Coconut Raspberry Cupcakes

I have searched for a long time to find a made from scratch cake that is light and moist as compared to most that are heavy and dense. You can easily remove the coconut and raspberries to make this recipe more versatile, which I have done a couple of times.

I cannot remember where I found this recipe, but I know it was on the internet on a food blog somewhere, so I wish I could give credit to the person from whence it came! These sound complicated, but really they are not and they are so good they are worth any effort! My six year old grandson couldn't stuff them in fast enough!

Makes 24 regular size cupcakes or about 50 mini cupcakes
CUPCAKES:
5 large egg whites
1/2 cup whole milk
1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 tsp coconut extract
3 cups cake flour
2 1/3 cup sugar
4 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 sticks unsalted butter(8oz.) at warm room temperature
1 cup unsweetened coconut milk
2 cups fresh, washed, and dried raspberries
2 1/2 cups sweetened flaked coconut
24 fresh washed raspberries
FROSTING:
1 lb cream cheese at room temperature
3 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 tsp coconut extract
4 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted
(I also used a little coconut milk to thin the frosting)
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350F degrees. Line a 24- or two 12-hole muffin tins with paper cupcake cups.
Put egg whites in a bowl and whisk slightly.
Add the 1/2 cup of milk and the vanilla, and whisk to mix thoroughly.
In a large mixer bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. With the mixer on low, beat dry ingredients to break up any lumps.
Add the butter and coconut milk on low speed and beat just to combine. Raise the speed to medium and beat until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.
Add the egg white mixture in 2 or 3 additions, scraping the sides of the bowl after each addition.
In a separate bowl, toss the raspberries with the 1/2 cup of cake flour. Add to batter and carefully fold in until incorporated. Spoon batter into each muffin tin, almost to the top but leaving about a 1/8 inch so the batter does not overflow.
Bake for 30 minutes or until a cake taster inserted in the middle comes out clean. Allow the cupcakes to cool in their pans for 10 minutes. Then place them on a wire rack to cool completely. (If using mini cupcake pans, baking is only about 15 minutes-watch carefully).

While cupcakes are cooling, make the frosting.
Combine cream cheese through confectioners’ sugar using a mixer. Cream until smooth. Spread a generous amount on each cupcake.
Put shredded coconut in a shallow bowl, and dip the top of each cupcake into the coconut to coat.
Toss the 24 remaining raspberries in granulated sugar to coat.
Top each cupcake with one sugar-coated raspberry. (I personally do not use coconut on the frosting because not everyone likes coconut, even though I use the coconut extract in the batter and frosting-just a raspberry-and place the dried raspberry on top just before serving as the sugar in the frosting and fruit interact and the raspberry juices will release onto the frosting, discoloring the frosting).