I first made these Piña Colada Cupcakes for a tropical-themed birthday party years ago and they’ve been a favorite ever since. The cupcakes are very moist and bursting with the flavors of a Piña Colada: pineapple, coconut and rum. The dreamy Coconut Buttercream Frosting is the perfect topping.

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Piña Colada Cupcakes

Prep Time 1

Cook Time 20

Total Time 1 20

Servings cupcakes

Ingredients

Cupcakes

15 oz. (425 g) can crushed pineapple or pineapple chunks*
¾ cup (180 ml) coconut milk
3 tablespoons rum
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups (280 g) all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
½ cup (112 g) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup + 3 tablespoons (240 g) granulated sugar
2 eggs room temperature
1 cup (85 g) shredded unsweetened coconut

Coconut Buttercream Frosting

1 cup (225 g) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 cups (330 g) powdered sugar
7 tablespoons (105 ml) coconut milk
Shredded unsweetened coconut for sprinkling

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350°F (165°C). Line standard muffin tins with paper liners.
Place crushed pineapple in a sieve over a bowl to drain, reserving the liquid. Blend the coconut milk well to combine the separated fats and liquids.
In a small bowl, combine rum, ¾ cup (180 ml) coconut milk, ¼ cup (60 ml) of the reserved pineapple juice and vanilla. Set aside.
In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
Add eggs to the butter-sugar mixture one at a time, beating well after each addition.
Alternately add the flour mixture and the rum mixture, half at a time, beating until combined.
Fold in the coconut and 1 cup (240 ml) of the drained pineapple.
Fill cupcake liners ¾ full with batter. Bake for 19-20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the middle of a cupcake comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes in the pans on wire racks then remove cupcakes from the pans and cool completely.
For the frosting, blend the coconut milk well to combine the separated fats and liquids and set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, beat butter and vanilla until light and fluffy. Gradually beat in the powdered sugar.
Slowly beat in the coconut milk. Continue beating until fluffy.
To assemble cupcakes, place Coconut Buttercream Frosting into a pastry bag fitted with a large star tip (I use a Wilton 1M) and pipe a swirl of frosting onto each cupcake. Sprinkle with shredded coconut and decorate with paper umbrellas, if desired.

Notes

*If using pineapple chunks, finely chop the pineapple chunks with their liquid using an immersion blender and place in a sieve over a bowl to drain, reserving the liquid.

Cupcake recipe adapted from Cupcake Project.
Coconut Buttercream Recipe from Baked by an Introvert.