Lychee coconut cupcake

Lychee coconut cupcake with coconut frosting

Canned lychee has a special fragrance that lingers in the mouth which makes me long for more. It is the taste of  childhood excesses as I down the syrupy lychee water straight from the can and sneaked to top up plain water to avoid the ire of my mum.

Years on, memories of silly, happy stuff remains ( aren’t all forbidden things so? ) and the canned fruit never stopped transporting me to the little one-room flat where happy memories were formed.

Here's a  lychee-coconut cupcake combo that will bring the good old days closer to the guts.

Makes 12 cupcakes

1.5  cups all-purpose flour ( the plain flour has provides a more robust presence to support the lychee and coconut  )

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

1/4  cup oil

140g canned lychee fruit, fully drained ( spun dry if possible ) and chopped

1/2 cup fresh coconut, grated

Preheat oven to 180 C

Mix flour, baking soda, salt, and sugar in a mixing bowl.

In a separate small bowl, beat eggs and oil.

Add eggs/oil to the dry ingredients. Mix well.

Add lychee and coconut to the rest of the ingredients and mix to combine

scoop into cups, making it 3/4 full.

Bake at 180 C for 20 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean

When cakes are sufficiently cooled, spread with lychee icing sugar and chill until ready to serve. If you are intending to keep the cupcakes, do not apply frosting  until to eat.

Icing :

The icing is a tad watery due to the fruit. To avoid this, use it as a garnish on top of an alternative cream cheese dressing.

5 lychees, fully drained and minced

2 tablespoons of cream of coconut

1 cup butter

3 cups icing sugar

Whisk butter until white and fluffy. Add icing sugar and whisk until well combined. Add coconut and lychees into the butter and blend until well combined.

Due to the presence of the coconut,  the cakes should be consumed within a few days . Keeps in the freezer for 1/2  month for optimum taste.

This post is submitted to Aspiring Bakers #5 : Fruity March (March 2011)