a cure for a crummy day

well, more like a band-aid. this was a special kind of crummy. the kind that combines a hateful migraine with piercing toddler wails, a messy house and an improvident trip to the market. ever had one of these? the market was by far its crowing moment, since i forget my wallet at home and their stupid machine kept refusing my check. a nice person who works there gave zhara a cookie to prevent bleeding ears in other shoppers, which she sneezed all over my glasses as i was fixing her scarf.
so it was nice to come home to these.

i made mini cupcakes because they're toddler-friendly and as a part of my ongoing Battle against Large Portions. fact is, we could use some dieting around here, but we're simply not able to resist food. any food. so at least we should rationalize how much of it we eat. yes, we should. in real life however, these filled my kitchen with an unbearably tempting aroma as they baked. i'm sad to report some of them never got to meet their frosting. some never even got to Be Cool. they are weightless and fluffy, especially when consumed the same day. be sure to cover if you have leftovers, as they will dry some if you don't.

1 1/4 cups/150 gr flour

1/2 ts baking powder

1/4 ts baking soda

pinch salt

1 1/4 sticks salted butter/140 gr

1 cup/250 gr sugar

2 eggs

3/4 ts vanilla extract

1/2 ts coconut extract

2/3 cups/150 ml coconut milk

3/4 cups coconut flakes, optional

preheat oven to 350F. mix the flour with the baking powder, soda and a pinch of salt and set aside.

cream the butter with the sugar until very pale and fluffy, about 10 minutes. add the eggs one at a time, then add the flavors. slowly mix in the coconut milk and the dry ingredients until just incorporated. fill your paper cups no more than 2/3, they will rise a bit. yields a dozen cupcakes, or in my case 24 mini and 6 regular size.

the before and after photo:

i left out the topping: i'm not much for anything that calls for cups of powdered sugar. use your favourite one or whip 1 cup cream + 2 tb powdered sugar + 1 ts coconut extract + some pink coloring. pink tastes better. and some heart-shaped confetti won't hurt.

notice the remarkable restraint in decorating, as i mostly tend to pile it on: