Pineapple Cupcake Recipe + DIY Pineapple Cupcake Toppers

I’ve been trying to make all of my cakes from scratch the last few months, but since I was in a bind and didn’t have much time to recipe test, I decided to cheat and use boxed mix (which I LOVE) to make these pineapple cupcakes for our housewarming party recently. So worth cheating!

There’s a reason boxed cake mix is so popular. It bakes well and tastes great. By trading out the suggested vegetable oil and water with melted butter and pineapple juice, you end up with very moist cupcakes with a strong pineapple flavor, and they’re totally customized so they still taste like a homemade cake. Yellow cake is quite eggy, so the flavor of the yellow mix pairs very well the pineapple flavor. Then I topped them with a simple pineapple buttercream to really keep up the flavor.

Plus, I added these simple DIY pineapple cupcake toppers to make them actually LOOK like pineapples too! I was really excited to show them off for our housewarming party a few weeks ago.

(Scroll down for the recipe card)

For the pineapple cupcakes:

• 1 box yellow cake mix
• 1/3 cup melted butter, cooled
• 3 eggs
• 1 1/4 cup crushed pineapple with juice
• 2 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line a cupcake pan with liners. Set aside.

In the bowl of your mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, mix together the eggs, pineapple, butter and vanilla (make sure the butter is cooled) and mix until combined. Slowly add the dry cake mix in batches, scraping the bowl in between, until smooth.

The batter should still be somewhat thick. Divide the batter among the lined cupcake cavities and bake for about 18-20 minutes until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Allow to cool on the countertop completely.

For the pineapple frosting:

• 2 cups butter, room temperature
• 3 cups powdered sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 3/4 cup pineapple juice
• 2-3 drops yellow food coloring

Heat the pineapple juice in a small saucepan on medium heat until it begins to boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer for about 10 minutes until the juice reduces to less than 1/4 cup. Strain if needed and let cool.

First, beat the butter with your mixer’s paddle attachment until smooth and fluffy. Add the powdered sugar a little at a time, scraping the bowl in between. Mix in the vanilla and pineapple juice.

Pipe the frosting onto cooled cupcakes and top with one of the below cupcake toppers!

Now, for the cupcake toppers! Something really simple can make quite the difference in a cupcake’s appearance, and I thought this was the perfect addition to these very yellow cupcake!

DIY Pineapple Cupcake Toppers

Time: 3 minutes/piece

Supplies:

• Green construction paper or cardstock
• Toothpicks
• Glue or tape (I preferred using glue because it doesn’t show)

To make each topper, cut about 5 curved leaves from the green paper that range from about 1×3 in to .5×1 in in order to have various sizes of leaves. They should be somewhat flat along the bottom and pointed on the top.

Wrap one of the larger leaves around the top third of a toothpick, glue and pinch together until the glue holds. Note, you can use a clothespin to keep the paper pinched together if you want to work faster and make multiple at a time.

Continue gluing layers of leaves around the toothpick and use your fingers to gently curl the edges out. Let dry completely with all of the layers of leaves complete.

Add to the top of a frosted cupcake and there you have it – pineapple cupcakes that actually LOOK like pineapples!

Pineapple Cupcakes

2016-08-10 12:28:25

Serves 24

Moist semi-homemade pineapple cupcakes made with yellow cake, topped with smooth pineapple buttercream

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Prep Time

20 min

Cook Time

18 min

Total Time

38 min

Prep Time

20 min

Cook Time

18 min

Total Time

38 min

For the pineapple cupcakes

1. 1 box yellow cake mix
2. 1/3 cup melted butter, cooled
3. 3 eggs
4. 1 1/4 cup crushed pineapple with juice
5. 2 tsp vanilla extract

For the pineapple frosting

1. 2 cups butter, room temperature
2. 3 cups powdered sugar
3. 1 tsp vanilla
4. 3/4 cup pineapple juice
5. 2-3 drops yellow food coloring

For the cupcakes

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line a cupcake pan with liners. Set aside.
2. In the bowl of your mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, mix together the eggs, pineapple, butter and vanilla (make sure the butter is cooled) and mix until combined.
3. Slowly add the dry cake mix in batches, scraping the bowl in between, until smooth (the batter should still be somewhat thick).
4. Divide the batter among the lined cupcake cavities and bake for about 18-20 minutes until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Allow to cool on the countertop completely.

For the frosting

1. Heat the pineapple juice in a small saucepan on medium heat until it begins to boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer for about 10 minutes until the juice reduces to less than 1/4 cup. Strain if needed and let cool.
2. Beat the butter with your mixer's paddle attachment until smooth and fluffy.
3. Add the powdered sugar a little at a time, scraping the bowl in between.
4. Mix in the vanilla and cooed pineapple juice.
5. Pipe the frosting onto cooled cupcakes and top with homemade cupcake toppers!

Club Crafted https://www.clubcrafted.com/