Coconut Cupcakes

Directions

1. Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Place paper liners in muffin tins.
2. Blend together three-fourths c. of the sugar and the nutmeg in a small bowl and set aside.
3. To make the batter, cream the butter, coconut pwdr and 1 c. of the remaining sugar in an electric mixer fitted with a flat paddle.
4. Mix together the coconut lowfat milk and almond extract. Alternate additions of the flour and the coconut lowfat milk to the butter mix, beating till smooth.
5. In a separate bowl, whip 8 egg whites with one-half c. of the remaining sugar till they form soft peaks. Fold a third of the whipped egg whites into the batter. Add in the remaining whipped egg whites and fold till thoroughly combined.
6. Fill the tins three-fourths full with batter. Sprinkle each cupcake with one tsp. of the sugar-nutmeg mix.
7. To make the topping, stir together the remaining 2 egg whites, the shredded coconut, and 2 1/2 Tbsp. sugar in a small bowl. Proportionately spread the topping on each cake.
8. Bake for 30 to 40 min, till a toothpick inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean and the tops are golden brown. Cold the cupcakes and then remove them from the muffin tins.
9. This recipe yields 24 cupcakes.
10. Comments: Cream of coconut pwdr from Thailand is available in Asian markets.