I have been craving chocolate cake. Good chocolate cake. With good frosting. I couldn’t decide between espresso frosting, chocolate frosting, peanut butter frosting……and then all of a sudden I could just taste my coconut caramel frosting, that I haven’t made in ages. I could have sworn that I already blogged about this frosting, but I can’t find the post anywhere. So, let me just say that this frosting is just the best, creamiest, richest, yummiest stuff ever. I am not even a coconut fan. But I love this frosting so much. It’s very caramel-y….and who doesn’t like caramel? You could even add a pinch of salt, if salted caramel is your thang.  This is a great frosting for a sheet cake, cupcakes, cookie filling……or just by the spoonful. OMG. It’s very sweet and rich, so it’s not a frosting to heap on. But hey, if you wanna heap it on, then have at it!!

The first picture is the caramel coconut frosting I did awhile back, on a basic vanilla cupcake. While good, the frosting begs for a chocolate cake.

Coconut Caramel Frosted Chocolate Cupcakes

Frosting:

1 stick (1/2 cup) butter
1 cup evaporated milk
1 cup granulated sugar
3 egg yolks
1  1/2 cups shredded coconut(plus a bit extra for garnish)
1 cup toasted pecans, walnuts or almonds (chopped)
1 tsp vanilla

In a medium sauce pan, add the eggs, sugar and evaporated milk. Give it all a good whisking until it’s all blended together. Add the stick of butter and turn the heat on medium. Stir constantly and bring to a boil. Turn heat to a low boil and keep stirring while mixture boils for 12 minutes. remove from heat and add the coconut, nuts and vanilla. Allow to cool completely before frosting.

Note: I always toast a bit of a coconut to sprinkle on the frosted cupcakes.

Basic Chocolate Cake recipe

3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
3/4 cup warm water
1/2  cup sour cream
1/4  cup milk
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Preheat oven to 350°. Line standard muffin pan with paper liners. Sift cocoa powder, flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into a large bowl. Add eggs, warm water, sour cream, oil, and vanilla, and mix until smooth by hand whisk or mixer.
Divide batter among muffin cups, filling each 2/3 full. Bake until tops spring back when touched, about 15-18 minutes or until you poke a toothpick in the cake and it comes out clean. Let cool. Frost (makes 18-20 cuppies)