I know it’s 7:30pm in the States and the day after Valentine’s Day in Australia but I am physically incapably of letting a holiday pass without making a corresponding dessert. I think it may be a problem. Chronic Seasonalbakingaholic? Sure, that sounds about right.

For this Valentine’s Day, I wanted to make something a little different. EVERYONE makes red velvet something or other. I’m totally guilty of that as last year I made Red Velvet Nutella Breakfast Rolls in the shape of hearts. (side note: the Aussies say “Love heart” when describing the traditional Valentines Day heart…weirdos). They were to die for. I think I had a dreams about those breakfast rolls for days after. BUT, they were kind of cliche.

So this year, I decided to branch out a little and leave the red velvet for others (my pancakes were technically not red velvet since they don’t have food dye…even though you could easily add it). I decided to go for passionfruit since you want passion for Valentine’s Day? Get it? Get it? Cool. And thanks to this handy cook book I got for Christmas (thanks Matt!), I know that passionfruit and coconut pair well together. Thus, the Coconut Passionfruit Cupcake with Coconut Milk Buttercream was born.

Coconut Passionfruit Cupcake with Coconut Milk Buttercream Frosting
veganized from SBS.com.au
makes approximately 15

cake ingredients:

• 1½ cups self-raising flour
• ½ cup shredded coconut, sweetened or unsweetened, whichever you prefer.
• ¾ cup coconut milk
• ¼ cup passionfruit pulp (approximately 3–4 large passionfruit)
• ¾ cup vegan butter, room temperature
• ¾ cup sugar
• 2 Ener-G eggs

Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F). Whisk together the flour and coconut in bowl, set aside. Combine the coconut milk and passionfruit pulp in a small jug and set aside. Whisk together the vegan eggs and set aside.

Cream butter for 1–2 minutes until light and fluffy. Add the caster sugar a third at a time and beat for 1–2 minutes after each addition.

Add 1/2 the egg mixture and beat for 1 minute. Add the rest and beat for 1 minute.

Add ⅓ of the flour and coconut and beat on low until just combined. Add half of the coconut milk and passionfruit mixture and beat until combined. Repeat this again and then finish with the final third of the flour and coconut. Do not over beat the mixture or it will become tough.

Line cupcake pans with papers and fill liners 3/4 full. Bake for 15–20 minutes or until skewer comes out clean when tested. Allow cool on a cake cooler.