pina colada cupcake frosting party!

I had a request for pina colada cupcakes and went right to work experimenting with flavors and recipes to come up with something spectacular. I started by adding coconut & pina colada drink mix to an old fashioned pineapple upside down cake recipe. YUM! But the BIG STAR of the show was the pina colada FROSTING and that’s the recipe I want to share with you immediately.

It's SO delicious; I think I would scrap the cake & just serve shots of this frosting! It is the perfect tropical delight for those warm summer days by the pool cold winter evenings by the fire! Yes, it’s the middle of November & I’m STILL in denial that summer is over. One taste of this & I'm back to July! My recipe is alcohol free but you could definitely add rum or rum extract to the recipe for the authentic pina colada kick.

I used THIS non-alcoholic Master of Mixes Pina Colada Mixer & it’s so good. It’s basically lots of sugar, cream of coconut & pineapple juice. It’s available at most grocery stores. If you prefer not to use it, you may substitute equal parts of pineapple juice and cream of coconut. Another unusual frosting ingredient I used is Jello brand Coconut Cream Instant Pudding mix, just the dry powder, straight out of the box. 

Pina Colada Frosting

click here to print the recipe only

Yields: 3 cups frosting

1/3 cup dry Jello Coconut Cream Instant Pudding mix (a full box has about 1 cup)

1/3 cup pina colada drink mix

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

1 ½ teaspoon coconut extract or to taste (you may prefer 1 teaspoon)

2 tablespoons pineapple juice

½ cup salted butter

½ cup solid vegetable shortening

4 cups confectioners sugar

OPTIONAL: ¼ teaspoon rum extract OR 2 teaspoons light rum

1.     In a small bowl, add instant pudding mix, pina colada mix, vanilla extract, coconut extract, pineapple juice & rum or rum extract, if using. Whisk together until thick and smooth. Set aside.

2.     In a large separate bowl, cream butter and shortening with electric mixer.

3.     Add pudding mixture to creamed butter mixture.

4.     Add confectioners sugar one cup at a time, beating well on medium speed after each addition until smooth and fluffy. If thinner frosting is desired, add additional pineapple juice.

This makes enough frosting for 24 cupcakes, decorated as shown. I garnished them with toasted coconut*, fresh pineapple slices & well drained maraschino cherries. 

*To toast coconut in the microwave, place 1 cup sweetened shredded coconut on a paper plate, cook on high with set microwave for one minute. Don't walk away. Watch it like crazy & pull it out several times and stir it up and put it back in until perfectly toasted. It will take less than 2 minutes.

watermelon rice krispies treats party!

I feel very blessed to be part of the organization, Desserts for the Deserving. Desserts for the Deserving was established in 2011 with the sole purpose of bringing a little bit of sunshine to the lives of strangers. Bloggers, bakers & crafters offer their time and resources and are matched up with a family or individual who has been nominated for a random act of kindness.

The family I have been matched up with is Derrick & Ruth & their children. I know a batch of cookies will not ease the pain they are suffering from the very recent loss of their beautiful sweet baby. I have been praying for them since the day I received their nomination. I hope they know that people care about them & love them, even strangers.

Today I spent several hours thinking of Derrick & Ruth while I prepared cinnamon rolls, peanut butter-chocolate chip-oatmeal cookies (minus the m&ms) and these Rice Krispies treats! I packaged them up & shipped them off. I think these would brighten your day too! They are a snap to make & would be a fun no-bake treat for a Summer BBQ or kid's birthday party.

I saw these ADORABLE rice krispies treats from last year at Dine & Dish and couldn't wait to make them. Their recipe calls for strawberry flavored marshmallows and lime Kool-Aid but I just couldn't adulterate the scrumptious classic Rice Krispies Treats recipe. So I used food coloring to make my watermelon & rind.

Watermelon Shaped Rice Krispy Treats

ingredients

6 Tablespoons butter, divided in 2
6 cups mini marshmallows, divided in 2
8 cups Rice Krispies, divided in 2
Green & red food coloring
chocolate chips or raisins for "seeds"

1. Melt 3 tablespoons butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add 3 cups mini marshmallows & stir until melted. Remove from heat & stir in some green food coloring until its the color you want. I just poured a bit from the bottle. I didn't measure but it was probably about 1/2 teaspoon. Stir in 4 cups Rice Krispies until completely coated.

2. Scoop green Krispies mixture into a well buttered 9 inch round cake pan. Butter your hands or a spoon and press it around the outer edge of the cake pan to form a ring. Set aside. Wash your large saucepan so you can reuse it for the red.

3. Repeat step 1 except add red food coloring. At this point my teenager came in the kitchen & said, "Why in the world are you making a Christmas wreath in July?" I said, "You'll see."

4. Scoop red Krispies mixture into the center of the cake pan. Press to be level with the green outer ring.

5. After mixture completely cools place a few raisins or chocolate chips on top as seeds. Turn pan upside down to remove from pan. Slice into wedges & serve or put them on lollipop sticks & package for gifts! I cut mine into 8 large wedges but you could definitely cut it smaller. I promise no one will mistake them for Christmas wreaths!