• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Add cupcake liners to your cupcake pans.
• In the bowl of your mixer, combine the dry ingredients (cake mix, flour, sugar, salt, & spices) and whisk 30 seconds to throughly combine.
• To this add the eggs, milk, and sour cream and mix on low speed for 20 seconds to moisten the ingredients. Then, mix on medium speed for two minutes, stopping halfway through to scrape down the sides of your bowl.
• Next, fold in the shredded carrots, coconuts, pecans, and drained crushed pineapple.
• Makes approximately 6.5-7 cups of batter.
• Scoop batter into the cupcake liners. Bake at 350 F for about 17 minutes or until the centers spring back when lightly touched (or toothpick can be inserted and removed with just a few crumbs attached). Makes about 28 cupcakes.
• After baking, remove the baked cupcakes from the pan as soon as you can safely do so. We usually do this within 5 minutes of removing form the oven. Allow to cool completely before frosting.

For the Cream Cheese Frosting

• Add the softened butter to the bowl of your mixer. Beat on low to medium speed until smooth.
• Cut the softened cheese into pieces and add to the butter, beating at low to medium speed until incorporated. If you are using a hand mixer you may need to soften the cream cheese a bit more.
• Add the vanilla. Gradually add the powdered sugar beating on low speed until blended. Cover the bowl with a towel to keep down the cloud of powdered sugar.
• Increase mixing speed and mix until fluffy. Don't over mix or it will become too soft. If it becomes too soft, refrigerate a short while to firm it up a bit.
• This frosting will pipe best if used while still chilled. You can make it in advance, refrigerate and when ready to use let it soften slightly (do not microwave) and remix.

Filling and Decorating the Cupcakes

• Filling the cupcake centers with a bit of cream cheese frosting is an optional step, but one that we love to do! If you would like to do this, load a disposable piping bag with cream cheese frosting and snip the tip away. Push halfway into the top center of an unfrosted, cooled cupcake.
• Squeeze the piping bag for 2-3 seconds, remove. Then swirl the cupcakes as usual. (To get an idea of how much filling comes out in 2-3 seconds, do a practice run on a plate first and adjust as needed. Or, if you have an extra cupcake, fill it and split in half to see if you are happy with the amount of filling.)
• We swirled our cupcakes using a 2D piping tip, starting in the center and spiraling outward.
• These cupcakes should be refrigerated because of the cream cheese frosting. For best taste and texture, remove from the refrigerator about 2 hours before serving to give them time to warm and soften.