These summery, high altitude piña colada cupcakes start with soft and fluffy coconut cupcakes, filled with sweet pineapple curd, and frosted with coconut cream cheese buttercream.
You might also love these high altitude recipes for hummingbird cake, pineapple upside down cake, and coconut lemon bars.
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Why You’ll Love This Recipe
Everything from Scratch. Each element of these cupcakes is homemade, with no boxed mixes.
Tastes Like a Piña Colada. A piña colada is a cocktail made with coconut cream, pineapple juice, and white rum. Minus the rum (these cupcakes are alcohol free), they taste just like their namesake cocktail.
High Altitude Tested. I develop all the recipes on my site for Denver’s altitude of 5,280 feet. If you’re at a lower or higher elevation, please see my FAQs for guidance on adjusting recipes for your altitude.
See the recipe card at the end of the post for the full ingredients list and instructions.
Ingredients
- Pineapple Juice. For the homemade pineapple curd, you’ll need a 6-ounce can of pineapple juice. You can usually get 6-packs of these cans, so you can keep the rest for something else, without needing to open a large bottle of juice.
- Cake Flour. For a softer, fluffier cupcake, use cake flour, rather than all-purpose flour.
- Coconut Milk. Use canned, unsweetened coconut milk, such as Thai Kitchen.
- Coconut Flakes. I always prefer to use natural, unsweetened coconut flakes, rather than sweetened shredded coconut.
Instructions
Pineapple Curd
- When cooking the pineapple curd, you should use non-reactive pans and utensils to avoid a metallic taste in the curd. Preferably, use a coated saucepan and silicone whisk.
- In a medium sized saucepan, whisk together the sugar and corn starch. Whisk in the egg yolks and a small amount of the pineapple juice, until smooth, then whisk in the rest of the pineapple juice.
- Over medium/medium-low heat, cook the mixture, whisking constantly, for about 12-15 minutes, until it thickens like soft pudding.
- Add the butter, stirring it in until completely melted.
- Pour the curd through a fine mesh strainer (to remove any bits of cooked egg) into a bowl. Cover the bowl and refrigerate until completely cooled.
Cupcakes
- Preheat the oven to 350 F, and position a rack in the center of the oven. Line your muffin pan/s with 14 paper liners.
- In a bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.
- Separately, whisk together the eggs, coconut milk, melted butter, oil, vanilla and coconut extract. Add the liquid ingredients to the dry, and whisk just until combined.
- Fold in the coconut.
- Use a 1/4 cup measuring cup to spoon the cake batter into the prepared pan, filling each cup about 2/3 – 3/4 full.
- Bake the cupcakes for about 18-20 minutes, until the tops spring back when gently touched, or a toothpick comes out clean.
- Cool the cupcakes in the pan for several minutes, then gently transfer to a cooling rack. Cover the cupcakes with a clean kitchen towel and cool completely before filling and frosting.
- Use a cupcake corer to remove the centers of the cooled cupcakes. Spoon the chilled pineapple curd into the centers of the cupcakes before frosting.
Buttercream
- In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the cream cheese and butter for several minutes until smooth.
- In a separate bowl, combine the powdered sugar, meringue powder, corn starch and salt. With the mixer on low, add the powdered sugar mixture by spoonfuls.
- Add the vanilla and coconut extracts, and increase the speed to medium. Whip the buttercream for 4-5 minutes until fluffy. If it’s too thin, add a little more powdered sugar. If it’s too thick, add some of the leftover coconut milk, 1 tablespoon at a time.
- Spread or pipe the buttercream onto the cupcakes, then sprinkle with the coconut flakes.
Decorating
- Decorating piña colada cupcakes to look like a cocktail can be so fun! If topping your cupcakes with a maraschino cherry or wedge of fresh pineapple, wait to add these until you’re ready to serve your cupcakes.
- Non-edible decorations like pretty paper drink straws or little drink umbrellas are also cute.
Be sure to read all of my BAKING FAQs where I discuss ingredients, substitutions and common questions with cake making, so that you can be successful in your own baking! I also suggest reading these comprehensive posts on making Perfect American Buttercream, How to Stack, Fill, Crumb Coat and Frost Layer Cakes and How to Use Piping Bags.
Frequently Asked Questions
I’ve only tested this recipe using unsweetened canned coconut milk (such as Thai Kitchen), which has a much creamier consistency than the sweetened coconut milk in the dairy section. Before opening the can of coconut milk, shake it first to combine the cream and water. If the cream is completely solid and separated from the water, then you’ll need to pour the cream and water into a blender and pulse it a few times to combine before using. You will have some milk leftover, as you will not be using the whole can.
You can make the pineapple curd up to three days in advance, keeping it refrigerated until needed to fill the cupcakes.
Although white rum is used to make piña coladas, there is no alcohol in today’s recipe. You can brush the baked cupcakes with rum, or a mixture of rum and pineapple juice for an alcoholic option. This will also keep the cupcakes super moist.
Yes, you should refrigerate piña colada cupcakes in an airtight container, as the pineapple curd filling and the cream cheese buttercream are both perishable. Let them warm up to room temperature for about an hour, before serving.
You Might Also Like
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Did you love today’s recipe? Please rate the recipe and let me know in the comments what you thought! Also, be sure to follow Curly Girl Kitchen on Instagram, and tag me when you try one of my recipes so I can see all your delicious creations!
High Altitude Piña Colada Cupcakes (Pineapple Coconut Cupcakes)
All recipes on Curly Girl Kitchen are developed for high altitude at 5,280 feet. See FAQs for adjusting to higher or lower elevations.
Equipment
- Stand Mixer with Paddle Attachment
Ingredients
Pineapple Curd
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 1 ½ tbsp corn starch
- 3 large egg yolks (save the whites for another use)
- 6 oz can pineapple juice
- 4 tbsp unsalted butter, cut into chunks
Cupcakes
- 1 ¾ cups cake flour, fluffed, spooned and leveled
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 1 ½ tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp coarse Kosher salt (if using table salt, use half the amount)
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- ¾ cup unsweetened full fat canned coconut milk (see note)
- ¼ cup unsalted butter, melted
- ¼ cup vegetable oil
- 1 ½ tsp vanilla extract
- ½ tsp coconut extract
- ½ cup unsweetened coconut flakes (very finely chopped, using a small food processor or Ninja)
Buttercream
- ½ cup (4 oz) full fat cream cheese, cold
- ½ cup unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- 1 tbsp meringue powder (optional)
- 1 tbsp corn starch
- ¼ tsp coarse Kosher salt (if using table salt, use half the amount)
- 1 ½ tsp vanilla extract
- ½ tsp coconut extract
- 1 cup unsweetened coconut flakes
Instructions
Pineapple Curd
- When cooking the pineapple curd, you should use non-reactive pans and utensils to avoid a metallic taste in the curd. Preferably, use a coated saucepan and silicone whisk.
- In a medium sized saucepan, whisk together the sugar and corn starch. Whisk in the egg yolks and a small amount of the pineapple juice, until smooth, then whisk in the rest of the pineapple juice.
- Over medium/medium-low heat, cook the mixture, whisking constantly, for about 12-15 minutes, until it thickens like soft pudding.
- Add the butter, stirring it in until completely melted.
- Pour the curd through a fine mesh strainer (to remove any bits of cooked egg) into a bowl. Cover the bowl and refrigerate until completely cooled.
Cupcakes
- Preheat the oven to 350 F, and position a rack in the center of the oven. Line your muffin pan/s with 14 paper liners.
- In a bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.
- Separately, whisk together the eggs, coconut milk, melted butter, oil, vanilla and coconut extract. Add the liquid ingredients to the dry, and whisk just until combined.
- Fold in the coconut.
- Use a 1/4 cup measuring cup to spoon the cake batter into the prepared pan, filling each cup about 2/3 – 3/4 full.
- Bake the cupcakes for about 18-20 minutes, until the tops spring back when gently touched, or a toothpick comes out clean.
- Cool the cupcakes in the pan for several minutes, then gently transfer to a cooling rack. Cover the cupcakes with a clean kitchen towel and cool completely before filling and frosting.
- Use a cupcake corer to remove the centers of the cooled cupcakes. Spoon the chilled pineapple curd into the centers of the cupcakes before frosting.
Buttercream
- In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the cream cheese and butter for several minutes until smooth.
- In a separate bowl, combine the powdered sugar, meringue powder, corn starch and salt. With the mixer on low, add the powdered sugar mixture by spoonfuls.
- Add the vanilla and coconut extracts, and increase the speed to medium. Whip the buttercream for 4-5 minutes until fluffy. If it's too thin, add a little more powdered sugar. If it's too thick, add some of the leftover coconut milk, 1 tablespoon at a time.
- Spread or pipe the buttercream onto the cupcakes, then sprinkle with the coconut flakes.
Decorating
- Decorating piña colada cupcakes to look like a cocktail can be so fun! If topping your cupcakes with a maraschino cherry or wedge of fresh pineapple, wait to add these until you're ready to serve your cupcakes.
- Non-edible decorations like pretty paper drink straws or little drink umbrellas are also cute.
Notes
- Before opening the can of coconut milk, shake it first to combine the cream and water. If the cream is completely solid and separated from the water, then you’ll need to pour the cream and water into a blender and pulse it a few times to combine before using. You will have some milk leftover, as you will not be using the whole can.
- You can make the pineapple curd up to three days in advance, keeping it refrigerated until needed to fill the cupcakes.
- Although white rum is used to make piña coladas, there is no alcohol in today’s recipe. You can brush the baked cupcakes with rum, or a mixture of rum and pineapple juice for an alcoholic option. This will also keep the cupcakes super moist.
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