Chocolate Cupcake with Coconut Ganache and Coconut Frosting

A couple posts back, I posted about my favorite chocolate cupcake. I really love this recipe from The Stay at Home Chef, the cupcakes have the perfect amount of chocolate flavor and are super moist. I love chocolate, so this has become my to bake cupcake when I'm unsure of what to make. Instead of pairing it with regular buttercream, I started playing around with different filling and frosting because there are so many yummy flavors out there that would just compliment so well with chocolate. I've tried quite a few different combos since my discovery on this cupcake recipe, and I must say, this post on coconut is my best one yet!

I despised chocolate coconut sweets when I was young. Almond Joy was my worst enemy. I couldn't wrap my head around their chocolate coconut ratio, it was so off to me. Why would anyone like a chunk of gooey coconut flake in their mouths, with so little chocolate? But the older I get, the more I appreciate the compliment these two flavors do for each other. I still don't like Almond Joy (their 9:1 coconut:chocolate ratio still doesn't make sense to me), but I think there's delight when these two are balanced well in a dessert. 

This post has two recipes - one for the ganache filling and one for the frosting. If you don't want too much coconut, you should use just the coconut frosting. If you prefer a stronger coconut flavor, definitely add in the coconut ganache. This is my second time doing filling in a cupcake, so forgive me if I sound like a newbie. During my first time filling, I wasn't sure if you needed to cover the filling with what you've cored out. I didn't think much of it and ended up eating all the cake crumbs I've cored... the ganache I used was too warm and seeped through the cake, and I had to fill the holes with frosting and it just became frosting filled cupcakes. 🙊 Regarding tools to core, I didn't use any special tools like the cupcake corer or apple corer. I simply used a knife and I thought it worked fine, cause I got to control the size of the hole.  

I found the ganache recipe on Lake Champlain Chocolates. This recipe only requires 3 ingredients - white chocolate, coconut milk, and shredded coconuts. No, I did not use the actual Lake Champlain white chocolate. I don't even know where I would get that haha. I just used Nestle white chocolate chips and I thought the ganache tasted delicious. I'm not crazy picky when it comes to the quality of chocolate especially when it's in such small quantity. If you're doing truffle, however, then I think you should go for a higher quality brand. For a filling, I think your regular white chocolate chips will work just fine. I really love this ganache, it has sucha silky texture and taste to it. I was obsessed! 

As for the frosting recipe, I found it on Baked by an Introvert. It is very similar to your regular buttercream frosting, with some coconut milk added. The entire process from baking, to filling, to frosting could take a whole day. To save time, I suggest begin making the ganache when the cupcakes are cooling. Once the cupcakes have cooled, core them and make the frosting in between cupcake/ganache cooling time. Don't eat all the crumbs like I did! Haha.

Please let me know your thoughts on chocolate + coconut combo! As well as other chocolate combo flavor you like! Would love to get some new ideas :) 

Thank you for reading and happy eating! - Michelle

White Chocolate Coconut Ganache

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cooling Time: 35-45 minutes
Total Time: ~1 hr

Servings: filling for 18-20 cupcakes
Source: Lake Champlain Chocolates

Ingredients:
- 16 oz white chocolate
- 6 oz coconut milk
- 8 oz shredded, sweet coconut

Instructions:
1. Melt chocolate using a double boiler.
2. Set aside and let cool to 90 degrees.
3. Add coconut milk and mix well.
4. Set mixture aside to let it set up. Do not refrigerate.
5. Once set, warm the mixture using a double boiler.
6. Beat mixture until smooth and creamy
7. Add shredded coconut.

Coconut Frosting

Total Time: 10 minutes

Servings: 24 cupcakes
Source: Baked by an Introvert

Ingredients:
- 1 1/2 cups unsalted butter, softened
- 4-5 cups confectioners' sugar
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 4-6 Tbsp coconut milk

Instructions:
1. Cream the butter and sugar for 4-5 minutes.
2. Add confectioners' sugar slowly.
3. Add salt and coconut milk.
4. Taste and adjust texture and flavor as you see fit.

Green Tea Matcha Cookies

My Aiya matcha powder finally came! I'm so excited to finally start my long list of matcha baked goods. Did you guys know that matcha powder is not made with your regular green tea leaves? 🙅 I didn't. Apparently there's a whole different way of growing the green tea leaves that are used for matcha powder. I watched a whole video on YouTube about it, it's quite an ordeal. No wonder matcha powder isn't cheap and could have bad grades. I feel like matcha powder is the type of ingredient that you can't just buy based on price. Definitely do your research prior buying! 

First item on my matcha list is these green tea cookies I found on Just One Cookbook. I am obsessed with this blog! I could spend a whole day just reading recipes and wishing I were in Japan eating all these yummy foods. 😭 This is a simple and easy recipe. It does require refrigeration so it's a good recipe for a stay at home day.  Even though the recipe doesn't require much matcha powder, the matcha flavor is strong (could be my powder?). The recipe suggested you to roll the dough into cylinder shape and cut it into slices after refrigeration. I'm thinking you could probably roll it into a sheet and do cut outs after refrigeration as well. I am a huge fan of this recipe! The taste and texture are perfect. Definitely give it a try if you have matcha powder at home. 😉 

Thank you for reading and happy eating! - Mich

PS. According to Google, matcha powder expires after 1-2 month of opening. Put it in the fridge to extend the shelf life a bit longer. 💚

Green Tea Matcha Cookies

Prep Time: 20 minutes
Refrigeration Time: + 2 hours
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 2 hrs 35 minutes

Servings: ~24 cookies
Source: Just One Cookbook

Ingredients:
- 240 g All Purpose Flour
- 15 g Matcha Powder
- 170 g Unsalted Butter at room temperature
- 130 g confectioner's sugar
- Pinch of Salt
- 2 Large Egg Yolks
- 50 g White Chocolate Chips

Instruction:
1. Combine the flour and matcha powder, sift them in a medium size bowl.
2. Beat the unsalted butter until smooth and creamy. Add a pinch of salt and blend.
3. Add confectioner's sugar to the butter and mix until soft and light.
4. Add egg yolks and mix until combined.
5. Add the flour and matcha powder mixture and mix until the dough is smooth.
6. Fold in the white chocolate chips.
7. Take out the dough and roll it into cylinder shape, about 1.5 inches diameter.
8. Refrigerate for +2 hours.
9. Preheat oven at 350 F and prepare baking sheet with parchment paper.
10. Slice the dough into 1/2 inch slices and place them on the baking sheet.
11. Bake for about 15 minutes, until the edge of the cookies begin to brown.
12. Let cool in baking sheet for 5 minutes then let cool on cooling rack.