosting (see photo above). Fill this pocket with cooled coconut caramel sauce. Place a piece of sliced banana firmly, but gently, on top of the pocket of sauce to completely cover it. Drizzle a little bit of the sauce on top of the banana. Serve immediately.

If not serving immediately, I suggest frosting the cupcakes, and making the indentation beforehand. Store in the refrigerator. When it is time to serve, fill the indentation with the sauce and place the banana on top. Once decorated, the cupcakes are best eaten immediately.

I’m not sure how I found this recipe, it may have been FoodGawker or TasteSpotting, but as soon as I found it, I bookmarked it.  The photos from Food o’ del Mundo look fantastic, like the perfect banana bread.

The bread is spotted with chocolate chips, which isn’t much of a surprise, but it also includes the addition of crystallized ginger, which definitely surprised me!  I had never had crystallized ginger before so I made this recipe a high-priority.

And it is definitely delicious, I think.  The ginger keeps this bread interesting.  I couldn’t decide if I liked it or not, actually.  I definitely did not like the crystallized ginger by itself, but it did taste okay in the bread.  I probably would not choose to add crystallized ginger to banana bread again, however.  For a different sort of taste experience though, this bread is definitely a winner.

For our second quick bread, let’s go with coconut bread, from Almost Bourdain.  I probably found this recipe on FoodGawker or TasteSpotting as well, but can’t be for sure.  All I knew about it was that it look fabulous and moist and that I had to make it.

In fact, it was so delicious that this was the only photo I could manage to take of it.  That’s a dessert cookbook in the background, in case you were wondering.  This coconut bread tasted amazing with a cup of coffee.  It is now officially my new favorite quick bread – move over, banana bread!

For this coconut bread, I did not follow the recipe word-for-word.  First, I decided to use 150ml skim milk, and 150ml coconut milk, instead of “300ml milk”.  Next, I used 2 cups of all-purpose flour, but used 1/2 cup of almond meal to make up the “2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour”.  For the shredded coconut, I had to use some desiccated coconut that I had leftover in the pantry, because I didn’t have quite enough shredded coconut.  I also did not use the butter or icing sugar that the original recipe suggested for serving.

My bread baked up beautiful and moist, I absolutely loved it and will definitely be making this one again.

What’s your favorite quick bread?

Sources
Banana bread with chocolate chips and crystallized ginger: Food o’ del Mundo
Jamaican coconut bread: Almost Bourdain

In this particular case, I was at the library browsing through the small selection of back issues of delicious. magazine.  That’s when I saw it.  A photo on the cover of November 2009′s issue that looked like a stack of Heaven with Heaven sauce and Heaven cream and a scattering of Heaven thrown on top.  I clutched on to it immediately.

What was actually on the cover was a beautifully arranged stack of 3 coconut pancakes. In between the layers was a hearty creamy dollop of creme fraiche and sliced bananas. From the very top of the stack of pancakes, caramel sauce drizzled down and scattered about the stack was shredded coconut and a dusting of icing sugar.

Oh. My. God. The photo looked fantastic. And then, I made it for myself.

My stack looks sort of similar to the photo on the cover, but it doesn’t have the elegance that the cover photo did!  But in the end, it didn’t matter to me one single bit what it looked like, because this is one of the most delicious stacks of pancakes I have ever eaten.  Ever.

Let’s start with the caramel sauce.  It is drop-dead easy to make – just throw the ingredients into a saucepan and simmer for a few minutes.  And it’s super sweet.  But that’s okay, because the tang from the creme fraiche balances everything out perfectly.

What you’ll find most time-consuming is that the eggs for the pancakes are separated.  The yolks are whisked along with the regular ingredients (milk, flour, baking powder, etc.) and the whites are whisked to stiff peaks then gently folded into the batter.  I used my stand mixer to do that because I don’t have the patience to do it by hand (unlike Jonathan on MasterChef Australia, have you seen that guy whisk egg whites?  Wow, he’s like a human KitchenAid!).

Anyway, you’ll get about 9 pancakes.  Divide them up into groups of three, layer with a dollop of creme fraiche and sliced bananas, give the caramel sauce a stir, then drizzle over the pancakes.  Lastly, dust the whole plate with icing sugar and sprinkle with shredded coconut.  And there you have it, one of the most divine, heavenly, indulgent dishes you could ever have the pleasure of eating.

My pictures just don’t do it justice, really.

Just a quick tip – I had to whisk my creme fraiche to get it all nice and creamy, otherwise it was firm, like a block of tofu.  It was the first time I have ever had creme fraiche.  I could never eat this stuff on its own, it packs quite a tangy punch for me, but it was perfect with these pancakes.

Coconut Pancakes With Caramel Sauce, Bananas And Creme Fraiche
Adapted from delicious. magazine, November 2009
Serves 3-4

Ingredients
4 eggs, separated
1 cup (250ml) coconut milk
1 cup (150g) plain flour, sifted
1 teaspoon baking powder, sifted
3 ripe bananas
Unsalted butter, melted, to grease
Creme fraiche, icing sugar and shredded coconut, to serve

Caramel sauce:
50g unsalted butter, cut into cubes
1/2 cup firmly packed (100g) brown sugar
3 tablespoons golden syrup
150ml thickened cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Method
For caramel sauce, stir all ingredients in a pan over low heat to dissolve sugar, then simmer for 5 minutes, until thickened. Set aside.

For pancakes, place egg yolks, coconut milk and a pinch of salt in a bowl and whisk until combined. Gently fold in the sifted flour and baking powder. Mash 1 banana and fold in to combine. In another bowl, whisk egg whites to stiff peaks, then fold into the batter.

Heat a non-stick frypan over medium-low heat and brush with butter. Using a heaped tablespoon of batter for each pancake, add 3-4 spoonfuls to pan and cook for 2-3 minutes each side until golden and cooked. Keep warm, while continuing with the remaining batter to make a total of 9 pancakes.

Slice remaining bananas. Arrange the pancakes in stacks on serving plates, alternating with banana slices and creme fraiche. Drizzle with caramel sauce, then dust with icing sugar and sprinkle with coconut.

To Valli Little, the creator of these pancakes – YOU ROCK!

Here’s the photo from the cover of the magazine that made me fall in love:

See what I mean?

Being a foodie, I also really love Australia’s native herbs and spices, such as wattleseed, lemon myrtle, mountain pepper and bush tomato, to name a few.  I’ve never cooked with any of these native spices before but now that I’m here for good I would really love to experience these herbs and spices that you can only find in Australia.

Luckily, my husband grows a variety of plants in the garden, including a lemon myrtle tree.  He picked some leaves from the tree earlier this week for my first experiment in baking with Australian native spices.

I thought I’d have to wait weeks for the leaves to dry, but I found a very helpful post from Simple Daily Recipes on how to dry basil in the microwave.  It looked so easy and quick that I decided to try this on the lemon myrtle leaves.

All you need to do is wash and dry the leaves, lay them in a single layer on a paper towel straight on the microwave’s glass plate, cover the leaves with another paper towel, then microwave on high for one minute.  Check the leaves for brittleness, then microwave at intervals of 20-30 seconds until they break with gentle pressure.  For more detailed instructions, visit Simple Daily Recipes.

Next you’ll need to ground the leaves into a very fine powder.  For this I recommend a mortar and pestle.  The smell of the lemon myrtle while doing this is wonderful and very lemony.  Not all of the leaves ground down very well, so I sifted the powder through a fine mesh colander to separate the bigger pieces that didn’t grind down.

After finishing up the lemon myrtle, I started on the cupcakes.  I chose the flavor of coconut to accompany the lemon myrtle.  The cake recipe is one I have used before from Ina Garten:

And they are the same ones that you see in the photo of me on the “About” page.  What I did differently was add 2 teaspoons of ground lemon myrtle to the flour mixture.

I must take this opportunity to state how much I miss my KitchenAid stand mixer.  I have a Breville stand mixer here, and it’s good, but it is NOT a KitchenAid.  Most of all, I miss my Beater Blade.  I have to constantly stop the mixer and scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl; how annoying!

Anyway, I made a lemon myrtle sugar syrup to drizzle on the top of each cupcake.  I poked holes in the tops of the cupcakes with a fork to make sure the syrup would drip down inside of the cupcake.  I decided to make the sugar syrup because I wasn’t totally sure about how strong (or not strong) the lemon flavor would be in the cake.

To frost the lemon myrtle cupcakes, I wanted a coconut cream cheese frosting that had coconut milk or cream.  I found just what I wanted at Good Eats ‘n Sweet Treats.  After frosting the cupcakes, I coated each one in sweetened, shredded coconut.

I couldn’t wait to taste these!  They are really nice and not too sweet.  It’s not a cupcake for kids; it’s the sort of cupcake you’d serve with tea or coffee for a morning or afternoon snack with a friend, if that makes any sense!  The lemon myrtle taste isn’t too strong; it’s more of a hint of lemon, while the coconut is actually the stronger flavor.

Overall, these are some lovely cupcakes and a great effort for my first baking experience with an Australian native spice!  I invited the neighbors over for morning tea to sample of these cupcakes and they really enjoyed them.  I even sent them home with the leftovers!

Lemon Myrtle Coconut Cupcakes
Adapted from Ina Garten
Makes approximately 14 cupcakes

Ingredients
170g unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
3 extra-large eggs, room temperature
3/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3/4 teaspoon pure almond extract
1 1/2 cups flour
2 teaspoons ground lemon myrtle
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 cup buttermilk
100g sweetened, shredded coconut

Method
Preheat the oven to 325F (160C).

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar on high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. With the mixer on low speed, add the eggs, 1 at a time, scraping down the bowl after each addition. Add the vanilla and almond extracts and mix well.

In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, lemon myrtle, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In 3 parts, alternately add the dry ingredients and the buttermilk to the batter, beginning and ending with the dry. Mix until just combined. Fold in coconut.

Line a muffin pan with paper liners. Fill each liner evenly with batter. Bake for 20-25, until the tops are brown and a toothpick comes out clean. Allow to cool in the pan for 15 minutes. Remove to a baking rack and cool completely.

Lemon Myrtle Sugar Syrup
Adapted from Lemon Myrtle Australia
Makes approximately 2/3 cup

Ingredients
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup water
1/2-3/4 teaspoons ground lemon myrtle
juice from half of a lemon

Method
Bring all ingredients to the boil stirring until sugar is dissolved. Strain lemon myrtle from syrup. Poke holes into the cupcakes with a fork, then either dip cupcakes into syrup or spoon the syrup over the cupcakes. This is best done when the cupcakes and syrup are still warm.

Coconut Cream Cheese Frosting
Adapted from Good Eats ‘n Sweet Treats
Makes enough to frost 14-16 cupcakes

Ingredients
340g cream cheese, room temperature
3/4 cup confectioners’ sugar
2 tablespoons heavy whipping cream
2 tablespoons coconut cream
1/4 teaspoon salt

Method
Using a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the cream cheese and powdered sugar in a large bowl on medium-high speed about 1 minute. Add the whipping cream, coconut cream, and salt; beat until combined. Frost cupcakes when they are completely cool.

For our vote-winner, the batica from Sugar Plum of Vanillastrawberryfields, we are required to use a fresh coconut and grate it down (which is a bit of work!) and then to let the cake batter sit for at least four hours. The recipe was a little hard to understand, mainly because it’s not made in a traditional manner, but this is what made it special. What we liked about it is that it is very unique and traditional. It was definitely a moist cake with a lovely coconut flavor. 2 out of my 5 taste-testers preferred Sugar Plum’s batica.

For our competitor, the coconut rough cupcake from Catie of Catie’s Cakes & Cookies, the extra steps were the preparation of the chocolate-coconut nests and the coconut malibu truffles. Making these two particular things is not an easy task when it is so hot; a lot of refrigeration was necessary! When all was done and everyone had messy fingers!, the taste-testers really liked the chocolate-coconut nests and the gooey-ness of the truffles. This is what made these cupcakes so special. So special in fact, that 3 out of my 5 taste-testers preferred Catie’s coconut rough cupcakes.

This means that our winner in the throwdown by just one vote is Catie of Catie’s Cakes & Cookies!

Congratulations Catie!

Once again, I want to also congratulate you again Sugar Plum and everyone else who entered their coconut cupcakes!

Cupcake Hero will now return to I Heart Cuppycakes, so stay tuned over there to see what the next Cupcake Hero theme ingredient will be.

Take a look through the entries below and choose ONE favorite only and cast your vote in the poll to the right.  Voting is open until January 2 at 11:59PM.

—Voting is now closed—

The Entries:

Coco LimeNut Cupcakes
by Catie of Catie’s Cakes & Cookies

Coconut Rough Cupcakes
by Catie of Catie’s Cake & Cookies

Put the Lime in the Coconut
by Sarah-Lyn of I Bake Cupcakes

Vegan Coconut Rum Apricot Cupcakes
by Dorothy of Fuzzykoala’s Caketastic Adventures

Snowball Cupcakes
by Alicia of The Red Deer

Brazilian Blush Cupcakes
by Rosemary

Snowball Cupcakes
by F_A of Seelensturm

Pina Colada Cupcakes
by Samantha of Sweet Remedy

Batica – A Gorgeous Rich Delicious Goan Portuguese Coconut Bolo
by Sugar of Vanillastrawberryspringfields

Coconut Cupcakes
by Christine of Whimsical Bakery

After some serious thinking and a lot of suggestions, I decided that I’d like to see COCONUT CUPCAKES in December!

I know, you were thinking I’d choose something Christmas-related, right?  Well, see, that’s the problem.  Everyone’s all cold and wearing heavy coats, it’s snowing, you can see your own breath when you go outside (at least those of us in the Northern Hemisphere).  I thought it’d be nice to use a classic tropical ingredient to make you feel like you’re relaxing on a warm ocean island in the tropics.

You can use any form of coconut in the cupcake, filling and/or frosting – coconut oil, coconut milk, coconut flour, shredded coconut.  You know the story, as long as it’s got coconut in it, you can use it!

To enter:

• Email me jamieanneATsweetestkitchen.com with your first name, blog entry link and cupcake name.  Please use this subject line:  Cupcake Hero [ingredient].
• Multiple entries welcome but please send me separate emails for each entry.
• If you haven’t already, join our Flickr group.
• Add 1-2 pictures of your cupcake to the Flickr pool with a small blurb about your cupcake. This blurb will be part of the round up on the blog so feel free to write your cupcake’s name, ingredients, baking experience and/or whatever you want. I will leave a comment on every entry so you know that I’ve received it.
• Please include a link back to this post and feel free to include any of the Cupcake Hero logos in your blog.

The deadline is December 24 at 11:59PM; voting will be from December 28-31.  I’ll also be doing the roundup, choosing who goes head-to-head with the cupcake that got the most votes AND the taste-testing.  Cupcake Hero will return to I Heart Cuppycakes in January.

For more information on Cupcake Hero, read the 411 and FAQ at I Heart Cuppycakes.

PLEASE NOTE! I will be moving from Indiana, USA to Sydney, Australia at the end of November.  Please go ahead and email your entries to me, and submit your photos to the Flickr group, but be aware that I cannot immediately respond until I get the computer and internet set up once I’m back in Sydney, which should be around the late part of the first week of December.

I’m looking forward to seeing those coconut cupcakes, and thanks for visiting me for Cupcake Hero this month! 

Mine are nowhere near as cute as Martha’s – they are very easy to make, but the hardest part for me was piping those tiny beaks.  I don’t have a small leaf tip, so I made one from a Ziploc bag, reinforced with tape.  Maybe that was my problem!

I did not use the vanilla cupcake recipe or the chocolate buttercream from Martha’s instructions.  I used Billy’s vanilla cupcake recipe, and Martha’s basic buttercream recipe (both recipes divided in half).  I’ve made Billy’s vanilla cupcake recipe before, but this is the first time I’ve got to taste them – I love them!  I’ve been having a hard time finding a good vanilla cupcake recipe, but I really really like this one.

I would like to try to make these again sometime, they really are super cute (well, Martha’s are, anyway!) and I’d like to perfect the beak-piping technique!