Aw, c’mon now, you didn’t honestly think we were going to let the whole summer go by without making the quintessential Barefoot recipe, did you?

These are dessert nirvana ““ fluffy, buttery, vanilla-y cupcakes topped with luxurious cream cheese frosting and an ethereal sprinkling of coconut. A tiered cake stand of them is nothing less than a dazzling showstopper. Even a pie guy like Dave admits these are as scrumptious as they are breathtaking.

A perennial family favorite, I’ve made these cupcakes many times over the years, and they always come out a little differently, depending on the freshness of the baking powder and the particular oven. This time the stars were aligned and the gods were…