These Pina Colada Cupcakes are like a tropical vacation for your taste buds!
I’ve been playing with this recipe for over a year, and I’m very happy with the final results!
I’ll be doing a dessert display for a big luau party this weekend and wanted to perfect this recipe before the party.
I took this batch to a church pot luck tonight and got lots of great reviews!
The Pina Colada effect comes from matching a Pineapple Cupcake with Coconut Cream Cheese Frosting.
Although if for some (crazy!) reason you don’t like coconut, these cupcakes would be delicious with Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting (and maybe a small slice of fresh pineapple).
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2 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 eggs
1 3/4 cups sugar
2/3 cup vegetable oil/extra light olive oil/etc
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup (full fat) sour cream
1 1/2 cups canned crushed pineapple (drained slightly)Directions-
1. Mix flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl and set aside.
2. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat the eggs and sugar until slightly thickened and a light cream color (about 2 minutes).
3. On low speed, mix in the oil and vanilla until blended.
4. Add in the pineapple and sour cream and mix until fully incorporated.
5. Add the flour mixture and blend until just combined and smooth.
6. Line a cupcake pan with 12 paper liners and fill about 2/3 full.
7. Bake cupcakes in a pre-heated 350*F oven for about 22 minutes.
8. Remove from pan and cool on wire rack.
9. Frost with Coconut Cream Cheese Frosting (recipe below)Note – If using light or non-fat sour cream, increase the vegetable oil to 3/4 cup.Recipe yields 24-28 cupcakes.Coconut Cream Cheese Frosting
(this is just a slight variation on my Cream Cheese Frosting recipe, but I’ll add it to this page as well, so it’s easy to find)
½ cup (1 stick/8 Tablespoons) butter (cool)
8 oz. cream cheese (directly from fridge)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract (always use pure vanilla extract if possible)
1 1/2 teaspoons coconut extract (you may want to start with just 1 teaspoon of coconut extract, you can always add more, but you can’t take it out!)
4 cups powdered confectioners sugar
1 Tablespoon Dark Rum
-OR-
1 Tablespoon heavy cream, heavy whipping cream or milk
Directions:
*Place butter in a large mixing bowl and blend until smooth. Add cream cheese and blend until well combined, about 30 seconds.
*Add vanilla extract, coconut extract and powdered sugar (1 cup at a time) and blend on low speed until combined. Increase to medium speed and beat until it begins to get fluffy.
*Slowly add the heavy cream or rum.
*Beat until fluffy, about 1 minute.
*Use at once or keep refrigerated. (This frosting will keep well in the refrigerator for several days, but you may need to re-beat it for the best texture.)
For added flavor and texture, top frosted cupcakes with toasted coconut.
(To toast coconut- lay about 1 1/2 cups sweetened flaked coconut on a baking sheet and bake at 375*F about 4-5 minutes).
Decorate cupcakes with fresh pineapple, maraschino cherries or paper umbrellas.
How to Make Pina Colada Cupcakes
Pina Colada Cupcakes
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3 eggs
- 1 3/4 cups sugar
- 2/3 cup vegetable oil extra light olive oil/etc
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3/4 cup sour cream full fat
- 1 1/2 cups canned crushed pineapple drained slightly
Coconut Cream Cheese Frosting
- 8 tablespoons butter set at room temperature for about 10 minutes
- 8 oz cream cheese directly from fridge
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract always use pure vanilla extract if possible
- 1 1/2 teaspoons coconut extract you may want to start with just 1 teaspoon of coconut extract, you can always add more, but you can’t take it out!
- 4 cups powdered confectioners sugar
- 1 tablespoon dark rum
- or
- 1 tablespoon heavy cream heavy whipping cream or milk
Instructions
- Mix flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl and set aside.
- In a large bowl, using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat the eggs and sugar until slightly thickened and a light cream color (about 2 minutes).
- On low speed, mix in the oil and vanilla until blended.
- Add in the pineapple and sour cream and mix until fully incorporated.
- Add the flour mixture and blend until just combined and smooth.
- Line a cupcake pan with 12 paper liners and fill about 2/3 full.
- Bake cupcakes in a pre-heated 350*F oven for about 22 minutes.
- Remove from pan and cool on wire rack.
- Frost with Coconut Cream Cheese Frosting (recipe below)
Coconut Cream Cheese Frosting
- Place butter in a large mixing bowl and blend until smooth. Add cream cheese and blend until well combined, about 30 seconds.
- Add vanilla extract, coconut extract and powdered sugar (1 cup at a time) and blend on low speed until combined. Increase to medium speed and beat until it begins to get fluffy.
- Slowly add the heavy cream or rum.
- Beat until fluffy, about 1 minute.
- Use at once or keep refrigerated. (This frosting will keep well in the refrigerator for several days, but you may need to re-beat it for the best texture.)
Notes
(To toast coconut- lay about 1 1/2 cups sweetened flaked coconut on a baking sheet and bake at 375*F about 4-5 minutes). Decorate cupcakes with fresh pineapple, maraschino cherries or paper umbrellas.
Nutrition
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Happy baking!
Hallo if I make them Friday for Saturday are cupcakes will be fine ?
These look fantastic! I have been asked to make them for a wedding but before I do, I would need to know if they freeze well without the frosting on them. Since there is pineapple in them, I just am not positive. Can you help me out?
why can’t i prin the pina colada cupcakes?
Just made theses. The coconut cream cheese frosting is amazing. The cupcake itself lacks some pineapple flavor in my opinion. Maybe I just hyped up the flavor too much. Overall, pretty good recipe.
these would be so great for my cousins beach wedding!
This was so yummy and moist!
Used extra virgin coconut oil instead of vegetable oil.
Baked it for 20 min.
Frosting – I used 2 cups confectioner sugar but may just use 1.5cup next time due to the sweetness. Used cold butter and cold cream cheese on my kitchen aide mixer and it held its shape just fine.
It tasted even better the next day after sitting out for a night!
Will definitely make this again and again!
Thanks!
Very delicious!! I made a cake in a 9×13 pan with a vanilla glaze using the left over pineapple and pineapple juice. This cake was perfect, moist, fluffy, tender, and had a wonderful taste. I know that the your icing would have been sensational but I used what I had here at home. I followed your recipe exactly as written except I did warm my eggs and the sour cream and I sifted the dry ingredients. Thank you for the recipe. I had one similar but misplaced it. This one is even better!! Now, I am anxious to try your chocolate cupcake recipe.
Hi Glory- these look absolutely scrumptious! I’m making these tomorrow for the first time as a 50th bday cake for a friend but unsure re the type of flour you’ve used (I’m in the UK) – is it American cake flour or all purpose flour? I’ve tried to google flour conversions but it’s confusing. Apparently if you’ve used cake flour I remove 2T per cup of flour and add 2T of corn flour and if AP flour then plain flour. Please, please clarify- Everything else is set to go! Thanks in advance! x
Just made these and they are amazing! I used the cold butter and cold cream cheese and the frosting consistency turned out perfect! I did however feel that the frosting was a little too sweet with the already super sweet cupcakes so I added lime zest and lime juice to the frosting and WHAT A DIFFERENCE it made!!!! SO SO SO SO good and I have already had requests to make them for other parties and family events! Thanks so much for sharing this recipe with us!
Thank u soooo much for this recipe. i made them today and they were ohhh sooo yummy!! im not very fond of coconut so i skipped the frosting part. i used the same batter as the recipe but turned them into pineapple upside down cupcakes by placing the pineapple ring in the bottom of the muffin tray along with the brown sugar-butter mixture. the results were awesome! thank you once again.