We were invited to a backyard luau party at our neighbor’s house this weekend, so I decided to make a “themey” dessert to share. After searching on Pinterest, I decided on pina colada cupcakes. I’m not much of a pina colada drink person, but I figured they would be festive and pretty! And I think most people enjoy anything with coconut in it!
Let me tell you, these cupcakes were so dense and delicious! The mix of coconut milk and pineapple juice in the batter, combined with coconut extract in the frosting, made these so flavorful and moist. They smelled just like the beach!
I garnished the cupcakes with maraschino cherries, pineapple triangles, and a little paper straw. These would also be cute sprinkled with a little toasted coconut. I HIGHLY recommend you make these for your family and friends! A perfect reason to throw a party this summer!
There are a lot of pina colada cupcake recipes out there! I went with this version from Sally’s Baking Addiction.
Pina Colada Cupcakes:
Ingredients:
1 & 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
1 large egg
1/2 cup pineapple juice
1/2 cup full fat coconut milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 350*.
2. Mix flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a bowl.
3. In a separate, larger bowl, melt butter and whisk in both sugars. Then whisk in egg, pineapple juice, coconut milk, and vanilla extract.
4. Start adding dry ingredients to the wet ingredients a little bit at a time and combine, until no lumps are seen. Fill cupcake liners with batter and bake for about 18-20 minutes (cooking time will depend on how full you fill your liners).
5. Set cupcakes aside to cool before frosting.
Coconut Frosting:
Ingredients:
3/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
3 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup heavy cream or half-and-half
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon coconut extract
Instructions:
1. Beat butter until smooth, about 2 minutes.
2. Add powdered sugar, cream, and both extracts and beat on low for 1 minutes, and medium speed for 2 minutes. This frosting will turn out light and whipped.
3. Make sure your cupcakes are cooled before frosting! I garnished mine with cherries and pinapples right before taking them to the party.
**After making these, I realized I could have used the leftover coconut milk in place of the heavy cream, so next time I will save myself from buying that. It was also highly recommended in the original recipe to use coconut extract in the frosting, which I did purchase. This is a must! These would not have tasted the same if I had only used vanilla.**
The luau party was so much fun! We stayed out way, way, way too late and had a lot of laughs!
Hope your weekend was fabulous and cheers to the week ahead! XO