This Easter I decided to make cupcakes inspired by one of my favorite springtime desserts: My Mom's Pineapple Coconut Cake!
As you can see, they were adorably delicious! Here is the recipe so you can make your own Eastery cupcakes!
Pineapple Coconut Cupcakes
Cupcakes:
1 box yellow cake mix
4 eggs
1 cup buttermilk
Vegetable oil (amount called for on the box)
1 tsp pineapple extract/flavoring (optional)
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line 24 muffin cups with paper liners.
Follow the box instructions and mix all of the ingredients in a large bowl. Spoon into cups.
TIP: I like to put my cake batter into a gallon sized ziplock baggie. Snip one corner off and use it to fill the liners. I can get a more even (and less messy!) fill in the cups, and it is a bit quicker to fill them up.
Bake for 15-20 mins or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove cupcakes from pan and place on a wire rack. Allow to cool completely before decorating.
Pineapple Filling:
1 can crushed pineapple
Drain the liquid from the crushed pineapple. Set aside.
Take cooled cupcakes and using my favorite angled spatula or a butter knife, cut a small 3/4 in square hole in the top of the cupcake taking care only to cut about halfway down into the cupcake (not all the way to the bottom). Remove the inside of the cake from the cake hole. *snickers* You can toss or eat the inside, we won't be using it.
Take a small teaspoonful of crushed pineapple and put it into the hole in the center of the cupcake. You can squish it in there a bit using your spatula.
Here is where I varied a bit. Normally I would make these cupcakes using whipped cream (homemade or store bought, your preference) for the frosting. Which I recommend if you will be serving these cupcakes same-day. But since I needed these cupcakes to keep overnight to take to work, I needed something that would stand up a little better. So I made some slight changes to my favorite cream cheese frosting.
Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting:
1 stick butter (softened)
1 8oz pkg cream cheese (softened)
~ 1 box (16oz) confectioners' sugar
2-3 tablespoons of milk
2 teaspoons vanilla or coconut extract
Combine the sugar and cream cheese in a medium bowl. Mix for about 3 mins until light and fluffy.
Gradually add the confectioners' sugar, vanilla and 2 tablespoons of milk and beat until smooth. Add the remaining tablespoon of milk if the mixture is too thick, add more confectioners' sugar if it is too thin.
Using my favorite angled spatula, frost your cupcakes!
I kind of eyeball this frosting until I get the right texture. I also may add in more vanilla or coconut flavoring to taste. Baking is an art, not always a science. ;) I choose to make this frosting nice and thick.
Decorations:
1 1/2 cups flaked coconut
Green food coloring
1 teaspoon water
Candies/Mini eggs (jelly beans, Robin's Eggs, whoppers, your pick)
1 ziplock baggie or sealable container (I used a gladware bowl)
Place a few drops (lets say 5) of food coloring and 1 teaspoon of water into your baggie or container. Seal it up and shake it around to coat the bag. Dump in your coconut and shake it, shake, it shake it like a polaroid picture to coat the coconut and color it green! This is our easter grass.
TIP:You can add more or less food coloring depending on the color you want your grass. For pastels, start with less food coloring. For a bright green, use more. It is best to start with less, as you can always add more food coloring to darken it up.
Sprinkle coconut grass on top of your frosted cupcake.
Next take your various candies and place on top of the grass to look like little easter egg nests or baskets.
You can also leave the coconut white for a non-eastery variation or use my favorite garnish - mini umbrellas! Piña Coladas anyone? This is the fun part so get creative!
I hope you have as much fun making, and eating these cupcakes as I did. Oh my are they delicious! Enjoy! =D
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