Piña Colada Cupcakes

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 hour

Cook Time 20 minutes

Total Time 1 hour 20 minutes

Servings 24 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.