First, toast the coconut! Heat a large frying pan over medium heat and add coconut, stirring frequently until it just starts to toast/turn a caramel color. Then remove from heat immediately and put in a small bowl/plate and set aside.
Then, make the cupcakes! Preheat the oven to 350 Fahrenheit/180 Celcius. First, separate the egg whites carefully, making sure that no egg yolk gets into the whites. Beat the egg whites with an electric hand or stand mixer until stiff peaks form (this will take a few minutes) then tip into a separate bowl and set aside. Then in the same original empty bowl, beat the sugar, melted butter, and oil until slightly lighter. Add the sour cream, coconut milk, extracts, lime juice and zest, and beat until smooth. Add the 1-1 flour, cornflour, sweet rice flour, baking powder, salt, xanthan gum, and 1 cup of the toasted coconut and beat until smooth (it will be fairly thick). Finally, fold in the egg whites in thirds until fully combined and smooth.
Spoon batter (3/4 full) into the 24 paper-lined cupcake pan holes and then bake. I typically bake one tray at a time to avoid one pan baking slowly/faster than the other. Bake for 20 minutes or until a skewer/knife inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean. I recommend using an oven thermometer to monitor the internal temp as this can vary widely from oven to oven and cause over/underbaking. Once cupcakes are done, remove and let cool completely before frosting.
Make your buttercream while cupcakes are cooling. In a large bowl, beat (using an electric hand or stand mixer) the salted room temp butter by itself for 5-10 minutes (this will get you the right texture and will whiten your butter significantly). Then sift your icing/powdered sugar and add 1 cup at a time, beating slowly to combine and then on high to get a smooth texture. Continue to add powdered sugar until frosting is fairly stiff/holds its shape. Then add the lime juice, zest, coconut extract, toasted coconut and salt and beat to combine. Taste and add more lime juice/zest, coconut extract etc until you like the flavor. Ensure the texture overall holds its shape but isn't too stiff to pipe.
Once cupcakes are cool, spoon buttercream into a piping bag fitted with your choice of piping tip (I recommend a larger one so the coconut doesn't get stuck), and pipe frosting onto the top of each cupcake. Optional: add a bit of extra zest and coconut on the top of each frosted cupcake!