• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Add paper cupcake liners to cupcake pan(s).
• In the bowl of your mixer, add the cake mix, flour, sugar, and pudding mix. Whisk to blend.
• Add the remaining ingredients to the bowl. Mix on low speed for about 30 seconds.
• Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed and mix on medium speed for two minutes.
• The batter should look well blended. Fill the cupcake liners with batter (approximately ¼ cup batter per cupcake).
• Bake at 350 for 16-18 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean or with just a few crumbs attached. **Bake times can vary and so peek in as the end time approaches. These will dome.
• After removing the pan(s) from the oven, we like to remove them fairly quickly and place on a cooling rack.

Coconut Pecan Filling and Topping

• Whisk egg yolks, milk and vanilla in a saucepan until blended.
• Add sugar, butter and salt and cook over medium heat for 10 to 12 minutes or until thickened, stir constantly.
• Remove from heat and stir in the coconut and nuts. Allow to cool before spreading on the cake.
• This is enough to fill and top the cupcakes. *See Notes

For the Chocolate Buttercream (Optional- see notes)

• Add butter and mix on low to medium speed until smooth. Add vanilla and blend into the butter.
• Next, add powdered sugar, salt, and cocoa powder. Add most of the milk. Begin mixing at low speed (to control the cloud of powdered sugar), increasing to medium. Continue to mix, adding remaining milk as needed.
• It may take 3 to 4 minutes to reach the smoothness and consistency you like. As you mix, the frosting will become very smooth. You can add additional milk (1 Tablespoon at a time) if the frosting is too thick or additional powdered sugar if too soft.

Filling & Decorating the Cupcakes

• Once the cupcakes have cooled completely, it is time to decorate. *You can use the coconut pecan frosting just on top of the cupcakes if you'd like, but we used it as a filling inside of the cupcakes also.
• For filling: Load a disposable piping bag and snip the tip away. The filling should be fairly thick but still should flow easily from the piping bag. Insert the tip of the bag halfway into the top of the cupcake and squeeze for a few seconds to fill.
• Next, pipe/spread frosting on top of the cupcake **If using chocolate frosting as well, leave a space around the edge. We used a star tip (18 or 21 are good options) to pipe a border of chocolate frosting around the edge of each cupcake.

Storage

• Store in an airtight container or sealed bakery box. Because of the coconut pecan frosting, we like to refrigerate to be on the safe side. **Before serving, allow the cupcakes to warm to room temperature. It is best to remove from the refrigerator 2-3 hours before serving.