I thought I knew almost everything about my Mom, especially when it came to what she likes to eat.  I got a big surprise though the other day when I asked her what her favorite kind of cake was and she answered “Coconut”.  I said “Huh?”. This was news to me.  I don’t even remember seeing her eat a piece.  Ever.

Coconut is usually one of my LEAST favorite things to eat.  Now I don’t mind the flavor so much.  In fact, I have been known to enjoy many Pina Coladas in a row on occasion, but to actually eat coconut in little shreds and all that… blech.  

But I knew I had to make my Mom her favorite kind of cake for Mother’s Day.  It’s what any good daughter who likes to bake would do.  

I remembered that Ina Garten had a Coconut Cupcake recipe that looked pretty good in her Barefoot Contessa Cookbook so I decided to go with that.  You know, Ina has not let me down yet. Most of her recipes are basic and simple but have something different about them that delivers incredibly good versions of well known favorites.  Love her, love her, love her.

And of course I love my Mom.  So, Happy Mother’s Day to mine and all the other Mom’s out there.

Please check out Ina Garten’s Coconut Cupcake recipe here and make them, like, tonight. It gets five star ratings and the word “heavenly” is used to describe these in her cookbook. Really, how could you go wrong?

So, maybe I can live with a little coconut in my life outside of pina coladas. I survived putting it in Bill’s Big Carrot Cake for TWD and now these cupcakes. And let me just tell you, these babies were freakin’ awesome.