These Coconut and Rum Cupcakes recipe, topped with Coconut Frosting, are a super easy dessert to share with friends. Boxed cake mix batter infused with light rum and toasted coconut makes this a great recipe for someone who doesn't love to bake but loves cocktails. It's always the perfect time for a boozy cupcake!
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Rum Cupcakes using cake mix
These flavorful cupcakes made with light rum are one of my favorite alcohol-infused cupcakes to make! And you'll love them too. Especially if you also like coconut.
I have the biggest sweet tooth. And I think that cupcakes, with their almost perfect ratio of cake to frosting, are a darn near perfect dessert. And these start with a cake mix.
When you infuse them with liquor, they become an adult-friendly treat that are fun to share with girlfriends.
And, while most of the alcohol gets baked off, and you aren't using that much to begin with, they are most likely safe for your kids to eat. Especially because these only have rum in the cupcakes and not the frosting.
Related: Fireball Cinnamon Whiskey Cupcakes
These cupcakes are moist and full of so much flavor! As we head into the holiday season, these would be a great dessert to make for literally any reason.
The way these flavors work together is magic. It's total comfort food in a cupcake liner.
Plus, if you need to, they can easily be made ahead of time. You can make the cupcakes, and the frosting and then save both until you are ready to frost them.
Ingredients
These Rum Coconut Cupcakes just need a few ingredients to make a decadent but super simple dessert.
- Vanilla cake mix
- Light rum
- coconut milk
- butter
- eggs
- shredded coconut
- coconut extract
To really amp up the coconut flavor, I used coconut milk, shredded coconut and coconut extract. That's coconut flavor x3! It's one of my favorite pairings with rum.
You can use coconut rum instead of light if you want to really go over the top with the coconut flavor.
For the Coconut Frosting, I use my favorite Buttercream Frosting recipe which uses butter, vegetable shortening, powdered sugar, heavy cream and salt.
Extra flavor is added with vanilla and coconut extracts. And the perfect final garnish is toasted coconut right on top.
How to Make Rum Cupcakes
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a cupcake pan with cupcake liners, and set aside.
Step 1
In a big bowl beat the eggs until fluffy, add coconut milk, coconut extract and rum and set aside.
Step 2
In another bowl combine the cake mix with shredded coconut. Add butter and mix until it resembles coarse sand.
Step 3
Slowly incorporate the whipped egg mixture, mixing carefully until everything is well incorporated.
Step 4
Divide the batter between the cupcake liners and put in the oven. Bake for 5 minutes, bring the temperature down to 325 and bake for 15 to 18 minutes more or until done.
Step 5
Remove from oven and let cool them cool completely before decorating.
How to Make Coconut Buttercream
Step 1
Prepare a batch of my fanilla buttercream frosting.
Step 2
Add the coconut extract and mix well.
Step 3
Decorate the cupcakes with the coconut frosting and top with toasted coconut.
Here's a simple decorating set that I love!
Tips
These rum spiked cupcakes are full of flavor but you can leave out the rum if you prefer. Just use the same amount of water in place of the rum.
Or to make them totally non-alcoholic, you can use a rum extract to add that extra flavor.
Frequently Asked Questions
This cupcake recipe uses white rum and I think, when paired with coconut flavor, it's a great option for this recipe. But you could also use spiced rum, which will give it more of a fall feel with hints of cinnamon and nutmeg. And to really play up the coconut flavor, you could use coconut rum. But I wouldn't go buy it specifically for this recipe.
Yes, you can start with a boxed cake mix! And you should! It just saves time. And I think it's a great way to get a consistent finished product. They've spent years perfecting their recipes and have done most of the measuring for us. So why not use that to our advantage? A basic cake is such a blank canvas. There are so many things you can do to make them into unique cake mix desserts.
More easy cupcake recipes
- Prosecco Cupcakes Recipe with Prosecco Buttercream
- Chocolate Cupcakes with Southern Comfort and Caramel
- Vodka Infused White Russian Cupcakes
- St. Germain Lemon Cupcakes
- Chocolate Red Wine Cupcakes from Box Mix
- Rosé Cupcakes
- Pina Colada Cupcakes
- Coconut Cupcakes
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Flavorful Rum Cupcakes with Coconut and Coconut Frosting
Ingredients
Rum Cupcakes with Coconut
- 1 box vanilla cake mix
- ½ cup rum
- ¾ cup coconut milk
- ½ cup butter
- 3 eggs
- ⅓ cup shredded coconut
- ½ teaspoon coconut extract
Coconut Frosting
- 1 cup butter
- ¼ cup vegetable shortening
- 4 cups confectioners sugar also known as powdered sugar
- ¼ cup heavy cream
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon coconut extract
- Shredded coconut toasted
Instructions
Make the Rum Cupcakes
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- Line a cupcake pan with cupcake liners, set aside.
- In a big bowl beat the eggs until fluffy.
- Add coconut milk, coconut extract and rum and set aside.
- In another bowl combine the cake mix with shredded coconut.
- Add butter and mix until it resembles coarse sand.
- Slowly incorporate the whipped eggs, mixing carefully until everything is well incorporated.
- Divide the batter between the cupcake liners and put in the oven.
- Bake for 5 minutes, bring the temperature down to 325 and bake for 15 to 18 minutes more or until done.
- Remove from the oven and let cool them cool completely before decorating.
Make the frosting
- In a large bowl use a hand mixer to whip the butter, vegetable shortening and salt until light and fluffy, around 7 minutes.
- Add half the confectioner’s sugar and whip up until fluffy.
- Add vanilla extract and half the heavy cream and mix until fluffy.
- Repeat the process, alternating between sugar and cream and whip up for 3 more minutes until it’s light and airy.
- Add coconut extract and mix well.
- Frost cupcakes with the coconut flavored frosting and garnish with toasted coconut.
Shanna says
Hi Sharon! Will this recipe work for a 9x13 pan? I'm making this into a sheet cake. Thanks in advance!