You know me, I love a good cocktail in cake form. This week, I’m sharing with you my piña colada cupcakes. These coconut cupcakes are fluffy and moist, and filled with caramelized pineapple and topped with pineapple caramel rum ermine frosting. The flavors in this cupcake are perfectly balanced, not artificial tasting, or overly boozy. Most importantly, they are super delicious.
Coconut Cupcakes
Coconut is the star of these cupcakes. They get their coconut flavor from three sources – canned coconut milk, a smidge of coconut extract and lightly toasted coconut. Be sure to used the canned coconut milk (usually found in the Asian foods section of your grocery store) and not the kind that comes in a carton from the refrigerated section. Canned coconut milk has much more coconut flavor, and has a higher fat content, which contributes to keeping these cupcakes moist. You’ll also notice half and half is used. Why more fat?
Biting into a dry cupcake is an incredibly big bummer. White/yellow cupcakes tend to dry out in a small amount of time. Coconut flakes also tend to absorb a small amount of moisture . The higher fat content will keep them moist and increase their longevity.
This recipe makes 24 cupcakes, but you can halve it if you wish. Be sure to not over bake your cupcakes, baking them only until the tops look set, and toothpick comes out with few moist crumbs, but not wet batter.
Caramelized Pineapple Filling
Pineapple is one of my favorite fruits, and caramelized pineapple is a game changer. This stuff is so, so good. Brown sugar, butter and salt are cooked together until melted, followed by a drained, crushed pineapple. The mixture reduces on the stove until reduced, thickened and golden brown. Add some rum and you have a super delicious caramelized pineapple filling.
Pineapple Caramel
This caramel is made like any traditional caramel sauce, but instead of cooking the sugar with water, it’s cooked with pineapple juice. The pineapple juice adds another layer of flavor to the caramel sauce, giving the caramel more depth and a lighter, brighter fruity flavor. Rum and salt are added when the caramel is done. So, so good.
Pineapple Caramel Rum Ermine Frosting
I wanted to use a lighter, whipped frosting for these cupcakes so ermine frosting was the way to go. For a step by step tutorial on how to make this light and fluffy frosting, check out my post on ermine frosting. The frosting is flavored with the pineapple caramel and also rum. Roll the edges of the frosted cupcakes with the remaining toasted coconut and top them with pineapple flowers and a maraschino cherry.
If you make these piña colada cupcakes, let me know! Drop a comment or tag me on Instagram. I love seeing your bakes and creations.
Enjoy!
Ash xx
For more cupcake recipes, check out these posts:
Maple Bacon Blueberry French Toast Cupcakes
Funfetti Vanilla Cupcakes with Chocolate Fudge Frosting
Piña Colada Cupcakes
Ingredients
Coconut Cupcakes
- 1 cup (226g) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 2¼ cups (446g) granulated sugar
- 2 ⅓ cups (280g) all purpose flour
- 1 cup (120g) cake flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1 cup (241g) unsweetened coconut milk, canned, full fat
- ⅔ cup (151g) half and half, room temperature
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon coconut extract
- 3 large eggs
- 1 ⅔ cup (57g) sweetened coconut flakes, lightly toasted
Caramelized Pineapple Filling
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2/3 cup (142g) light brown sugar, packed
- pinch of salt
- 1 can (20 ounces) crushed pineapple, in juice, drained *Reserve 2 tablespoons of the pineapple juice
- 1-2 tablespoons spiced rum
Pineapple Rum Caramel Sauce
- ¼ cup (50g) granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons reserved pineapple juice
- 2 tablepoons unsalted butter
- 1/4 cup heavy cream
- 2 teaspoons spiced rum
- ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
Caramel Rum Ermine Frosting
- 1 ½ cups (341g) whole milk
- 1 ¼ cups (248g) granulated sugar
- ½ cup (60g) all purpose flour
- ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1 ½ cups (283g) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1-2 tablespoons spiced rum, to taste
- 1 cup (85g) sweetened coconut flakes, toasted
- pineapple, for decorating (optional)
- maraschino cherries, for decorating (optional)
Instructions
Coconut Cupcakes
- Preheat the oven to 350F. Line two cupcake tins with cupcake liners.
- In a large skillet, add the coconut and place over low heat.
- Toast the coconut, stirring occasionally so that the coconut doesn't burn. Toast the coconut until lightly golden. Set aside one cup of the coconut for decorating.
- In the bowl of stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, on medium low speed, beat together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes
- Meanwhile, in a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cake flour, baking powder and salt.
- In a large measuring cup, whisk together the coconut milk, half and half, vanilla, and coconut extract.
- Add the eggs, one at a time, to the butter/sugar mixture, scraping the bowl after each addition.
- On low speed, add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture in 3 parts, alternating with the wet ingredients, scraping the bowl after each addition.
- Add the toasted coconut, reserving 1 cup for decorating.
- Give the batter a final stir with a spatula to make sure everything is well incorporated.
- Fill the cupcake lines 2/3 full. Bake cupcakes for 18-20 minutes or until the tops look just set and a toothpick comes out with few moist crumbs.
- Cool the cupcakes in the pan for 5 minutes. Transfer the cupcakes to a cooling rack to finish cooling.
Caramelized Pineapple Filling
- In a medium saucepan, over medium low heat, combine the butter, brown sugar, and salt, stirring until the sugar has melted and the mixture is smooth.
- Add the drained pineapple, stirring to fully incorporate the brown sugar mixture.
- Reduce the heat to low and simmer the pineapple mixture, stirring occasionally until most of the liquid has evaporated.
- Remove the pineapple filling from the heat. Stir in the rum. Let the filling cool completely before using.
Pineapple Caramel Rum
- In a medium sized saucepan, combine the sugar and the pineapple juice. Stir just until combined.
- Place the saucepan over medium heat. Let the sugar mixture cook, without stirring, until the sugar mixture turns a mid amber color. Take the mixture off the heat to stop the cooking process.
- Add the butter to the saucepan and whisk to combine. Be very careful as the mixture is incredibly hot and will bubble up and steam when the butter is added.
- Whisk in the heavy cream, followed by the rum and the salt. Whisk until smooth.
- Let the caramel cool in the pan for 10 minutes before transferring to a storage container to cool completely.
Pineapple Caramel Ermine Frosting
- In a medium saucepan over medium heat, whisk together the milk, sugar, flour and salt, and bring to a boil.
- When the mixture starts to boil, continue to cook, whisking constantly for another 2-3 minutes. The mixture will thicken and resemble pudding. Whisk in the rum.
- Strain the mixture into a shallow container to remove any clumps. Place plastic wrap over the surface of the mixture to prevent a film from forming.
- Leave to cool to room temperature or pop in the freezer for 15-20 minutes. It should be room temperature to touch, not cold.
- When the mixture is cool, whisk in half of the pineapple caramel.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium-high speed until light and fluffy.
- Add the room temperature flour mixture to the butter, a few tablespoons at a time, allowing it to incorporate fully before adding more.
- Once combined, whip the frosting on high for 3-5 minutes until smooth, light and fluffy.
- Taste the frosting. Add remaining caramel to taste, a tablespoon at a time.
Assemble cupcakes
- Using a sharp knife, cut a hole into the center of the cooled cupcakes to create a space for the pineapple filling.
- Spoon the pineapple mixture inside each carved out cupcake. Fill the cupcake with the filling to the top, about a heaping teaspoon full.
- Top the cupcakes with pineapple caramel ermine frosting. Roll the cupcakes into the reserved toasted coconut.
- Top with pineapple and a maraschino cherry.
- Store in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
