(Photograph by Stephanie Carson)

These cupcakes are inspired by our favorite tropical drink. When I make rum punch at home, I mix cranberry juice, pineapple juice, and coconut rum. So I adapted the Sea Breeze cupcake recipe in Crazy about Cupcakes to make Rum Punch cupcakes. They turned out really good, although next time I’ll put more rum in or some coconut extract.

Rum Punch Cupcakes – makes 12 – adapted from Crazy about Cupcakes
1/4 pound (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
2 large eggs, separated, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup pineapple juice
1/4 cup cranberry juice
Zest of 1 orange

Preheat oven to 350. Insert liners into a medium cupcake pan.

In a large bowl cream together the butter and sugar with an electric mixer on medium speed until fluffy 3-5 minutes. Add the egg yolks. Beat well.

In a separate bowl combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

Add the dry ingredients to the creamed mixture, alternating with juices. Fold in zest.

With clean beaters, whip the egg whites until stiff peaks form. Gently fold the whites with a rubber spatula into the batter.

Fill the cupcake liners 1/2 to 2/3 full. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of cupcakes comes out clean. Cool cupcakes in the pan.

Rum Punch frosting – adapted from Crazy about Cupcakes
3 cups confectioners sugar
6 Tbsp heavy cream
1 Tbsp rum
1 Tbsp pineapple juice
1 Tbsp cranberry juice

Combine all ingredients in medium mixing bowl. Beat on low speed until smooth. Add additional liqueur or sugar if necessary to reach desired spreading consistency.

Note: This frosting was very thin. I added more sugar, but stopped adding sugar because I didn’t want it to be too sweet.