Fluffy lemon frosting and a pocket of lemon filling makes these Lemon Coconut Cupcakes a bright and refreshing spring dessert! These would look great on your Easter or Mother’s day dinner tables this year.
*I am partnering with Lucky Leaf this year as a blog ambassador bringing you delicious recipes using pie filling.
It’s official. I have gone completely gaga for lemon. Well, as long as it is not overly tart. My tastebuds can only handle the lemon if it is a mild lemon flavor. Lemon treats used to not even get a second glance from me, so I have to keep taking baby steps with this flavor.
Last month I couldn’t stay out of the pan of the best lemon bars. In fact, I’m pretty sure I ate most of the bars since my husband gave up sweets for Lent, and our kids think they do not like lemon.
Baby steps are needed to get them on board with the lemon goodness too, I guess. I thought for sure the mild lemon frosting and the hidden pocket of lemon filling in these cupcakes would do the trick. Unfortunately, I still don’t have them in love with coconut, so they boycotted my attempts.
I knew I wanted to create a dessert for Lucky Leaf® using their lemon pie filling since lemon has become a flavor I like now. Don’t get me wrong, I liked it before…just not as much. I mean last year I made these lemon cheesecake rolls and ate my fair share of those too.
Lemon is just getting a little more love from me these days.
As I thought about what dessert would be the perfect way to showcase the lemon pie filling, I kept coming back to cupcakes. It has been a few months since I have done a cupcake around here, and I thought these would be the perfect flavor to carry us into spring.
For these cupcakes, I decided to marry lemon and coconut together. Both flavors are the perfect spring flavors, so why not combine them.
Coconut milk, coconut extract, coconut pudding, and shredded coconut gives these fluffy cupcakes a great coconut boost. These are not shy when it comes to coconut goodness!
After the cupcakes were baked and cooled, I cut out the center of the cupcakes and filled them with a good pocket of lemon pie filling. And yes, I did eat a few small spoonfuls of the pie filling straight from the can. It is absolutely delicious, so I couldn’t resist it.
I also added some pie filling to the frosting to give it a slight lemon flavor. A little bit of coconut and a fresh raspberry on top makes these lemon coconut cupcakes pretty enough to bring to any party or dinner.
Just make sure your friends and family have come over to the lemon side, or you will have extra cupcakes to eat by yourself….which isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
Connect more with Lucky Leaf®:
Twitter | Facebook | Pinterest
A pocket of lemon pie filling adds a fun flair to these easy coconut cupcakes. These are the perfect dessert for spring dinners.
Ingredients
- 1 white cake mix
- 1 - 3.4 ounce box instant coconut pudding
- 4 eggs
- 1/2 cup oil
- 1 cup coconut milk
- 1/2 teaspoon coconut extract
- 1/2 teaspoon rum extract
- 1 cup shredded coconut
- 1 - 21 ounce can Lucky Leaf Lemon Pie Filling, divided
- 1/2 cup butter, softened
- 1/2 cup marshmallow cream
- 1/2 cup lemon pie filling
- 5 1/2 cups powdered sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup sweetened shredded coconut
- 24 fresh raspberries
Instructions
- Mix together the cake mix, pudding mix, eggs, oil, coconut milk, and extracts. Beat on low for 1 minute, then increase speed to medium and beat 2 minutes. Stir in the shredded coconut gently.
- Divide the batter into 24 cupcake liners. Bake at 325 degrees for 22 minutes. Remove and cool completely.
- Set aside 1/2 cup lemon pie filling. Remove the center of each cupcakes and fill with the remaining pie filling.
- Beat the butter until fluffy. Add the marshmallow cream, reserved pie filling, and salt and beat again. Slowly add the powdered sugar until it is all mixed in. Swirl the frosting on top of the filled cupcakes and top with shredded coconut and a raspberry. Makes 24 cupcakes. Store in a covered container in the refrigerator.
More lemon treats for spring parties:
*This recipe was sponsored by Lucky Leaf. All opinions expressed are 100% my own. Thank you for letting me share products and brands we use and love. See my disclosure policy for more information.*
Mir says
Oooh, a fun lemon center! I can deal with the tartness if there’s a lot of sweet to counterbalance, but otherwise, I’m with you. Not too much of that tang! These are gorgeous!
Laura @ Laura's Culinary Adventures says
What a bright yummy treat for spring!
Catherine says
Dear Jocelyn, these cupcakes are so pretty! Lemon and coconut is a perfect combo…these are perfect for any spring gathering. xo, Catherine
Medha @ Whisk & Shout says
Lemon and coconut pair SO well together- tropical spring deliciousness!
Joanne says
These cupcakes are so pretty, and perfect for Spring!
Annie @ Annie's Noms says
These are SO beautiful! Love that surprise in the centre!
Stacy says
I made this yesterday for Easter, but as a cake instead of cupcakes. It was so amazingly delicious!
But I now understand why you did it as cupcakes…the top layer slides off because of the lemon curd….maybe I should have used tooth picks…
Jocelyn says
I’m glad to hear that it was at least delicious, even if your layers slid off! Keeping the lemon curd down inside the cupcakes kept it from making my frosting slide on the cupcakes!
Lisa says
I don’t use rum/rum extract in cooking. Is there a substitute I can use?
Jocelyn says
Vanilla extract would be a good substitution for these. I hope you enjoy them!