COCONUT CHICK CUPCAKES

Coconut Chick Cupcakes image

Provided by Martha Stewart

Yield Makes 20

Number Of Ingredients 16

4 cups sweetened shredded coconut
Vegetable-oil cooking spray
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 sticks (12 tablespoons) unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 vanilla beans, halved lengthwise, seeds scraped and reserved
Finely grated zest of 2 lemons
3 large eggs
1 cup buttermilk
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
Vanilla-Bean Buttercream
1 piece (10 inches) black licorice lace, cut into 40 (1/4-inch) pieces
20 whole almonds, with skins
140 red or other candy-coated licorice pastels (about 1/3 cup), or pieces of snipped red licorice laces

Steps:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spread coconut in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet. Toast in oven, stirring often, until golden, about 15 minutes. Line 20 cups of 2 standard muffin tins with paper liners. Coat liners with cooking spray.
Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. Put butter, sugar, vanilla seeds, and zest in the bowl of an electric mixer. Beat on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, about 4 minutes. Reduce speed to medium; beat in eggs, 1 at a time. Reduce speed to low; add flour mixture in 3 batches, alternating with 2 batches of buttermilk. Beat in extract.
Scoop batter into lined muffin tins, filling each cup 3/4 full. Bake until a tester comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Let cool in tins on wire racks 10 minutes. Unmold; let cool completely.
Peel off liners. Spread buttercream on the top of 1 cupcake; invert onto a small plate. Frost sides of cupcake, then mound more on top to create a dome shape. Put coconut in a bowl. Holding plate at an angle over the bowl, press coconut into frosted top and sides of each cupcake; let excess fall back into bowl. Press in 2 pieces of licorice for eyes and 1 almond for a beak. Place 3 red licorice pastels on top for a comb and 4 at the base for feet. Repeat with remaining cupcakes.