I AM WOMAN, Watch me cook!: A WINNER and a Recipe!

Congratulations to:

Michelle!

Michelle selected Seafood Gumbo as her favourite weeknight dinner...one of my faves as well!!! Congratulations Michelle, please e-mail iamwomanwatchmecook@gmail.com to claim your prize!

This weeks recipe was inspired by a PIN I saw on PINTEREST. One of my new obsessions for finding recipe ideas! (In case you want to follow me on Pinterest..my user name is colemania)

The Pin I saw contained these beautiful cupcakes adorned with what looked like yellow flowers...when in fact they were dried pineapples!! I had to make these!!

So out came my recipe for Pineapple/Coconut Cupcakes with creamcheese frosting!!

Step 1: The Pineapple Flowers

First find a nice and ripe pineapple. Carefully cut the skin off the pineapple...leave the core intact.

Using a sharp knife or small measuring spoon, remove all the brown spots left behind. The holes end up giving the edges of the 'petals' a nice effect.

Using a very sharp knife, slice very thin slices of pineapple. Arrange the slices on a parchement paper lined baking sheet. Bake in a 225F oven for about 1.5 hours, making sure to flip the slices at the halfway point. You may need less or more time depending on your oven.

Once the pineapple slices have dried out and the edges start to brown, remove them from the oven and place each slice in a muffin tin, lightly pressing down the middle. I threw them back in the oven for about 20 minutes to dry out a little more in the tins, then placed the tins in the fridge overnight to set.

STEP 2: Cupcake Mix

In your mixer cream 1 1/2 Cups room temperature butter with 2 cups of granulated sugar on high speed. This mixture should get light and fluffy in about 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, combine your dry ingredients: 3 Cups sifted flour, 1 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp baking soda and 1/2 tsp salt. Set this aside for now.

Turn your mixer down to low and slowly add 5 eggs at room temperature 1 at a time. Make sure to scrape the bowl down after each addition. Add 1 1/2 tsp of Pure Vanilla Extract and 1 1/2 tsp of Almond Extract. Mix until combined.

In parts, alternate adding the dry ingredients and 1 cup of buttermilk to the mix. Once all have been added to the mixture, make sure you only mix until combined. DO NOT overmix this batter!

By hand, fold in 1 cup of unsweetened shredded coconut.

Spoon mixture into cupcake pans

Bake for 25-35 minutes or until the tops turn a nice golden brown as pictured above!

Allow cupcakes to cool completely.

STEP 3: PINEAPPLE FILLING

While the cupcakes are cooling you can prepare your pinapple filling.

In a saucepan combine 2 eggs + 2 egg yolks, 2 1/2 cups pure pinapple juice, 3/4 cups of granulated sugar over medium heat. Whisk to combine. Then add about 3 - 4 tablespoons of cornstarch.

Slowly whish the mixture until it starts to thicken (about 10 minutes). Remove from heat and cool. I kept mine in the fridge until I was ready to frost the cupcakes.

When the custard filling was completly cold I used a piping bag with a narrow tip to pipe the filling into the cupcakes.

STEP 4: Creamcheese frosting

For the creamcheese frosting combine 1 pound creamcheese at room temp with 1 1/2 cups of butter (also at room temp) and 1 tsp Pure Vanilla extract. Cream on low speed until smooth. Slowly add about 2 cups of Sifted Icing Sugar, adding until mixture is smooth and sweet to your taste.