Sunday, June 15, 2008
5 comments »

Pina-Colada cupcakes (with recipe)

My mother-in-law came to visit for her birthday a couple weekends ago. We had a great time with her in town and I got to show off my baking skills 🙂 I knew that she liked coconut cake but I wanted to kick it up a notch. I found a recipe for pina-colada cupcakes and thought they’d be perfect. I made a 1/2 batch which yielded 8 cupcakes for me.

These turned out AMAZING. Hubby says they’re definitely in the top 3 cupcakes I’ve ever made. I would agree with that. They were so light and fluffy and the coconut and pineapple flavors blended together perfectly.

Pina Colada Cupcakes – from Annie’s Eats
For the cupcakes (I halved this recipe to yield 8 cupcakes):
2 cups sifted cake flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
8 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 3/4 cups sugar
1/2 cup milk, at room temperature
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 tsp. coconut extract
4 egg whites
1/2-2/3 cup shredded coconut

For the frosting (I halved this recipe which was perfect for my 8 cupcakes):
2/3 cup fresh pineapple chunks
8 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 3/4 cups powdered sugar, sifted

For garnish:
shredded coconut
fresh pineapple wedges

Preheat oven to 350°. Line a muffin tin with paper liners.

In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the flat beater, beat the butter on high speed until creamy, about 30 seconds. Gradually add the granulated sugar and continue beating, occasionally scraping down the sides of the bowl, until light and fluffy, 4 to 5 minutes.

Reduce the speed to low and fold in the flour mixture in three additions, alternating with the milk and beginning and ending with the flour, until just blended. Stir in the vanilla and coconut extract. Stir in shredded coconut. Transfer batter to a large mixing bowl and set aside. Wash and thoroughly dry mixer bowl.

In the mixer bowl, beat egg whites until stiff peaks form. Using a rubber spatula, fold ½ cup of the egg whites into the batter until smooth. Carefully fold in the remaining egg whites until smooth and blended. Divide the batter among the prepared wells.

Bake until the cupcakes are golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 15 minutes. Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let cool for 10 minutes. Remove the cupcakes from the pan and let cool on the rack to room temperature.

To make the frosting, puree the pineapple chunks in food processor or blender until smooth. In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat cream cheese and butter on high speed until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes. Mix in powdered sugar until well combined. Add pineapple puree to achieve desired pineapple flavor (approximately ½ cup). If frosting is too runny, refrigerate for 30 minutes to allow to set up a bit. Frost cupcakes with pineapple frosting, sprinkle with shredded coconut and garnish with fresh pineapple wedges.

Cupcakes, Dessert, Family Favorites
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21 Responses to “Coconut Almond Cake with Blackberry Lime Curd”

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    1
    Ashley Bee (Quarter Life Crisis Cuisine) — March 21, 2013 at 9:14 am

    I am really very terrible at frosting/decorating cake :\ This came out way better than anything I could make!

    • beantownbaker — March 25th, 2013 @ 1:18 pm

      Ha – I’m pretty bad too. That’s why I love putting stuff on the sides. Coconut does a good job of hiding my sloppy decorating skills.

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    2
    Nutmeg Nanny — March 21, 2013 at 3:11 pm

    Coconut and almond, you’ve already got me reeled in 🙂 two of my favorite flavors rolled into what looks like a moist, fluffy cake. YUM

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    3
    Natalie @ Once Upon a Cutting Board — March 21, 2013 at 6:57 pm

    This cake looks so beautiful and the texture is perfect! I love curd as a filling between cake layers but i never knew the trick for preventing it from seeping out – thanks!

    • beantownbaker — March 25th, 2013 @ 1:19 pm

      Yea, it’s definitely very helpful. Even more so when you ACTUALLY do it 😉

  4. #
    4
    Megan — March 21, 2013 at 7:20 pm

    We’ve all had those cake experiences. It looks like it turned out well in the end! And it sounds delicious!

    • beantownbaker — March 25th, 2013 @ 1:20 pm

      Glad to hear I’m not the only one. I think it’s easy to get wrapped up in thinking we all need to project that all of our baking/cooking endeavors are hugely successful…

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    Ashley — March 21, 2013 at 8:50 pm

    Regardless of any kitchen mishaps, this cake looks divine! Layer cakes always look so special, and the addition of fruit here makes me swooooon!

    • beantownbaker — March 25th, 2013 @ 1:20 pm

      I agree. Layer cakes always look special 🙂

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    Michelle — March 22, 2013 at 7:49 am

    Oh this looks amazing. And aren’t we all our own worst critics when we bake? I can’t tell you how many times I say something is terrible and my husband looks as me like I’m crazy.

    • beantownbaker — March 25th, 2013 @ 1:21 pm

      I agree. At the end of the day, it tasted delicious and no one knew about all the issues I had with the cake. I did want to keep it real on the blog and not give anyone any false sense that things are always easy for me…

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    7
    Erica @ In and Around Town — March 22, 2013 at 9:04 am

    I always shy away from layer cakes – yours always come out well, I need some more practice I think! Your “mistakes” are great learning points – did not know about the frosting damn, but it makes so much sense!

    • beantownbaker — March 25th, 2013 @ 1:23 pm

      That’s why I wanted to talk about them. I definitely could have posted about this cake without mentioning any of the issues I had. I’m hoping they’ll help someone (myself included) to learn something for the next time they tackle a layer cake. Yours will definitely improve with practice. Mine surely are. I really want to make that coconut cake you just posted!

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    Shannon — March 22, 2013 at 3:12 pm

    i’m always hard on myself too, but you wouldn’t know by the taste i’m sure! looks absolutely wonderful, not to mention i’m drooling over the flavor combo 🙂

    • beantownbaker — March 25th, 2013 @ 1:24 pm

      I agree, I think we all are. I wanted to keep it real with this post in case anyone else found it to be a difficult set of recipes…

  9. #
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    Rosie @ Blueberry Kitchen — March 23, 2013 at 4:18 am

    Yum, your cake looks so delicious and I really love the sound of the blackberry lime curd!

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    Laura Dembowski — April 26, 2013 at 2:37 pm

    I love coconut cake, and blackberries are my favorite fruit. Such a great idea to put them together. This cake is gorgeous! I would happily take a large slice . . . or maybe the whole thing 😉

    • beantownbaker — April 27th, 2013 @ 10:02 am

      Then you would definitely love this cake!

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    11
    Kristina Koranek — August 10, 2013 at 9:06 pm

    Could anyone post the blackberry lime curd recipe? The link is no longer working.

    Thanks!

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