Coconut Chick Cupcakes

Name: Coconut Chick Cupcakes
Yield: makes 20
Ingredients: Nonstick cooking spray; 3 cups all-purpose flour; 1 tablespoon baking powder; 1/2 teaspoon salt; 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature; 1 1/2 cups sugar; 2 vanilla beans, halved lengthwise, seeds scraped and reserved; Finely grated zest of 2 lemons (about 2 tablespoons); 3 large eggs, room temperature; 1 cup buttermilk; 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract; Swiss Meringue Buttercream (page 304); 28 ounces (four 7-ounce packages) sweetened shredded coconut, lightly toasted (see page 323); 1 piece black licorice lace (10 inches), cut into forty 1/4-inch pieces; 20 whole unblanched almonds; 1/3 cup red candy-coated licorice pastels (about 140 pieces) or 1/2- to 3/4-inch pieces of snipped red licorice laces

January 24, 2012

Cupcakes disguised as baby chicks are equally appropriate for a birthday party or an Easter celebration. To decorate them, the cupcakes are first inverted, then coated with generous layers of frosting and toasted coconut; features made of candy and almonds complete the disguise. Frosting anchors each cupcake onto a shallow dish to make it easier to keep the dessert in place while you finish it. If you don’t have vanilla beans, increase the amount of pure vanilla extract by one tablespoon.

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