Rum Punch Cupcakes
Hubby and I got married in St Thomas with 23 of our closest friends and family members (we HIGHLY recommend beach weddings!) We had a morning ceremony with lunch immediately after at a restaurant on the beach. After the meal, over half of the bill was for rum punch! Our amazing photographer (Steph Carson – check her out if you need a photographer – tell her Jen P sent you if you contact her – see some of our pics here), caught this picture of the tasty beverages coming out to the table. We love all the pictures that Steph took, but this one really takes us back.
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 Cupcakes1/4 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.
I am Jen the Beantown Baker. Engineer by day and baking maven by night. Hubby serves as my #1 fan and official taste tester. We got hitched back in 2006. Barefoot. In the sand. With the waves crashing behind us. It was one of the best decisions we’ve ever made. 
I love freezing dough but somehow most ends up in my tummy unbaked when I do that 🙂
What a great gift! I’m thinking that would be wonderful for all sorts of occasions. Thanks for the idea!
These are adorable and I love that idea! Two questions, though: 1) Were these as good as the cookies from the other recipes? and 2) When you freeze them, do you bake right from frozen?
Great questions Carly – As far as comparing them to the other cookies. I enjoyed the chocolate M&M cookies the best, but they were REALLY chocolatey. The other non-chocolate M&M cookies were a bit more chewy and they had nuts in them, so they had a different vibe. This recipe was more of a classic M&M cookie for sure.
As far as baking from frozen, you can def just go straight from freezer to oven. Bake them ~13 minutes instead of ~11 and take them out when they look done.
these were delicious!
they look so cute all frozen up 🙂
I love the pink and red M&Ms. Thanks for the idea of freezing the cookie dough.
I was going to ask you the same thing as Carly, well the first question. These cookies are cute. Your freezing method reminded me that I have a bunch of sugar cookies still in the freezer! Do you know how long cookies can stay in the freezer?
I don’t know how long they will last in the freezer. I have a tendency to forget about things in my freezer… I’d guess a couple months? Anyone have ideas?
What festive little cookies 🙂 I love them! I also like the fact that you froze them. I bet they were delicious. Make sure to enter the All Through the Year Cheer event for Valentine’s Day 🙂
I think that sounds like a great way to spend valentine’s day. It can be intimidating the way it’s so hyped up. The cookies look very festive, love ’em!
We don’t do “valentine’s day” either since my MIL was born on the 14th and daughter’s birthday is the 15th – besides, its more important to say you love someone everyday, not just one day out of the year. Love the idea about freezing the cookie dough in preshaped form and giving that away. Wonderful idea!
I am looking for cookies that travel well for my soldier adopted through Soldier’s Angels and these look like a winner!!
Mmm, these were so tasty! Happy Valentine’s Day!
These are just too cute!! I love M&M cookies too!!
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Just had to add my two cents on the idea of giving cookie dough frozen and ready to be baked – genius! For some reason, I’ve never thought of that, even though I’ve given cookies frozen to people to be defrosted when they’re ready to eat. I love the dough idea!
YUM-these look absolutely delicious! I love the pink and red M&Ms!