Blackberry Coconut Cupcakes

Tropical coconut and fresh blackberries come together beautifully in these light and dreamy cupcakes!  You'll love the combination of flavors, along with the sweet cream cheese frosting.  These blackberry coconut cupcakes are perfect for a party!

Good morning everybody!  Today is a special day and one I have been looking forward to for so long.  We are celebrating my friend Zainab today, with a virtual baby shower!

I need to share a few words about my girl Z.  This girl.  She is such an incredible friend, and such an incredible person.  She's internet famous, so you probably already know all this, but I'm going to tell you anyway.

She was born and raised in Sierra Leone, and at quite a young age, traveled halfway across the world to go study in Singapore.  Brave.  She lost her dad, way too soon, just like I did.  She met the love of her life, Mr. J, and once again uprooted herself to come live here in the US, where she started her desserts and fashion blog, Blahnik Baker.  In addition to creating gorgeous posts every week, she's also hard at work on her PhD in neuroscience.  Such a smarty-pants!  She wants to cure brain diseases in children.  Can you even?  And since we're now on the topic of children, can I take a minute to tell you how amazing she is with kids?  When Z and I were first getting to know each other, almost 2 years ago now, I could tell from the start that she had such a special place in her heart for kids.  She's sent gifts to my boys on several occasions.  She's always asking after them and telling me how cute and lovable they are.  And any time I've ever had a question or a problem, Z is right there.  She's helped me through some rough times, and she is just truly so special.

So when she shared the incredible news that she was expecting, my heart almost burst with joy and happiness for her.  I remember it so clearly.  I literally got all teary-eyed, and here I am getting teary-eyed again just thinking about it.  Z and Mr. J are going to make the most incredible parents and I couldn't be more excited for them.

When I think of Z I think of coconut and fresh fruit and lovely floral flavors.  Her creations are always so beautiful and feminine.  She's got a weakness for all things tropical, and so I knew that anything I would make in her honor would have to involve coconut.  And girlfriend knows how to rock a cupcake.  So here we are.

Coconut and blackberry complement each other beautifully.  My Flavor Bible told me so, and that book has yet to steer me wrong.  These cupcakes are made with coconut oil instead of butter, and they also have coconut milk, so the tropical flavor really shines through.  When freshly baked, the texture of the cake is whisper-light and the crumb is so fine it's almost creamy.  As the cupcakes sit, they become a little more dense and pound cake-like.  We're filling the cupcakes with a dollop of intensely fruity blackberry jam, then topping with a tangy cream cheese frosting, and garnishing with shredded coconut and fresh blackberries.  So pretty!

Because Zainab is such a great friend to others, there are tons of bloggers who just love her to pieces.  There were 32 of us in all, who wanted to celebrate her today, and her little bun.  I hope you click around and check out all the fun recipes that these guys have brought to the virtual party!

Blackberry Coconut Cupcakes, by Baking a Moment
Blueberry Coconut Meusli Bars, by The Spiffy Cookie
Blueberry-Ginger Coconut Cheesecake Popsicles, by Floating Kitchen
Caramel Coconut Cluster Bars, by Eats Well with Others
Chocolate Coconut Cake, by Brunch with Joy
Coconut Breakfast Pudding with Sauteed Nectarines, by Cooking and Beer
Coconut Cake, by I am Baker
Coconut Cream Pie Ice Cream, by The Recipe Rebel
Coconut Energy Bites, by The Kitchenarium
Coconut Key Lime Angel Food Cake Roll, by Flavor the Moments
Coconut Key Lime Pie Cookie Bars, by Two in the Kitchen
Coconut Key Lime Macarons, by Life Made Sweeter
Coconut, Lime, and White Chocolate Milkshake, by A Clean Bake
Coconut Pineapple Banana Smoothie, by The Bitter Side of Sweet
Coconut Pineapple Fried Rice with Shrimp, by Healthy Nibbles and Bits
Coconut Sweet Potato Muffins, by Luci's Morsels
Double Chocolate Chip Cookies with Toasted Coconut, by The Cooking Actress
Key Lime Coconut Button Sandwich Cookies, by Culinary Concoctions by Peabody
Key Lime Coconut Pound Cake, by Grandbaby Cakes
Lavender Coconut Macarons, by Broma Bakery
Macaroon Tarts with Ginger Coconut Whipped Cream and Pineapple, by A Cookie Named Desire
Mango Coconut Donuts, by Chez Catey Lou
Mango Coconut Smoothie, by Jessica in the Kitchen
Mango Summer Cake, by Keep it Sweet Desserts
Mini Coconut Cream Pies, by Hip Foodie Mom
Pina Colada Pie, by Life, Love, and Sugar
Skinny Blueberry Lime Scones, by Club Narwhal
Spiced Lentils with Toasted Coconut, by This Gal Cooks
Toasted Coconut Banana Meringue Pie, by The Sweet {Tooth} Life
Triple Coconut Rum Layer Cake, by bethcakes
Tropical Pineapple Coconut Sangria, by Shared Appetite
White Chocolate Coconut Key Lime Cookies, by Culinary Couture

And be sure to click on over to Blahnik Baker and congratulate Zainab.  She has the prettiest ever Meyer Lemon Pound Cake with Fresh Berries and Coconut Whipped Cream on her blog today.  (What did I tell you??)  Be sure to wish her and Mr. J all the best!

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