These boozy cupcakes aren’t just moist; their insides are almost wet due to the juicy pineapple bites scattered throughout the cake. They are so close to the piña colada drink that eating them can make you feel like you are taking a mini tropical getaway.

How to Make Piña Colada Cupcakes

1. To give these cupcakes their signature flavor, you’ll start with mixing the liquid ingredients together. The important ones are the rum, coconut milk, and pineapple juice.
2. You can use any rum that you like, and there is no need to go out and buy anything special. But, if you happen to have Malibu coconut rum [paid link] or pineapple rum on hand, I would highly recommend those flavors.
   • Tip: Don’t buy pineapple juice for this recipe. You’ll need crushed pineapple later in the recipe, so buy a can of crushed pineapple in juice and use the juice from the can.

3. You will next alternately add the liquid mixture and dry ingredients to butter, sugar, and eggs. If you are new to prepping the basic cupcake ingredients, be sure to read my post on how to make cupcakes to get you started.

4. Lastly, the pineapple cupcakes get even more flavor by folding in desiccated coconut (also known as baker’s coconut) and crushed pineapple.

5. Fill the cupcake liners 3/4 full and bake for about 25 minutes.
6. Note that pineapple cupcakes like this don’t dome. They aren’t a light and fluffy cupcake that rise a lot. Rather, they are more moist and dense and packed with flavor!

Frosting for Piña Colada Cupcakes

• You can’t go wrong with basic Cream Cheese Frosting. Everyone loves it!
• But, like I do with my Margarita Cupcakes, I like to put the flavor of the drink in the cupcake frosting. So, I love adding a splash of Malibu rum to the frosting to create a coconut buttercream instead of using vanilla extract. You can also use coconut extract to accentuate the coconut flavor.
• Top the cupcakes with cocktail cherries (also called Maraschino cherries), cocktail umbrellas [paid link], and paper straws for the perfect presentation. Another way to decorate is to press some sweetened shredded coconut or toasted coconut flakes into the frosting.

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