Piña Colada Cupcakes

I was at Global Foods the other day and bought a can of coconut milk and was planning to use it to make some coconut curry one day. However, I randomly decided that I wanted to make piña colada cupcakes last Sunday so the coconut curry will have to wait.

One of my favorite cupcake recipes is the Strawberry Muffin Cones Recipe from Taste of Home.
Well I guess technically it's a recipe for muffins but like I care. What I really love about this recipe is you can replace the fruit and yogurt ingredients with what ever fruit/ flavor you choose. So I decided to try the recipe with pineapple and piña colada yogurt to get piña colada cupcakes!


Cupcake recipe adapted from Taste of Home (makes approx. 16 regular cupcakes)

 Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 eggs

3/4 cup (6 ounces) piña colada yogurt

1/2 cup canola oil

1 cup chopped canned pineapple

Directions:

• In a large bowl, combine the first five ingredients. In another bowl, beat eggs, yogurt, oil and pineapple; stir into dry ingredients just until moistened.
• Place cupcake liners in muffin cups; fill liner 2/3 full. Bake at 375° for 19-21 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool completely.

 

Frosting recipe adapted from Epicurious 

Reduced coconut milk:

• 1, 13-to 14-ounce can unsweetened coconut milk

Frosting:

• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
• 1/3 cup reduced coconut milk (see above), room temperature
• 1 1/2 teaspoons rum
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup sweetened flaked coconut, toasted (for garnish)

For reduced coconut milk:

Bring coconut milk to boil in large deep saucepan over medium-high heat (coconut milk will boil up high in pan). Reduce heat to medium-low; boil until reduced to 1/3 cup, stirring occasionally, 25 to 30 minutes. Remove from heat; cool completely. (Can be made 2 days ahead) Keep chilled.

For Frosting:

Using electric mixer, beat butter in large bowl until smooth. Add sugar, 1/3 cups reduced coconut milk, rum, and salt. Beat on medium-low speed until blended, scraping down sides of bowl. Increase to medium-high and beat until light and fluffy.

For Toasted Coconut:

Preheat oven to 325°F. Spread coconut flakes on a baking sheet in a thin layer and bake in preheated oven. The flakes will toast very quickly and won't take more than 5-10 minutes. After a few minutes stir the coconut to help ensure even color. Remember, sweetened flakes will take less time because sugar speeds the toasting process.

Notes:

• The recipe for the muffins is meant to make 20 cones, but will make approx. 16 regular sized cupcakes.
• I bought a fresh pineapple to use in the cupcakes. However, it was not quite ripe yet and going from my experience using bananas in cupcakes, I was worried the bits of pineapple would be too hard so I used canned pineapple rings and just drained and chopped them up.
• I substituted the vanilla extract in the frosting for rum to make them closer to the drink. I used British Navy rum.