Friday, March 30, 2012

Easy Pineapple Banana Easter Cupcakes

I just had to share this super easy recipe with you guys for the upcoming holiday.  The Mr's co-workers went b-a-n-a-n-a-s for them.  (Channeling my inner Gwen Stefani)  It ended up being a happy accident for the banana frosting.  I made the buttercream and then realized my frosting had that slight flavor de fridge to it.  I think a few curse words slipped out.  Then I remembered I had banana flavoring and it saved the day and actually made what would've been a good cupcake on it's own even better.


Here's what you'll need for 24 delectable celebration of spring cuppy cakes.

1 box of Duncan Hines Yellow Cake Mix
1 can of pineapple tidbits (in juice, not syrup)
3 eggs

For frosting:
1 stick butter, room temperature
2-2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 to 1 tsp banana flavoring
Favorite food color (I used Wilton Kelly Green gel)

Garnish:
Cadbury Mini Chocolate Eggs
1/2 cup of shredded coconut, toasted until brown
Sprinkles

Preheat oven to 350.  Toast coconut for 4-7 minutes giving an occasional stir until they're light brown.  Mine were a little overly done but apparently no one complained while shoving them down their gullet.

In a big bowl or stand up mixer add the cake mix, the can of pineapple and 3 eggs.  Mix until well combined.  Batter will be fluffyish.  (Yes, I made a new word)

Using a medium sized ice cream scoop, scoop batter into lined or well greased muffin tins.

Bake for 18-19 minutes.

While the 2nd batch of cupcakes are baking, wash out the stand mixer bowl and make sure you finish it with cold water so hot water doesn't melt the butter.

Add butter and powdered sugar and mix until combined.  Add 1/2 tsp of banana flavoring, mix it well and taste it to see if it needs more or not.  Then add your food coloring and make it the desired color.  Keeping with a pastel color palette would probably work best for these.

Add about 1- 1 1/2 tbsp of frosting to the top of cooled cupcakes.

Add the toasted coconut around the edges of the cupcake and press it in so it stays on with half the batch.  Do sprinkles around the edges of the other half for people who don't like coconut.  Top with 3 mini Cadbury chocolate eggs.  I made these the night before and they were just fine the next morning.  The eggs soaked up a little of the butter but only the bottom so they didn't ruin the eggs or run in color.



They tasted light and fluffy and you could certainly use jelly beans for these too if you prefer!

Nutritional information is hard to calculate on this one since the garnishes of sprinkles and coconut aren't precise but 210 calories for sprinkle version and 225 calories for the coconut version is what I came up with when I ran it through the calculator.

What is usually on your Easter menu for dessert?

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12 comments:

  1. They are quite delicious and my co-workers absolutely loved them.

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  2. These look awesome! But I can't make them, because if I have a bag of Cadbury Mini Chocolate Eggs in my house, I will devour the whole thing. :)

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  3. When I was a kid and later when I had little kids at home, we always had a white cake with shredded coconut that was colored kelly green sprinkled on the buttercream icing, and jelly beans grouped in 2s and 3s scattered around. As I'm not fond enough of most cake to consume the extra calories and my kids are all grown, I haven't made one in years. These look like a perfect substitute, as I could send the extras to work with DH. I guess THIS is on my dessert menu for Easter! Thanks for the recipe!

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  4. Super adorable!!! I love banana cake, bread, straight up nanner....I'm gonna have to get some banana extract and give these a whirl!!!

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  5. OH and keep those cupcake papers and press a straw through and use as a drink cover this summer!!! Yay!

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  6. I may try these--not for Easter, as we won't be home, but later in the spring. Is the banana flavoring like banana extract with the other extracts at the grocery store?

    As for our Easter dessert--we'll be at my mom's house, so I'm really hoping for just Angel Food cake and berries....but we'll see...

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  7. Thanks guys! I hope if you give them a go you like them too. The recipe I used to make called for 1/2 cup of butter added to it but I didn't add it and they were awesome!

    Jessy- Good idea! Did you see that on Pinterest? ;)

    Melinda- Yep, just your straight up banana extract that's with the mint, almond and other extracts at the grocery. I'd go a little lighter on it than you might think just because too much of it can taste fakey and overpower the pineapple. Hope you get the angel food cake and berries you're hoping for! :)

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  8. Yep...entirely too much time is spent of mine on Pinterest!!!

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  9. Ohhhh thee look amazing!
    I have no Easter traditions really.. besides an egg filled with candy and chocolate, but obviously I'm skipping that one this year :p

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  10. I am very excited to try these as banana and pineapple are two of my favorites! We're not doing an official Easter dinner at mom's because of the family dynamics this year, but I can still make these and enjoy a lovely treat. Thanks for another super recipe!

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  11. These are so pretty! The crunchy Cadbury eggs are my favorite Easter candy & on pineapple & banana cupcakes? Oh my!

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