cupcakes with graham cracker crust and coconut cream icing

while there’s no shortage of cupcake blogs in the blogosphere (i hate that word), i thought i would throw my cupcake hat in the cupcake ring and share my favorite (and really, the only cupcake i make). i’ve combined the graham cracker crust of a pie with the fluffy goodness of a cake and topped with coconut buttercream frosting.

i’m not a big fan of dainty cupcakes. you know the ones i’m talking about – small, moist looking mouthfuls of cake with a dollop of frosting on top. sure, they’re beautiful and they may taste incredible, but eating them, i can’t help feeling a little ripped off. for me, a cupcake should be a full cake, just condensed to a size you can safely carry around with you. it should take more than two bites to finish. and when you’re done, you should want more, but fear that a second one might overload your pleasure receptors and possibly send you into diabetic shock. my friends, these are cupcakes of which you can eat only one a day for fear of your life.

a word of advice: i would say that you should jump on baking these up immediately, but if you live in an area that is experiencing late spring/summer, you may have some issues frosting these bad boys. in washington dc, summer hits pretty quickly and unrelentingly, and my apartment hit about 92 F (AC in my building was broken) as i tried to assemble the cupcakes. it became a fairly tedious process of chilling the frosting, icing a few cupcakes and getting them into the fridge quickly. the frosting had to be chilled every five minutes or the temperature caused it to melt all over the place and make a huge delicious mess. with that out of the way, BAKE THESE IMMEDIATELY! after you taste them, i’ll leave it up to you whether you want to share with your friends or keep them your little abrosial secret.

cupcakes with graham cracker crust and coconut icing
i cobbled this recipe together from several others i found around the internet. this is not a cupcake for the faint of heart – the cake itself is dense and sweet, but delicate and crumbly. get ready to write this recipe down for your friends.

makes about 32 cupcakes.

cupcakes
2 1/4 sticks unsalted butter at room temperature
2 2/3 cups sugar
6 large eggs at room temperature
1 cup sour cream at room temperature
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
3 cups flour
1/3 cup cornstarch
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda

graham cracker crust
2 cups crushed graham crackers crumbs (about 12 crackers)
1/2 cup melted butter

coconut icing
1 1/2 sticks butter at room temperature
1/8 cup milk
1/2 tsp vanilla
2 cups powdered sugar
1 1/2 cups shredded coconut

1. to make the crust, combine the graham cracker crumbs with the melted butter and scoop into muffin pans with paper liners.

2. to make the cupcakes, cream the butter and sugar with an electric mixer on high until light and fluffy. add the eggs, two at a time, then add the sour cream and vanilla. stir until smooth.

3. in a separate bowl, combine the flour, cornstarch, salt and baking soda. with the mixer on low, add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients until just combined.

4. fill the cupcake liners about 2/3 full with batter and bake at 350 F for about 25 minutes. the cupcakes should be golden and an inserted toothpick should come out clean. cool to room temperature.

5. to make the icing, beat the butter briefly add the powdered sugar, milk and vanilla, beating until smooth. add the coconut a bit at a time until combined. spread on the cupcakes once they have cooled.