Coconut Mango Cupcakes

These Coconut Mango Cupcakes are soft and fluffy and filled with tangy mango curd for a tropical dessert you’ll love!

A couple of weeks ago my office threw a party to say farewell to my boss and in honor of her new life in Hawaii (she isn’t missing us nearly as much as we’re missing her!) we had a luau. I wanted to do something special for her because she has been such an amazing person to work with so I volunteered to make the cake. I knew I wanted tropical flavors and the first thing that came to mind was the coconut cake recipe that I’ve shared with you guys.

I love it when I’m able to take a much loved recipe and put a new spin on it with the addition of a few added flavors. What this cake recipe needed to really make it tropical was mango curd. Seriously, this stuff is delicious. It is just tart enough to offset the sweetness of the cake and frosting and honestly, I could eat it by the spoonful.

Now, for the party I made a three layer “naked” cake, by naked I mean I didn’t put a lot of frosting on the outside, and I covered it with dried jasmine flowers. It was beautiful and delicious (pardon the picture but my office isn’t really made for food photography) and there wasn’t much left when it was all over. I was thinking of you guys and I wanted to share this recipe with you along with pictures to make your mouth water so I went home and baked up a batch of cupcakes. I figured you probably don’t have that many occasions where you’ll be making a three layered cake BUT cupcakes…well you can make those any time right? 😉

These delicate little cupcakes are filled with the mango curd and bursting with flavor. If you want to bring out the coconut flavor more you can dust the tops of the cupcakes with the same fresh coconut called for in the original cake recipe, or you can make it all about that mango curd and leave the coconut off. You still get a hint of the flavor from the cream of coconut in the cupcake batter.

Servings: 24

Prep Time: 30 minutes mins

Cook Time: 45 minutes mins

Total Time: 1 hour hr 15 minutes mins

Coconut Mango Cupcakes

Print Recipe

5 from 3 votes

Ingredients

Mango Curd

• 7.5 ounces Mango, fresh or frozen, cubed
• 1/4 cup Sugar
• 3 egg yolks
• 1.5 tablespoons Lime Juice
• 1/4 teaspoon gelatin powder
• 2 tablespoons Butter, unsalted

Cupcakes

• 1 box White cake mix
• 8 ounces Sour cream
• ¼ cup Vegetable oil
• 3 Eggs
• 8 ½ ounces Cream of Coconut, such as Coco López
• Fresh coconut, shredded (optional)

Frosting

• 3 cups Powdered sugar
• 1/2 cup Butter, softened
• 1 1/2 teaspoon Vanilla
• 1-2 tablespoon Milk

Instructions

Mango curd

• Place the mango and sugar in a blender and puree until it is smooth.
• Pour the mango puree into a saucepan and cook over medium-high heat until the mixture is hot but not boiling.
• Whisk the egg yolks together in a large non-reactive bowl and in a separate small bowl mix add the lime juice and sprinkle the gelatin over it to let it dissolve.
• When the mango puree is ready add it to the egg yolks very slowly, whisking constantly. Then pour the mixture back into the saucepan and cook over medium-high heat, stirring constantly until the mixture thickens, 5-7 minutes. Note: You can tell when it is thick enough by dragging your spoon through it. If it leaves a trail in the mango curd then it is ready.
• When the curd is thick enough remove it from the heat and stir in the gelatin mixture and the cold butter stirring until everything is dissolved.
• Pour the curd through a fine mesh strainer into a glass bowl. This will remove any bits of egg that may have cooked in the heat. Then cover the curd placing plastic wrap directly against the surface of the curd and put it in the refrigerator until it has cooled completely and firmed up enough to spread, at least 3 hours.
• Note: This makes a lot of mango curd. If you have more than you can use you can freeze it for later or just fold it into some whipped cream and eat it throughout the week….don’t judge me!

Cupcakes

• Heat oven to 350°F
• Mix cake mix, sour cream, vegetable oil, eggs, and cream of coconut in a large bowl.
• Pour cake batter into a greased muffin tin filling each tin 1/2 full.
• Bake approximately 30 minutes at 350°F or until you can put a toothpick in the center and it comes out clean.
• Cool completely.

Frosting

• In a mixing bowl beat the butter until it is creamy.
• Slowly add the powdered sugar until it is thoroughly mixed together.
• Add vanilla and 1 tablespoon of milk and keep mixing.
• Add more milk until you reach the texture you want.

Assembly

• Cut a small core out of each cupcake and fill with the mango curd.
• Place the top of the core back on top of the cupcake.
• Frost the cupcake and if you want to add a little extra coconut flavor sprinkle it over the frosting.

Nutrition

Serving: 1cupcake, Calories: 317kcal, Carbohydrates: 44g, Protein: 2g, Fat: 14g, Saturated Fat: 10g, Cholesterol: 62mg, Sodium: 215mg, Potassium: 76mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 34g, Vitamin A: 365IU, Vitamin C: 3.8mg, Calcium: 67mg, Iron: 0.8mg

Nutrition Disclaimer: We are not certified nutritionists. Nutrition facts are an estimate and are provided as a courtesy. They are generated by an online API which recognizes ingredient names and amounts and makes calculations based on the serving size. Results may vary.

Author: Kat Jeter & Melinda Caldwell

Course: Dessert

I hope you enjoy them as much as I did!