Baking for Beginners: Coconut Cupcakes with Champagne Buttercream

My best friend turns 30 in March and we're planning a 1940s party at the gorgeous little village hall where she got married. It's going to be darling. However, whilst the theme may be wartime, the nibbles most certainly won't be; and I'm getting my practice in early to ensure her party is suitably decadent.

The first recipe under scrutiny are these yummy coconut and champagne cupcakes.

You'll need:

For the cupcakes:

• 2 eggs (at room temperature)
• 175g plain flour
• Pinch of salt
• 120g unsalted butter (room temperature)
• 200g caster sugar
• 60g desiccated coconut
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
• Zest of one lime
• 120ml coconut milk
• Pinch of cream of tatar
• Tablespoon of baking powder

For the buttercream:

• 450g unsalted butter (room temperature)
• 780g icing sugar
• 4 tablespoons of Champagne

Make it!:

The cupcakes:

• Separate the eggs into two bowls.
• Beat the butter and half the caster sugar together until smooth.
• Lightly beat the egg yolks a little at the time to the butter and sugar, then add the vanilla essence and lime zest.
• In another bowl, sift the flour, salt and baking powder. Add the coconut and blend.
• Add the flour mixture, a little at a time, to the butter mix. In between adding the flour add a little of the coconut milk. Blend in a figure-of-eight making sure you get plenty of air into the mix.
• In a third bowl, whisk the egg whites, the rest of the sugar and the cream of tartar together until soft peaks begin to form.
• Fold in the egg whites to the flour and butter mix with a plastic spatula, taking time to ensure it's blended but not over-mixed.
• Divide the mixture between 12 cupcake cases and bake for 18 minutes, or until the cakes are risen and golden brown.

The buttercream:

• Blend the butter in a bowl until smooth.
• Add the icing sugar a cup at a time, sifting first.
• Once you have a smooth blend, add the champagne a tablespoon at a time and combine.
• Once the cakes are baked and cooled, ice the cakes with plenty of buttercream, using the back of a spoon. Hold the spoon and rotate the cupcake.
• Once the cake is evenly covered in frosting, bring the spoon to the centre of the cake and pull the spoon away leaving a little frosted peak.

If you want to colour your buttercream then add the colour at the same time as the champagne. Don't forget that too much liquid colouring can cause a bitter taste so look into coloured gels if you're looking for really rich colours. Oh, and also don't forget that green liquid food colouring is a big fat waste of time - if you want green use one part blue to three parts yellow.