Think Coconut Cream Pie but in a cupcake form. They have a pie crust, sweet coconut cupcake filled with a coconut cream pie pudding and topped with a beautiful coconut buttercream frosting.
Preheat oven to 400°F. Using a small glass with an opening about the same size of the bottom of a cupcake, cut the dough into rounds. You’ll need 24.
Place milk and sugar in two small bowls. Brush both sides of pie crust rounds with milk and place on a greased baking sheet. Sprinkle each round with sugar.
Bake for about 5 to 6 minutes. They will not be completely cooked at this point. Watch them carefully because they burn easily. Place on a cooling rack.
Cupcakes
Preheat oven to 350°F. In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt in one bowl. Combine milk, half and half, vanilla extract and coconut extract in another bowl.
Add butter and sugar to a mixing bowl and beat on low speed until smooth. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing in between.
Add about ¼ of the flour bowl ingredients to the butter, sugar and egg mixture and mix on low. Add about 1/4 of the milk bowl ingredients to the butter, sugar and egg mixture on low. Alternate like this until all the ingredients are added and the batter is smooth.
Place one pie crust round at the bottom of each of the cupcake liners.
Fill cupcake liners almost to the top. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes. Cool in the pan for 5 minutes and then transfer to a cooling rack.
Coconut Cream Pie Filling
Prepare according to package directions and let cool.
Coconut Buttercream
Cream butter with a mixer on low. Slowly increase the speed to medium.
Add sugar, one cup at a time, on low speed. Add vanilla extract, coconut extract and salt. Beat on low till combined.
Turn speed up to medium high and beat for about 5 minutes, until it’s whipped, smooth and creamy.
To Assemble
Using an apple corer or a paring knife, cut out a circle for the filling in the centre of each cupcake. Be careful to not go down too far or you’ll cut into the pie crust bottom. Save the cupcake piece you removed for step 3.
Fill cupcakes with coconut cream pudding.
Place the small cupcake piece you removed to close the top of the cupcake.
Using an icing bag and tip, frost the cupcakes. Sprinkle with toasted coconut if desired.