Pina Colada Cupcakes
Pina Colada’s are one of my favorite drinks. They’re just so festive. I can’t be in a bad mood when I drink a pina colada. Maybe that’s because the only time I drink them is when I’m on a vacation, usually on a beach. But that’s a minor detail…
I’ve made multiple versions of pina colada cupcakes in the past. The old recipe that I made first for Hubby’s mom’s birthday was a bit fussy with the egg whites getting beaten separately then folded in. Then for another one of her birthday’s, I made lime and coconut cupcakes. That recipe was much more user-friendly and just as (if not more) delicious than the first one.
So when I was asked to bake cupcakes for the bridal shower of my friend who loves coconut, I instantly thought of those lime and coconut cupcakes from a couple years ago. I decided to use the coconut cake recipe as a base and add some pineapple to make them pina colada cupcakes.
I used festive cupcake liners and topped each with a pineapple chunk and cherry. The toasted coconut on the outside added some great nuttiness and texture to the cupcake overall.
As expected, these were a huge hit. The groom-to-be got to taste a leftover cupcake and then requested I bring him one every week for the rest of his life. Now THAT’S a compliment!
One Year Ago: Lemon Cilantro Potato Salad
Two Years Ago: Black Bean and Butternut Squash Quesadillas
Three Years Ago: Dorie’s Perfect Party Cake
Pina Colada Cupcakes
Yield: 24
Ingredients:
For the Pina Colada Cupcakes
1 batch Coconut Cupcakes, recipe below
1 batch Coconut Cream Cheese Frosting and Filling, recipe below
Toasted coconut, optional
Pineapple chunks, optional
Maraschino cherries, optional
For the Coconut Cupcakes
1 cup unsalted butter, softened, plus additional for pans
3 cups cake flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 cup cream of coconut
1/4 cup whole milk
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp coconut extract
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
2 whole eggs
3 egg whites
For the Coconut Frosting and Filling
8 oz cream cheese, not whipped
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 2/3 cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup chopped, drained, canned pineapple chunks
3 ounces unsweetened or sweetened flaked coconut
Directions:
For the Pina Colada Cupcakes
Bake the cupcakes as directed and allow to cool completely.
Make frosting/filling while cupcakes are cooling.
Make any optional garnishes while cupcakes are cooling:
Toast coconut in an oven at 350 for a few minutes until they were emitting a nutty aroma.
Let pineapple chunks and cherries sit on a paper towel to release their juice. Stack on a toothpick to use as a garnish.
Use the cone method to remove a portion of the cupcake. Eat those cones as a snack. Or discard them. Fill the hole with the pineapple/coconut filling.
Pipe frosting on top of the cupcake and add a rim of toasted coconut (or sprinkle coconut over all of the frosting). Add garnishes. Colorful drink umbrellas would be great here too.
For the Coconut Cupcakes
Preheat oven to 325° and prepare two muffin pans with cupcake liners.
Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl.
Whisk together cream of coconut, milk, and extracts in a bowl or measuring cup.
Beat together butter and granulated sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer on high speed until fluffy, about 3 minutes.
Add whole eggs and egg whites, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition, until combined well.
On low speed, beat in flour mixture and cream of coconut mixture alternately in batches, beginning and ending with flour mixture, until just combined (do not overbeat).
Pour batter evenly into the prepared muffin pans.
Bake cupcakes until golden and a toothpick comes out clean, 20-25 minutes.
Transfer pans to racks and let cool for 5 minutes. Remove cupcakes from pan and allow to cool completely.
For the Coconut Frosting and Filling
Beat cream cheese in a large bowl with an electric mixer until fluffy.
Beat in butter until smooth.
Slowly beat in confectioners' sugar on low speed until smooth for frosting.
Transfer 2/3 cup of frosting to a bowl and fold in pineapple and coconut for filling.
Recipe adapted from these Lime and Coconut Cupcakes, originally from Ladies' Home Journal
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. 
What a neat exchange! Your jam flavor sound delish!
oh YUMMMM!!! I love the color!! Peach with vanilla… I think I need to go peach picking this weekend 🙂 As for your Q I’ll answer it here and on my blog. The reason there is no pectin is because raspberries naturally have a very high level of it in them, when I make my raspberry jam (posted yesterday) I only use raspberries and sugar, that’s it! And it gels up without any problem 🙂 As for processing, I say jar it up and boil the jars for 10 minutes and then let them cool overnight like normal. Can’t wait to hear how it tastes!
That makes sense about the raspberries having pectin in them. Thanks for the help for a jam newbie!
Ohhh I want to make this!!
What a yummy jam! I bet it taste amazing:)
I really like the sound of a peach jam with vanilla bean and bourbon!
One day soon I really really want to make my own Jam! Yours looks fabulous!
Wow, what an amazing flavor combo, I’m completely impressed you made your own jam – it looks fabulous!
Thank you for the inspiration, it came out yummy!
Hello Jen! I found this blog in Foodista and followed it here. This is a actually cool Vanilla Peach Bourbon Jam recipe. Keep it up and I may see you on Food Network one day. By the way, did you know you can place more Foodista widget? A friend of mine placed proper Foodista widget at the end of her latest blogs and the numbers of her readers increased. Interesting isn’t it?
It’s too late for peaches (I made a batch of this with peaches, and wanted to make a second, but I waited too long), so I tried asian pears. It’s a little boozier tasting, but delicious!
Just made this with some fantastic peaches. Wow, winning recipe.
I made this jam last summer. My family has been begging for more. This is their all time favorite jam that I made. Can’t wait till the peaches are ripe to mix up a few batches. Thank you!!!
beantownbaker — June 11th, 2013 @ 8:20 pm
So glad you enjoyed the recipe. I make this jam every year when peaches are in season.
Just made this, and OMG is it good!! I used southern comfort, and scraped the seeds out of my vanilla bean into the jam. One of the best jams I have ever made! Thanks for the recipe! I put the used vanilla bean into 8oz of southern comfort, might be good in a couple of weeks! Just cant bear to throw away the rest of the vanilla bean.
beantownbaker — August 6th, 2013 @ 6:28 pm
So glad you enjoyed this! It’s one of my favorite jam recipes ever.
Hi! Can’t wait to try this jam! Is there a reason you used low-sugar pectin instead of regular?
beantownbaker — August 28th, 2013 @ 1:35 pm
That’s what the recipe called for. In general, when it comes to pectin, I follow the recipe and don’t deviate from what it says…
This recipe sounds great! I have to go out for a liquor run tomorrow(Son getting married) and peaches are still in the stores. I was looking for a good(and different) peach jam recipe. Thanks!
beantownbaker — October 29th, 2013 @ 6:22 pm
This is one of my favorite jam recipes. I make it every year at the end of summer while peaches are really ripe here in the midwest!
This is a fantastic recipe! Made it last year and the first batch disappeared so fast, two more got made right away 🙂 I’m just about to start on this year’s first batch. My only suggestion would be this: if you’re using a stockpot for canning the half-pints/pints and not a water-bath canner, put some butter knives on the bottom of the pot so the jars don’t make direct contact with the floor. The knives act in the same way as a rack does, to reduce the chance that a jar might crack or even break.
beantownbaker — September 2nd, 2014 @ 7:21 pm
Great tip. Thanks!
I made this last night, the best peach jam I have ever tasted. I brought a small jar to work and everyone has fallen in love!
I don’t drink but would love to try recipe, someone promised to share bourbon for recipe and at the last minute gave me Jim beam whisky instead. I reviewed how the spirits are made…thoughts about the substitution. Thank you love your site
Jim Beam would be fine – it’s a nuance, not a strong “flavor”. This is an amazing jam that won’t disappoint…
Wow! Just made this jam, & it is amazing. Will definitely be making this yearly.