Coconut Chick Cupcakes

• Nonstick cooking spray
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 2 vanilla beans, halved lengthwise, seeds scraped and reserved
• Finely grated zest of 2 lemons (about 2 tablespoons)
• 3 large eggs, room temperature
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• Swiss Meringue Buttercream (page 304)
• 28 ounces (four 7-ounce packages) sweetened shredded coconut, lightly toasted (see page 323)
• 1 piece black licorice lace (10 inches), cut into forty 1/4-inch pieces
• 20 whole unblanched almonds
• 1/3 cup red candy-coated licorice pastels (about 140 pieces) or 1/2- to 3/4-inch pieces of snipped red licorice laces

1. Make cupcakes: Preheat oven to 350F.
2. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners, and coat liners with cooking spray.
3. Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt.
4. With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat butter, sugar, vanilla-bean seeds, and zest until pale and fluffy.
5. Reduce speed to medium; add eggs, one at a time, beating until each is incorporated, scraping down sides of bowl as needed.
6. Reduce speed to low; add flour mixture in three batches, alternating with two additions of buttermilk.
7. Beat in vanilla extract.
8. Divide batter evenly among lined cups, filling each three-quarters full.
9. Bake, rotating tins halfway through, until a cake tester inserted in centers comes out clean, about 20 minutes.
10. Transfer tins to wire racks to cool 10 minutes; turn out cupcakes onto racks and let cool completely.
11. Decorate cupcakes: Gently peel liners off cooled cupcakes.
12. Spread buttercream on top of a cupcake; invert onto a small dish.
13. Using an offset spatula, spread buttercream over sides of cupcake, then generously spread more over inverted bottom to create a dome shape.
14. Place toasted coconut in a bowl.
15. Holding cupcake dish at an angle over the bowl, press coconut into frosted top and sides of cupcake, letting excess fall back into bowl.
16. With kitchen tweezers, press 2 black licorice pieces into each cupcake for eyes.
17. Insert an almond for a beak.
18. Arrange 3 red licorice pastels on top for the comb and 2 at either side of base for feet.
19. Cupcakes are best served the same day they are decorated; keep at room temperature.

nonstick cooking spray, allpurpose, baking powder, salt, unsalted butter, sugar, vanilla beans, lemons, eggs, buttermilk, vanilla, swiss meringue buttercream, coconut, black licorice lace, unblanched almonds, red candy

Taken from www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/coconut-chick-cupcakes-389899 (may not work)