Can I be honest here? I am not a fan of coconut. But I knew my son would enjoy this, as would Mr. MarthaandMe’s office, so I made Martha’s Coconut Cupcakes, from her cupcake book, as part of the MS Cupcake Club. The cupcake part wasn’t a problem (once I threw myself on the mercy of the grocery store customer service desk to please locate the unsweetened coconut milk – it ended up being in the Thai section but they didn’t have unsweetened so I bought “lite”), but the frosting just about killed me. How hard can frosting be? Apparently quite challenging. First of all, let me explain I was not completely together as I made this. I had just read an ultrasound report regarding an immediate family member and was waiting (and waiting, and waiting) for a call from a Dr. I thought baking would distract me. Clearly, I was not together enough to do this.
I’ve made Martha’s 7 minute frosting before without a problem, but this time I just couldn’t do it. First of all, I thought I would experiment and see if I could use white Egg Beaters (not the yellow kind that are supposed to substitute for eggs) instead of egg whites. That was a failure, so I got out the eggs. Somehow I got yolk mixed in with the whites and had to throw it all out. So for the third batch, I had the whites in the bowl and was mixing them. The sugar was boiling and was almost to the temp I needed. Then the phone rang. I was waiting for the Dr so I turned it off and answered it. Not the Dr. I tried again, heating it up and beating the eggs and just when I reached the right temp, you guessed it, the phone rang AGAIN. And again, not the Dr. So I heated it up a third time and this time successfully got it mixed into the egg whites. No surprise, of course, that this was just a bowl of liquid glop. It never set up as frosting. I finally gave up (really, I wanted to hurl it across the kitchen but I restrained myself). I dipped the tops of the cupcakes in the frosting liquid and then pressed the tops into the coconut. I got enough frosting to at least get the coconut to stick.
They actually look pretty good I think. I did choke a bite down just to sample this. It didn’t taste much like coconut (once I scraped the flaked coconut off the top). So that is my tale of the coconut cupcakes!
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They look fabulous and I’ll bet Mr. Martha’s office will love them. (Hope all is well on the family front.)
Naw – I wouldn’t have been a good fit on that show. I am not a head over heels Martha worshipper.
Thanks. Anything I send to Mr. MarthaAndMe’s office disappears quickly.
Your picture is so cute!
I had trouble with the frosting, too. My 7 Minute Frosting took more like 14 minutes!
Thanks for baking along with my choice this month, even though you don’t like coconut! 🙂
The exact same thing happened to my frosting! Yours look pretty though.
They look great, and I actually have had issues with the 7-minute frosting before too! It scares me to say the least so I went with a pineapple coconut cream cheese frosting! Try it!
That sounds really good
Some people used meringue powder instead of eggs – I wonder if that makes it work better.
Wow! quite the undertaking there with the frosting. Sorry it didn’t work out so great. I tried making meringue with eggwhite eggbeaters a couple years ago and it was such a horrible experience!
They still look great!
Sounds like some of my days in the kitchen. Not Fun!!
but your cuppys look lovely.
Funny story…but not for you. I hope your family member is okay.
But, if it’s any consolation, your cupcakes look great.
Wow. I would have given up after the first time. I used meringue powder and it was still a bit difficult, but successful.
Must have just been a bad day for cooking–my cupcakes had problems too! Love your blog, just spent 30 delightful minutes reading it. Love your honest approach. Your on my reader!
Thank you for stopping by and reading!
They do look good, though! Yum!
sorry it was so hard! i also found the coconut milk in the asian section of the grocery after looking everywhere else. I thought these were AMAZING though
Your cupcakes turned out beautiful despite your struggles. I hope everything turns out OK with your family member. Baking can be an escape from a stressful day.
Your cupcakes look really good. At least you tried to make the frosting to distract you — i didnt even bother.
What, you are not going to tell us about the Dr. finally calling???? Okay, well, your cupcakes look lovely, and we thought they were the best EVER and love coconut, so these will be a repeat, like probably today at some point to use up the rest of that coconut milk as I only made half a batch. I love hearing everyone’s kitchen adventures each week…kind of fun to hear what goes on in other kitchens!
Sorry for all your frosting troubles! I think they look really pretty though.
I think that your cupcakes look so pretty! I agree that the coconut was fairly mild.
Thank you. They did look pretty.
these look absolutely delish and my son, a coconut fanatic, would adore these…think we might give them a go for an upcoming benefit bakesale…
Oh goodness! You had quite a day in the kitchen. I’m glad you persevered – your cupcakes look terrific!
Hope you get good news from the doctor!
all i can say is, good on you for trying & trying again! and a note to myself: make this frosting outside of normal business hours and while the kids are asleep, as interruptions are not very kind to this frosting!
Lovely looking results though, hun.
I think these are a hit for coconut lovers, but try another frosting!
Had some of these on Thursday. They where moist and hit the spot!! Thank you!
Now that you’re feeling better, you really must try these again. Despite your problems with it, they look and sound really yummy!