Cupcakes with coconut icing

Ingredients:

Cupcakes

• 2 tbsp. + 2 tbsp. premium flour
• 1 cup of sugar
• 0.5 cups golden brown sugar, firmly sprinkled
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• 1 teaspoon fine salt
• 0.5 tsp ground cinnamon
• 0.5 tsp ground cardamom
• 1/4 tsp ground allspice
• 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 3/4 cup sour milk
• 1 tbsp molasses
• 1.5 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs, separate the whites from the yolks
• Sweetened coconut flakes, for garnish
• Strawberries for decoration

Glaze

• 1/4 cup butter at room temperature
• 3.5 cups sifted powdered sugar
• 1/4 cup coconut milk
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 0.5 tsp coconut extract (optional)

Preparation:

1. Preheat oven to 190°C and line 2 muffin tins with 18 paper cups.
2. In a large bowl, sift together flour, 0.5 cup granulated sugar, brown sugar, baking powder, salt and spices.
   
   Make a well in the flour mixture and pour in the vegetable oil, sour milk, molasses, and vanilla. Beat with a mixer for 1 minute. Add the yolks and beat for another minute.
3. In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites with a mixer fitted with clean beaters until foamy. Gradually add the remaining 0.5 cups of sugar and beat until stiff peaks form. Gently fold the whites into the batter and spoon the mixture into the muffin tins.
4. Bake for 15 to 18 minutes, or until the cupcakes spring back when lightly pressed. Let them cool.
5. GlazeBeat the butter until fluffy. With the mixer on low speed, beat in half the powdered sugar, then add the coconut milk. Next, beat in the vanilla and coconut extracts (see note*) and the remaining powdered sugar. If the icing is too runny, add a little more powdered sugar, and if it's too thick, a little more coconut milk. Spread the icing on the cupcakes and decorate with coconut flakes or coconut curls (see note*).
   
   Decorating Tips *
   
   Cupcakes can also be decorated with long coconut curls, cut from the coconut flesh with a vegetable peeler. Place the curls on a parchment-lined baking sheet, sprinkle generously with powdered sugar, and bake in the oven at 180°C (350°F) for 10 minutes. Cool and decorate the cupcakes.
   
   The use of flavorings like rum or coconut extract is purely a matter of taste. Artificial flavors, unlike natural extracts, can sometimes impart too much flavor to desserts (in the case of coconut extract, if you add too much, your dessert will smell like suntan lotion)..