Lychee Coconut Lemon Cupcakes

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You know what I am like when I have a bee in my bonnet about something. I just had to get my submission for A Fruit A Month in. Had to.

This recipe is an oldie but goodie. I added lemon zest to the cupcake batter is all. And I didn't chop the lychees up - they were like chunks. Only one taster complained about them being rubbery. I am working on a variation to this recipe cause I like to make my own twist on things.



Here is the recipe as adapted from Cupcake Bakeshop. Original cupcakes were frosted with ginger cream cheese buttercream, but I chose lemon buttercream for mine. My changes to the recipe are below.


Lychee Coconut Cupcakes

3 cups plain [all-purpose] flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups sugar
3 large eggs
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1/3 cup coconut cream
1-1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp lemon zest
240g / 8 oz canned lychee fruit, drained and chopped
1 cup fresh young coconut, chopped

1. Preheat oven to 180 (350). Line 2 12 capacity muffin trays with cupcake liners
2. Mix flour, baking soda, salt, and sugar in a medium sized bowl
3. In a separate small bowl, beat eggs to break up
4. Add oil to the eggs and mix to combine
5. Add eggs/oil to the dry ingredients, mix to combine
6. Add vanilla, lychee, lemon zest and coconut to the rest of the ingredients and mix to combine
7. Divide batter evenly into cupcake liners.
8. Bake 20 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean.
9. Allow cupcakes to cool completely before frosting.

The Verdict? Cupcake Bakeshop never steers you into a bum direction. The cupcakes are light, moist and the flavours compliment each other well.

It is well worth the bother of finding a young coconut - the flesh of young coconut is something else.

This cupcake will make you want to hop on a plane and head to the beaches of Phuket or the like to sit on the beach and drink the coconut water out of a young coconut, while peeling some fresh lychees.

What a fruit. And what a month.