Alice in Cupcakeland

I was looking for a pineapple cupcake recipe, because my mum lurves pineapple and until now I've forced my own cupcake preferences onto her! I've removed any actual alcohol from the recipe, but you can replace the rum essence with rum if you prefer.

Ingredients

1 1/3 c flour
1 c sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 c butter, melted
1/3 c pineapple juice
3 tsp rum extract
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 size 7 eggs
1 egg yolk
1/3 c shredded coconut
1/3 c crushed pineapple, well drained

Preheat oven to 175 C and line a 12 hole cupcake tin, and half of another (this makes 18 cupcakes).

Into a bowl, sift the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt, then add the coconut. Put the dry ingredients to the side while you combine the wet.

In a large bowl, mix the melted butter, pineapple juice, rum extract, and vanilla until it turns a lighter colour. One at a time add the eggs and egg yolk, beating for about 30 secs in between each.

Once the eggs are mixed in, add the dry ingredients a little at a time to the liquid, beating for a few seconds in between. Once all the dry ingredients have been added, beat the mixture on high for 4 minutes. Finally, fold in the pineapple.

Fill the cupcake liners to approx. 3/4, and bake for 20 mins. The cupcakes are very moist when they come out, don't worry about this! You can assure yourself by testing the cupcake with a toothpick just to make sure it comes out clean.

Icing

140 g cream cheese (softened)
1/2 c butter (softened)
1 c powdered sugar
1 tsp coconut essence
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
1/4 tsp lemon juice (bottled is perfectly fine)

Cream all the ingredients until smooth and pop into the fridge until the cupcakes are cooked and cooled. I love to randomly put cocktail umbrellas in the cupcakes just to make them look more like the namesake, but you could also sprinkle them with a little more dessicated coconut.