It's hard to believe that nearly a year has passed since I last sat down to debate what I might like to serve when my next birthday rolled around (which I did by taking a look at 15 of my favourite desserts ever).
With my 32nd rounding the bend in precisely one month's time, I've already begun planning my birthday menu and though, as usual, the dessert choice is nowhere near finalized yet (more often than not, that happens at about 11:45 pm on July 9th), a quick peek through my collection of saved vintage recipe ads turn up a real charmer of a mid-century take on coconut snowball cupcakes.
{Looking very, very much like the marshmallow cream filled chocolate snack cakes that are Sno Balls, these adorable pink coconut topped cupcakes would be an ideal choice for any birthday celebration. Vintage recipe image source.}
I love chocolate, I love coconut (and as discussed in this post, it's always a safe choice when feeding my family), and I absolutely love anything pink, plus these darling little cupcakes just seem to have a fun, festive air about them.
They're also a snap to whip up, which means less time spent with the oven on during July - which is always a good thing! I like, too, that they'd be a breeze to put a gluten-free cake mix to work in and that, if so desired, one could certainly leave the coconut untinted.
You could also add in some chocolate chips or pieces and make these double chocolate snowball cupcakes. A favourite extract - say orange, mint, lemon, almond, or coffee - could also be used to jazz them up further, as could adding some festive candies or slices/pieces of fresh fruit on top of the pretty pink coconut.
If one goes in for birthday candles (and I definitely do!), it's always fun when serving cupcakes at a celebratory meal to top each one with enough candles to collectively equal the person's age - or conversely, just select a couple of cupcakes and stick a number shaped candle atop both.
And if you wanted to take this recipe in an especially elegant direction, you could forgo the coconut and instead coat each little cake in a layer of fondant or almond paste and then adorn them with candied (edible) flower petals, grapes or citrus peel. They might not look quite as "snowballish" any longer, but I assure that they'd still be every bit as scrumptious.
I've still got a month to decide on what I'll be making for this year's birthday, and you know, I'm starting to think - in the name of serious scientific taste testing, naturally - that I might just have to road test these cutie pies (err, cakes) before then.
One has to be sure, after all, that they're going to adore their birthday dessert and it's always better to veer on the side of (completely delicious) caution in these kinds of instances. :D
