Coconut Cupcakes with Lime Buttercream Frosting

...and we're back to lime and coconut. They just seem to meet up in so many good ways. I made these cupcakes for a friend who just had a baby. The next day she emailed to say she and her husband played a game of guess-the-ingredients. They wanted to know if Sprite was in there. I had to admit no, but I could see where they got that. The cupcakes are sweet, fresh, and slightly coconutty (next time I might add some coconut extract with the vanilla.) And the frosting is OUT OF THIS WORLD. I wished I had doubled it so I had extra for graham cracker sandwiches. Or to eat with a spoon. Or to just lick off my fingers. If you're looking for a simple but elegant and out-of-the-ordinary dessert, you have just found it.

Now. A word about potato starch, which is an ingredient. I'd never cooked with it before, and I'm not totally sure what it does. It's similar to cornstarch. But I had to get some for the recipe so I called my grocery store to find out if they had it, and where it was. Because who's got time to hunt something like that down? It could be anywhere! The recipe suggested it would be in my baking aisle, but I'm glad I called the store because they said it was in the international aisle, near the British and kosher foods. Looks like this:
Interesting stuff. The two recipes on the back are for sponge cake and raisin sauce (that apparently goes on meat.) As it says on the label, it can be subbed for cornstarch. Which makes me ask why I couldn't have just used cornstarch in the recipe and saved myself the trip and $5. But now I'll never know because I have this big can of potato starch so I'll just use it every time I make these cupcakes. Let me know if you want to borrow some.

Coconut Cupcakes with Lime Buttercream Frosting
Cupcakes:
Cooking spray
4.5 ounces all-purpose flour (about 1 cup, but really do weigh it if you have a kitchen scale)
3 tablespoons potato starch
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons butter, softened
1 large egg
1 large egg white
2/3 cup fat-free milk
2 tablespoons flaked sweetened coconut
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Frosting:
3 tablespoons butter, softened
1 teaspoon half-and-half
1/2 teaspoon grated lime rind
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
4.75 ounces powdered sugar, sifted (about 1 1/3 cups)

1. Preheat oven to 350°.

2. To prepare cupcakes, place 2 muffin cup liners in each of 12 muffin cups; coat liners with cooking spray.

3. Weigh or lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Combine flour and next 3 ingredients (through salt) in a small bowl; stir with a whisk.

4. Combine 3/4 cup sugar and 2 tablespoons butter in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until blended (mixture will be the consistency of damp sand). Add egg and egg white, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add flour mixture and milk alternately to egg mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Fold in coconut and vanilla.

5. Spoon batter evenly into prepared muffin cups. Bake at 350° for 18 minutes or until cupcakes spring back when touched lightly in the center. Cool in pan 2 minutes; remove from pan. Cool completely on wire rack.

6. To prepare frosting, combine 3 tablespoons butter and next 3 ingredients (through juice) in a medium bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until smooth. Gradually add the powdered sugar, beating just until smooth. Spread about 2 1/2 teaspoons frosting onto each cupcake.

Recipe from Cooking Light, May 2009