Citrus-Lime Cupcakes with Toasted Coconut Frosting

The brilliant ladies over at Cupcakes Take The Cake run the Cupcake Meet-Up group here in NYC. As true cupcake fans - they're always finding new flavors and new ways to enjoy my favorite snack. Next weekend is the September meet up. We're having a bake sale at the Fort Greene Brooklyn Flea to raise money for Cancer Cares, an annual fundraiser "Cupcakes for a Cause." If you're free next weekend, stop by! The flea market is beautiful and there will be soooo many cupcakes :) Heaven.


In anticipation of the big day, I've began to experiment with the cupcakes I'm thinking of contributing to the sale. Thursday night, instead of making dinner, I made a fresh batch of citrus-almond cupcakes with toasted coconut frosting. To be honest, I've never had a cupcake with ground almonds and lime before...they just happened to be in the apartment. The result was delicious! The cake had a beautiful crumble with a very subtle lime spark. To balance out the delicate cake I whipped up a thick cream cheese frosting, spotted with shredded coconut and top with even more coconut...toasted of course. The cupcakes came with me to work yesterday(my coworkers are the best taste testers, I'm very lucky)and they were a hit! Maybe these are bake sale worthy after all...

Here is my dilemma: since the weather's cooling down is a citrus-coconut cupcake too tropical? Will the shoppers like her? Would it be better to do something with pumpkin, apple, cinnamon? OH! or both? WHat are your thoughts?

Citrus-Almond Cupcakes with Toasted Coconut Frosting

FOR THE CUPCAKES
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 cups sugar
2 sticks butter
3 eggs
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
3/4 cup buttermilk
3/4 cup almond meal
Zest of 1 lime

FOR THE TOASTED COCONUT FROSTING
1 stick butter
1 pound cream cheese
2 teaspoons vanilla
3 to 5 cups confectioners' sugar
1/2 cup sweetened shredded coconut
3/4 cup sweetened shredded coconut, toasted

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a cupcake pan with paper liners.
2. Mix the flour, salt and baking soda together in a large bowl. With an electric mixer, beat the sugar and butter together until fluffy. Add eggs one at time, mixing in between each addition. Add the almond extract. Gradually add the flour mixture in three additional, alternating with the buttermilk. Fold in the almond meal and lime zest, set aside.
3. Divide batter between prepared cupcake pans . Bake for 20 mins, rotating the pan half way through baking. Remove and cool.
4. Make the Frosting: Beat butter in an electric mixer until smooth. Beat in the cream cheese and vanilla extract. Gradually add confections sugar until the frosting reaches your desired sweetness. Mix until creamy; fold in shredded coconut.
5. Frost cupcakes, sprinkle with toasted coconut. Enjoy!