my chef has asked for this, for new year’s eve menu.. the cake will be my coconut cake formula with a boiled/meringue E type frosting, filled with passion fruit curd.  now I need to come up with the “all dressed up” part..  any thoughts.. this is for service, so it has to be able to literally fly out the door, in five elements or less per plate.. and I won’t be plating it, so that plays into it, as well.  my only thoughts right now are, to petal dust shaved/chips of coconut, to compliment what ever design.. realistically, I could manage a royal icing/cookie “prop” of some sort that could be inserted over/around/into the cupcake.. any suggestions would be appreciated. I know this is an extremely creative group..  thank you in advance.  jenn

unsure if you have fresh mango available , frozen works, too.  I would make mango roses like the ones I have posted on the blog.  You can make them ahead of time and transfer on the cupcake.  it goes well with coconut.

as this is a dessert for your restaurant dinner, I would use whipped cream rather than boiled icing or buttercream.  It matches the tropical fruit much better.

Here are some of my suggestions:

1. Shaved curls of orange zest, to mimic the streamers of New Year’s Eve
2. Top each cupcake with one of those foil-wrapped “crackers” that you pull apart to release confetti
3. Chocolate or caramel filigree fans, piped ahead of time and stuck on the top at the last minute
4 Tuilles formed into cone shapes, to mimic the hats that people wear on New Year’s