Pina Colada Cupcakes

 

For our cupcake for the month of August I thought it would be fun to base it off a summery drink. I chose the Pina Colada because it just screams summer with the flavors of pineapple and coconut. So as you are enjoying your cupcake you can imagine yourself laying on a tropical beach someplace wonderful. Once again this is a small batch like all the baking on this blog, this time I got 6 cupcakes. I am using a boxed cake mix that I got at the regular grocery store. I did a post a little over a year ago to show you how to divide that box of cake mix to make small batches. Here is a link to that post if you need a refresher. I love to have a few boxes of mix in my cabinet divided and ready to bake a small batch of cupcakes.

The cupcakes this time contain some pineapple as well as a bit of Rum extract along with the vanilla extract. For the pineapple I am using one of those little tubs of pineapple tidbits that are sold in the fruit aisle of the grocery store. I have found so many uses for those tubs of fruit and you will find a lot of them used in future recipes. For the small household they are wonderful because you get just the right amount of fruit for a recipe and you don't end up with a bunch of leftover canned fruit to use up.

Once again I am using a vegetable shortening in my frosting instead of butter, this is because it is a more neutral flavor and doesn't compete with the other flavors (coconut) that I want to feature. For the coconut flavor we are using a bit of coconut flavoring and a coating of coconut.

I did garnish my cupcakes with maraschino cherries to make them look more like the drink they are based on. If you set the cherries on a couple of layers of paper towels to soak up the extra liquid they won't make too much of a mess on the top of your cupcakes.

Pina Colada Cupcakes

⅓ of a box of yellow cake mix

4 oz tub of pineapple tidbits (drained- reserve the juice)

1 egg

3 ½ Tablespoons vegetable oil

¼ teaspoon vanilla extract

¼ teaspoon rum extract

Start by preheating your oven to the temperature your box of cake mix calls for, mine was 350°F. Line your cupcake pan with paper liners or grease really well.

Drain the pineapple reserving the juice, add water to the pineapple juice to equal ⅓ cup.

Combine the juice/water mixture, egg, vegetable oil, vanilla extract and rum extract in a mixing bowl and combine well.

Add the cake mix and beat for up to 90 seconds. Then add the drained pineapple and stir just until combined.

Portion into cupcake pan and bake according to instructions on your cake mix. Mine was baked at 350°F for about 20 minutes.

Cool in pan for 10 minutes then move to a cooling rack and cool completely.

Frosting

1 ½ cups powdered (confectioners) sugar

2 ½ Tablespoons shortening or butter

2 Tablespoons half and half

¾ teaspoon vanilla extract

¾ teaspoon coconut flavoring

coconut flakes

6 maraschino cherries (if desired)

If you want to use the cherries on top of your cupcakes place them onto several layers of paper towels to allow the juice to be pulled away from them.

Using a mixer blend together the powdered sugar and shortening until well combined. Add the half and half along with the vanilla extract and coconut flavoring and mix until smooth.

Put some of the coconut flakes into a small bowl to dip the tops of the frosted cupcakes into. I put just a few tablespoons at a time into a small bowl and just added more as needed.

Spread frosting on cupcakes then dip the tops into the coconut. Add the drained cherries if desired.