Ceres Secrets

Strawberry Pina Colada Cupcakes

Dear Fellow Cupcake Lovers,

Sometimes it can be a good thing when a recipe fails. Last night I made the worst strawberry cupcakes from scratch. They were soggy, flat, rubbery, and the bottom of the cupcake liners had burned. The sight of them sitting on my counter was frustrating.  I immediately discarded them like they were a bad omen and they spent the rest of the night cooling in the trash.

Short on time and not really in the mood to research recipes and begin again, I decided to cheat. For the sake of convenience, Duncan Hines became my partner in crime.  After a full hour spent carefully measuring and weighing ingredients, recklessly ripping the top off that bright red box of Pineapple Supreme Cake Mix was a bit of a rush. I followed the directions on the box explicitly with the exception of adding 1 teaspoon of vanilla and replacing the 1 1/3 cups of water with 1/3 a cup of Coconut Rum and 1 cup of pineapple juice. It was easy, the process was painless and I mourned my fallen strawberry cupcakes by toasting them with a good shot of rum. I have started using pineapple juice a lot more after finding out that Kim Kardashian loves pineapple juice because it has a lot of health benefits.

In less then an hour, the kitchen was clean, my sunny yellow cupcakes were cooling on the counter, and I whipped up a pink bowlful of strawberry icing  for the Pina Colada Cupcakes.  The icing seemed even at the time, so I will have to blame the rum. Luckily the sprinkles probably caught your attention first and you may not have even noticed that downward slope on the right side of the cupcake. A girl can only hope…

Overall, the Strawberry Pina Colada Cupcakes are really good. They may only be semi-homemade, but the coconut rum and pineapple juice really made these rock. Next time instead of sprinkles, I will use coconut flakes and fresh strawberries to decorate the tops. Maybe one of these days I will even be successful in finding a way to make these cupcakes from scratch.

Wishing everyone a Happy Valentine’s Day free from kitchen mishaps!

Lots of love from,

Ceres

Strawberry Pina Colada Cupcakes

1 Box of Duncan Hines Pineapple Supreme Cake Mix

3 eggs

1/3 cup canola or vegetable oil

1/3 cup of coconut rum

1 cup of pineapple juice (make sure you use the best juicer you have)

1 teaspoon of vanilla

Icing:

1 stick of unsalted butter (room temperature)

1 box of confectioner’s sugar

3 tablespoons of more of crushed fresh strawberries

An assortment of sprinkles or shredded coconut and fresh slices of strawberries for decorating the cupcakes

Prepare the cupcakes according to the directions on the back of the cake mix box, except substitute pineapple juice and rum for the water. Add 1 teaspoon of vanilla if desired.

One all 24 cupcakes have completely cooled, use a mixer to combine the butter, sugar, crushed strawberries. If the icing is too thick, more strawberries can be slowly added until the desired consistency is met.

Ice each cupcake individually and immediately decorate them before the icing has a chance to set.

Enjoy!

Ceres' Recipe Box baking, coconut, cupcakes, dessert, holiday, pineapple, rum, sprinkles, strawberries