Pina Colada Cupcakes

The very first cupcake that I made, which inspired me to try more, were my Champagne Pear cupcakes.  I absolutely loved the idea of alcohol and fruit incorporated into a cupcake. I started thinking of other fruit and alcohol mixes to try and there are just endless combinations out there!

Exhausted with trying to master a white russian cupcake and ultimately disappointed with the results, I was really looking forward to my next cake.  I wanted to do something easy that everyone could follow while yielding the same delicious results as the first few so I decided on a Pina Colada cupcake. It is a vanilla cupcake with bits of pineapple baked in, topped with Malibu frosting, and covered in shredded coconut. 

These cupcakes turned out AMAZING and is by far one of my favorites. I hope you enjoy them as much as my testers and I did!

Pina Colada Cupcakes (yields about 12 cupcakes)

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 egg, room temperature
• 1/2 cup coconut milk
• pinch of salt
• 6 tablespoons butter, sliced (room temperature)
• 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract
• 1/2 can of pineapple bits (or 8 pineapple rings chopped)

Malibu Rum Frosting

• About 10-12 tablespoons powdered sugar
• 1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter (room temperature)
• 2 tablespoons Malibu Rum

Directions: Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Fill cupcake tin with paper liners. 

Mix the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and butter in a large bowl with a mixer until you get a sandy consistency and everything is combined. 

Mix the coconut milk and vanilla together in a separate bowl for a few seconds, then beat into the flour mixture until well combined. Add the egg and beat well (scraping the sides of bowl as needed). 

Divide the chopped pineapple between the liners. Spoon the batter on top until 2/3 full and bake in preheated oven for 25 minutes, or until light golden brown and the cake bounces back when touched. Let the cupcakes cool for about 10 minutes before transferring them onto a cooling rack for another 20 minutes.

While the cakes cool, whip butter in a medium bowl with electric mixer until light and fluffy. Slowly add powdered sugar, one tablespoon at a time. About 10 tablespoons was the right amount of sweetness for me before I added 2 tablespoons of Malibu Rum. You can add as little or as much as you like based on preference. 

When the cupcakes are completely cooled, decorate with frosting and sprinkle shredded coconut on top. You can also add a cherry but I chose left over pineapple chunks. 

Hope you love these as much as I do!

xo

White Russian Cupcakes

After the Dark N' Stormy cupcakes, I wanted to try a White Russian cupcake next. The idea of incorporating Kahlua, vodka, and milk with a cupcake seemed like an excellent idea.  Of course, three batches later, I still haven't quite found the perfect mix.

I made the first two batches last weekend with the first recipe adapted from here. The cupcake looked amazing but it was too spongy causing the liner to pull the sides off the cake and the frosting was too sweet for my taste.

The second batch was much better but still sweet and not as presentable. In fact, they were pretty ugly compared to the first batch. I decided to adapt from the rum cake recipe used in the Dark N' Stormy cupcakes but instead of rum, I used vodka and Kahlua. I added less sugar for the frosting and used less flour and incorporated instant pudding into the cake mix. The cake turned out to be much more moist like my previous cupcakes but still too sweet.

Now with the third and final batch, which I made this past Saturday, the cake turned out to be the best one of them all.  However, they turned out to look the worst of the batches as well so I modified the recipe to use less butter, eggs, and vegetable oil. I may have also taken them out too early so I've modified the cook time as well.

White Russian Cupcakes (yields 12-16 cupcakes)

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 egg, room temperature
• 1/2 cup milk
• pinch of salt
• 1/2 cup butter, sliced (room temperature)
• 1/8 cup vodka
• 1/4 cup Kahlua
• 1 (3.4 oz) package vanilla instant pudding mix
• 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract

Kahlua Frosting

• About 10-12 tablespoons of powdered sugar
• 1-2 tablespoons of Kahlua
• 1 stick (1/2 cup) of butter, room temperature

Directions: Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Fill cupcake tin with paper liners. 

Mix the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and butter in a large bowl with a mixer until you get a sandy consistency and everything is combined. Gradually pour in half the milk and beat until the milk is just incorporated. Add pudding mix, vodka, and Kahlua. 

Whisk the egg, vanilla, and remaining milk together in a separate bowl for a few seconds, then pour into the flour mixture and continue beating until just incorporated (scraping the bowl as needed). Continue mixing for a couple more minutes until batter is smooth but do not over mix.

Spoon the batter into paper liners until 2/3 full and bake in preheated oven for 20-25 minutes, or until light golden brown and the cake bounces back when touched. Let the cupcakes cool for about 10 -15 minutes before transferring them onto a cooling rack. 

While the cakes cool, whip butter in a medium bowl with electric mixer until light and fluffy. Slowly add powdered sugar, one tablespoon at a time. About 10 tablespoons was the right amount of sweetness for me before I added 1 tablespoon of Kahlua. You can add as little or as much as you like based on preference. 

When the cupcakes are cold, decorate with prepared frosting. 

xo

Dark N' Stormy Cupcakes

I had planned to test this recipe next weekend but since it was pouring and quite dreary on Sunday that baking a Dark N' Stormy cupcake would be most appropriate.

A Dark N' Stormy cocktail consists of dark rum and ginger beer over ice with a slice of lime. Using the same ingredients, I pictured a rum cupcake with ginger beer frosting, topped with lime zest and crystalized ginger. 

Most rum cake recipes I found used a basic yellow cake mix and even though that would be easiest, I wanted to do it all from scratch. I eventually found a rum cake recipe I adapted from here.  

Dark N' Stormy Cupcakes (yields about 12-16 cupcakes)

Basic Cake Mix

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 cup butter, sliced (room temperature)
• 1 1/2 tablespoons of vegetable oil

Rum Recipe 

• 1 (3.4 oz) package vanilla instant pudding mix
• 1/4 cup milk
• 2 eggs
• 1/3 cup dark rum (I used Whalers Original Dark Rum)
• 1/8 cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Ginger Beer Frosting

• 3/4 cup powdered sugar
• 1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter (room temperature)
• 4 tablespoons ginger beer (I used Reed's Extra Ginger Beer) 

Directions: Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Fill cupcake tin with paper liners. Mix basic cake ingredients in a large mixing bowl on low speed until all particles are the same size. You will notice that the butter may not mix entirely and you will see small clumps, which is fine. Mix as well as you can. 


Add pudding mix, milk, eggs, rum, vegetable oil, and vanilla extract to the basic cake mix and combine on medium speed for 2 to 3 minutes. Scrape the bowl to thoroughly mix. The batter should be relatively smooth but a few clumps are okay. Normally, cake mixes need to be completely smooth but not for cupcakes. 


Spoon batter into paper liners. I've noticed that these cupcakes tend to rise a lot higher than the Irish Car Bomb cupcakes so I wouldn't fill the liners as much. Definitely do not fill more than 2/3 for each cake. Bake in preheated oven for about 20 - 22 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. I would check them after 20 minutes and then bake for another 2 if not done. Cool in pan for 10 minutes, then remove and transfer to a cooling rack until completely cooled. 


While the cakes cool, you can start on the frosting. Whip butter in a medium bowl with electric mixer until light and fluffy. Slowly add powdered sugar, one tablespoon at a time. About 12 tablespoons was the right amount of sweetness for me so then I proceeded to add the ginger beer. You can add as little or as much as you like based on preference. I added 4 tablespoons because I wanted the ginger beer to really stand out in the frosting. After the ginger beer, I noticed that the frosting had watered down a bit so I added 2 more tablespoons of sugar to get the right consistency again. 


For decorations, I added lime zest and a crystalized ginger piece on top. The zest added the right amount of kick to the entire cupcake. Although the ginger piece added a nice effect as well, you may want to cut up smaller pieces unless you prefer a very intense ginger taste. 

 

 

 




Enjoy!


xo

Irish Car Bomb Cupcakes

I had originally wanted to bake Champagne Pear cupcakes that I tried a couple of weeks ago as my first post but in the spirit of St. Patrick's Day, I decided that Irish Car Bomb cupcakes would be more appropriate. For the very very few who do not know what an Irish Car Bomb is, it is a shot of Jameson Irish Whiskey and Bailey's Irish Cream dropped in about a half pint of Guinness beer. With that in mind, I decided that a chocolate Guinness cupcake filled with some sort of chocolate whiskey filling and topped off with Bailey's frosting would be the closest. 


I found many recipes online for this so I adapted mine from here.

Irish Car Bomb Cupcakes (yields about 24 cupcakes)

• 2 cups unsalted butter (room temperature)
• 1 1/2 cup Guinness Stout
• 2/3 cup Dutch- processed cocoa powder
• 1 cup light brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
• 2 eggs (room temperature) 
• 1/2 cup sour cream

Chocolate Whiskey Ganache Filling

• 8 ounces bittersweet chocolate
• 2/3 cup heavy cream
• 2 tablespoons butter (room temperature)
• 1 to 2 teaspoons Irish Whiskey

Baileys Frosting

• 2 cups confectioner's sugar (powdered sugar)
• 1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter (room temperature)
• 3 to 4 tablespoons Baileys 

Directions: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Fill tin with paper liners. In saucepan, heat butter, Guinness, cocoa and brown sugar, whisking often, until butter is melted and mixture is smooth.  Remove from heat and cool to room temperature.


Sift together salt, flour, white sugar and baking soda in a large mixing bowl.  Add cooled Guinness mixture and beat on medium with electric hand mixer for about a minute.  Add eggs and sour cream and beat on medium for 2 minutes or until smooth. 


Fill about 2/3 of the paper liner with batter. I find that using a spoon is the best format though I've read a small ice cream scooper works well too.  Bake in preheated oven for about 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Cool in pan for 20 minutes, then remove and transfer to a cooling rack until completely cooled. They may look a little greasy on the bottom but don't worry because the cakes will be super moist!


Meanwhile, chop the chocolate and transfer to a heatproof bowl.  Heat the cream in the saucepan until simmering and pour it over the chocolate.  Let it sit for one minute and then stir until smooth. It should melt the chocolate but if not, heat in microwave for about 20 seconds.  Add butter and whiskey and stir until combined.  


Let the ganache cool until thick but soft enough to be piped through a pastry bag (or sandwich bag with one edge cut.) Using an apple corer, cut a hole in the center of the cakes. The size of the hole is entirely up to you. I tried a cupcake corer that I thought I'd be fancy to try but it was massive and didn't work properly so I opted to use the peeler that doubles as a corer. I went about half way down the cake. You don't want to go too far down so that you cut through the bottom. 


While the ganache cools, you can start on the frosting. Whip butter in a mixing bowl with a electric mixer for several minutes until light and fluffy. Slowly add powdered sugar a tablespoon at a time until frosting looks thick enough to spread.  I'm not a big fan of overly sweet frosting so this was a great way to modify the frosting to your liking. Once frosting is thick enough to spread, drizzle the Bailey's and whip until combined. This shouldn't effect the consistency of the frosting but if it does, just add 1 or 2 more tablespoons of sugar. 


The ganache should have cooled by now so fill the cupcakes to the top and finish off with frosting. I added some green sugar sprinkles but feel free to add whatever you like. 

 

  
 


I know...there are a lot of steps and it may seem intimidating but it's really not! Try your best, be creative, and most importantly, have fun with it. 


xo

Hello stranger

I've always envied those who were super talented or creative and unfortunately for me, I'm constantly surrounded by them.  The only real talents that I possess are my ridiculously good looks, impressive memory, and this uncanny ability to follow recipes. Okay, I'm kidding about my ridiculously good looks but the rest is true!

I soon realized that since I loved cooking, and especially baking, so much that I should probably start a blog to share all these recipes that I've found and modified. I've been meaning to incorporate more booze into cupcakes so most of my recipes will include alcohol but I'm pretty sure that will get old and I'll start to eventually include non alcoholic recipes as well. 


I welcome any and all cupcake suggestions so please let me know what ideas you'd like me to try. 

Thanks for reading!


xo