Pineapple is somewhat overlooked in the baking world outside of pineapple upside-down cake or cupcakes. The flavor doesn’t come through very well in pineapple recipes unless you have a lot of it.

These pineapple cookie bars truly makes pineapple the star with chunks of pineapple in every bite. If you love this tropical fruit, this pineapple bars recipe is a must-try!

In cupcakes with pineapple, like my hummingbird cupcakes and my piña colada cupcakes, the pineapple flavor can be overpowered by other more prominent flavors like banana and coconut. Here, by having chunks of pineapple on the top of the cupcakes, the pineapple becomes the star!

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.

FAQs

Can you make these without alcohol?

If you don’t want any alcohol in these cupcakes, replace the rum with more pineapple juice and optionally use a teaspoon of rum extract. You can use rum extract in the frosting or just stick with a basic cream cheese frosting – leaving off the rum flavor entirely.

Read the full article here]]> https://www.cupcakeproject.com/pina-colada-cupcakes/feed/ 45 https://www.cupcakeproject.com/hummingbird-cupcakes-with-pineapple/ https://www.cupcakeproject.com/hummingbird-cupcakes-with-pineapple/#comments Mon, 24 Feb 2020 17:55:00 +0000 http://gw.finelimedesigns.com/2012/04/hummingbird-cupcakes-with-pineapple-almond-butter-cream-cheese-frosting-3/ Hummingbird cupcakes are a cross between banana cupcakes and pineapple cupcakes with a heavy dose of pecans mixed in. They are wonderful with a swirl of cream cheese frosting!

Hummingbird cupcakes are more dense then a typical cupcake and they work really well as brunch item like my banana oatmeal chocolate chip muffins.

Read the full article here]]> https://www.cupcakeproject.com/hummingbird-cupcakes-with-pineapple/feed/ 14 https://www.cupcakeproject.com/moms-tzimmes-tsimis-recipe/ https://www.cupcakeproject.com/moms-tzimmes-tsimis-recipe/#comments Sun, 03 Nov 2013 01:57:05 +0000 https://www.cupcakeproject.com/?p=16236

This Tzimmes recipe (Tsimis recipe) is the Jewish answer to green bean casserole.

We skip the greens and the creamy soup and instead spend our holidays eating a sweet stew made with root vegetables, apples and pineapple (if you’re my mom), raisins, and other dried fruits.

Read the full article here]]> https://www.cupcakeproject.com/moms-tzimmes-tsimis-recipe/feed/ 4 https://www.cupcakeproject.com/candied-pineapple-recipe/ https://www.cupcakeproject.com/candied-pineapple-recipe/#comments Tue, 19 May 2009 00:35:00 +0000 http://gw.finelimedesigns.com/2009/05/candied-pineapple-recipe-3/ Candied pineapple, according to a quick informal poll of my friends, is typically thought of as dried pineapple that has been sugared.

My recipe was about as dry as a St. Louis summer (for those not from St. Louis, picture rainforest-like humidity). What makes my candied pineapple different from non-candied pineapple is that the juice is extra sweet and the outside of the pineapple has an irresistible glossy shine.

Aside from topping a pineapple upside-down cupcake, candied pineapple could be:

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