One of my favorite places to go on vacation is Mexico. Cabos, Riviera, Cancun, what have you. My last vacation I took there with my hubs, I must have consumed a year's worth of pina coladas within the 5 days we were there. I swear the stuff was coming out of my pores! I love love LOVE coconut and pineapple together. There is just something about that flavor combination that makes me smile and get all excited inside. I'm smiling right now writing this post just thinking about it!
SO, of course it makes perfect sense to turn it into a cupcake. 2 key ingredients for this baby: coconut puree (I made my own) & fresh pineapple filling. We all know fresh is best but I really didn't feel like cracking open a whole coconut and preparing it. I did however, buy fresh cut pineapple and used it for the puree so I guess it evens out...sort of.
The cake part of this cupcake us purely coconut flavor and isn't very sweet at all. So is the frosting. The pineapple filling is sweet and tangy. You do have to pipe a lot of filling into these cupcakes to balance everything out. My reason for making the cupcake this way is because I think pineapple tends lose flavor whenever it is baked into things. I can tell it's pineapple but it almost always seems to be muted unless it's artificially flavored. I just wanted a creamy, coconutty cake and frosting and a sweet and sour punch tothe filling to counterbalance. This is what I came up with.
Pina Colada Cupcake
-2 cups flour
-1 tsp salt
-1 tsp baking soda
-1 1/4 tsp baking powder-3 egg whites (save 2 yolks for the filling)
-2/3 cup sugar
-1 scant cup of coconut puree (directions to make this below)-1 tsp coconut extract
-1 tsp vanilla
-1/2 cup veg. oil
-3 tbsp butter at room temp
-1 cup buttermilk
*Gonna need about 2 bags of coconut flakes for garnish and puree.
* Preheat oven to 350, prep cupcake pan with liners
1.Sift flour, baking soda, baking powder & salt in a bowl and set aside.
2. Beat egg whites until firm but soft peaks and set aside.
3. In a stand mixer, cream the oil, butter, & sugar until well combined (about 2 min). Add extracts and coconut puree. Mix for another 2 min.
4. Add buttermilk and flour mixture alternating beginning and ending with the dry mixture.
5. Fold in half of the egg whites w/ a spatula, then fold in the rest of the egg whites.
6. Fill batter about 2/3 way in liners & bake about 18 min. Check after 15 min with a tester and if it comes out clean, take the cupcakes out.
7. Cool cupcakes completely before filling and icing.
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| Make sure to cool completely before filling and icing! |
Coconut Puree
Ingredients:
-2 cups of sweetened coconut flakes or shredded
1. Shake the coconut milk can well before opening.
2. Combine milk and flakes in a blender and blend until you get a thick puree.
( you will have just enough to make this recipe twice with the amount of puree this yields. Just store any extra in an air tight container and keep in fridge up to 2 weeks. Mixture will harden a little when cold. Just keep out for a couple hours before use and mix well.)
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| Pretty thick puree, add a couple tbsp of coconut milk if it's too thick. It shouldn't be pasty. |
Pineapple Filling
Ingredients:
-1/2 cup sugar
-3 tbsp flour
-2 egg yolks
-1 to 1 1/2 cup of fresh pineapple cut in 1 inch chunks with 1/2 cup of pineapple juice. (OR you can just
use 1 8oz can crushed pineapple w/ juice)
-2 tbsp fresh lemon juice (about 1 large lemon)
-2 tbsp butter
-1 tbsp vanilla extract
-1/4 tsp salt
1. Combine all ingredients except butter in a saucepan and heat on med-high, stirring as you go. Once mixture begins to warm up, stir in butter.
2. Continue to cook over medium heat, stirring often until thick. (About 7-10 min.)
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| Filling should drip down from spoon in blobs and not a steady stream. |
Ingredients:
-4 egg whites
-1 tsp cream of tartar
-1 1/4 cup sugar
-1/4 cup of water
-1 tsp coconut extract
-1/4 cup coconut puree
-3 sticks of room temp butter
Directions:
1. Boil sugar and water in a saucepan fitted with a candy thermometer. Have a heatproof measurer nearby. 2. In a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, combine egg whites and cream of tartar. Once the syrup reaches 248 degrees F, immediately transfer to heatproof bowl to keep from getting hotter.
3. With the mixer on low speed, slowly pour a couple tablespoons of the syrup aiming for side of the bowl. Mix on med-high for a few seconds.
4. Repeat until all syrup is incorporated. Then raise the speed to high and beat for about 7 to 10 min until the temp cools to 70-75 degrees F.
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| After cooling to 73 degrees. Very and firm and stiff peaks. |
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| Mixture might deflate and soften. If it looks curdled, don't worry, just raise speed to high and continue to add butter little at a time. It's important to mix well after each addition of butter. |
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| The final product should hold it's shape but soft and easily spreadable/pipeable. |
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| To fill cakes, I take the smaller end of a melon baller and scoop out the center. Careful not to dig all the way down. |
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| Pipe in filling. I'm using a no. 7 tip here. |
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| Pipe icing(doesn't have to be pretty) and press coconut flakes over and on the sides all around. You can shape the icing with your hands as you do this. |
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| I garnished with a dried/candied pineapple wedge. Simple and sweet. |
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| YUM! GJW!
*NOTE: The next time I make these, I will put a twist on it and try rum extract in the frosting. Or perhaps a pinapple rum reduction/glaze to drizzle over the top??? I'll let you know how that turns out.
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