PINA COLADA MINI CAKES

By carvalhohm

Ingredients

• 1 large can (15 oz.) crushed pineapple packed in juice
• 1 can (15 oz.) cream of coconut
• 1 tiny bottle rum extract
• Baker's Joy flour/oil spray for dusting the pans
• 2 boxes golden butter cake mix (NO pudding added)
• 2 boxes (3.4 oz ea.) instant vanilla pudding mix
• 2/3 cup canola oil
• 8 large eggs
• 2 cups heavy cream (for whipping)
• Prepared buttercream frosting (recipe follows)
• 2 cup unsweetened flaked coconut (for a toasted garnish)
• 1 bag dried pineapple chunks, each cut in half lengthwise
• 2/3 cup powdered sugar

Details

Adapted from amazingcakesbyvanessa.blogspot.com

Preparation

Step 1

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Get two mini cheesecake pans with removable bottoms (to bake 24 at a time) and the Baker's Joy. Put a gallon Ziploc bag into a medium bowl with the bag sides folded over in an open cuff, and have a pair of scissors handy.

Drain out about 1/2 cup pineapple juice into small bowl for glaze, and dump remaining pineapple and juice into your mixing bowl. Then both shake and stir cream of coconut. Put 1 cup into glaze bowl and rest into mixing bowl. Put a little rum extract into glaze and rest into mixing bowl.

Into mixing bowl dump two cake mixes, pudding mix, oil, and eggs. Mix on low for 30 seconds, stop and scrape to make sure it's all mixed together, then mix for another 1 1/2 minutes on medium speed. Stop mixer, scrape bowl thoroughly, and pour batter into open Ziploc bag. Zip bag closed.

Spray each little well of the pans with Baker's Joy, then snip 1/2 inch off one corner of Ziploc bag full of batter. Carefully pour each mini cup about 1/2 full of batter, wiping up any drips. Put Ziploc bag back into medium bowl it was sitting in earlier, this time holding cut tip up so batter doesn't run out. Bake mini cakes for 14 minutes (or so) until a toothpick comes out fairly clean. Remove from oven and let sit on cooling racks for about 10 minutes, then pop cakes out and remove little bottoms before sitting cakes on racks to completely cool. Wash pans and bottoms then dry and spray with Baker's Joy again. Repeat process again to make 48 cakes. If you have extra batter left over you can either put it into a small pan and bake for eating later or just throw it out.

When all 48 cakes are cool, put whipping cream into mixing bowl and beat until soft peaks form, add powdered sugar and mix a bit longer, then fold in reserved pineapple juice, coconut milk, and rum extract. Dip each cake into this glaze and set back on racks (they will drip off the excess). When glaze is firm, then put a dot of buttercream on each glass coaster, then put a cake on the frosting. These cakes were completely covered with stars of buttercream, then I garnished them with toasted coconut and a little chunk of dried pineapple.

*Buttercream Icing:*

2 sticks of softened butter (1 cup)
1 stick of Crisco (1 cup)
2 pound bag of powdered sugar
½ tsp. salt
2 tsp. clear vanilla
about ¼ to ½ cup of milk

Don’t use margarine! Soften the butter by leaving it on the counter until you can easily put a fingerprint in it or bend it without breaking. Don’t microwave it!

Put both the soft butter and the Crisco in the stand mixer and blend for 30 seconds on medium. Scrape the bowl and briefly mix again. Cut the top off the bag of powdered sugar and shake a cup or so into the bowl. Mix on lowest setting briefly, then add the salt and vanilla. Add some more sugar and mix on low again. When you’ve added about half the sugar, then start drizzling the milk in alternately with the sugar until all the sugar and most the milk is in. Then mix on medium for about 30 seconds. Stop and scrape the bowl well, and add more milk if you think it’s too dry (be careful, you can always add more milk but you can’t take it out!). Then turn the mixer on to medium and set the timer for 5 minutes. You can scrape the bowl after 2 minutes, but you don’t have to. When the timer goes off, turn off mixer and scrape the bowl again, putting it into a storage bowl and washing the mixer bowl if you need to make another batch right away.

*+Buttercream Icing:+*

2 sticks of softened butter (1 cup)
1 stick of Crisco (1 cup)
2 pound bag of powdered sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. clear vanilla
about 1/4 to 1/2 cup of milk

Don't use margarine! Soften the butter by leaving it on the counter until you can easily put a fingerprint in it or bend it without breaking. Don't microwave it! Put both the soft butter and the Crisco in the stand mixer and blend for 30 seconds on medium. Scrape the bowl and briefly mix again. Cut the top off the bag of powdered sugar and shake a cup or so into the bowl. Mix on lowest setting briefly, then add the salt and vanilla. Add some more sugar and mix on low again. When you've added about half the sugar, then start drizzling the milk in alternately with the sugar until all the sugar and most the milk is in. Then mix on medium for about 30 seconds. Stop and scrape the bowl well, and add more milk if you think it's too dry (be careful, you can always add more milk but you can't take it out!). Then turn the mixer on to medium and set the timer for 5 minutes. You can scrape the bowl after 2 minutes, but you don't have to. When the timer goes off, turn off mixer and scrape the bowl again, putting it into a storage bowl and washing the mixer bowl if you need to make another batch right away.

*+Buttercream Icing:+

2 sticks of softened butter (1 cup)
1 stick of Crisco (1 cup)
2 pound bag of powdered sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. clear vanilla
about 1/4 to 1/2 cup of milk

Don't use margarine! Soften the butter by leaving it on the counter until you can easily put a fingerprint in it or bend it without breaking. Don't microwave it! Put both the soft butter and the Crisco in the stand mixer and blend for 30 seconds on medium. Scrape the bowl and briefly mix again. Cut the top off the bag of powdered sugar and shake a cup or so into the bowl. Mix on lowest setting briefly, then add the salt and vanilla. Add some more sugar and mix on low again. When you've added about half the sugar, then start drizzling the milk in alternately with the sugar until all the sugar and most the milk is in. Then mix on medium for about 30 seconds. Stop and scrape the bowl well, and add more milk if you think it's too dry (be careful, you can always add more milk but you can't take it out!). Then turn the mixer on to medium and set the timer for 5 minutes. You can scrape the bowl after 2 minutes, but you don't have to. When the timer goes off, turn off mixer and scrape the bowl again, putting it into a storage bowl and washing the mixer bowl if you need to make another batch right away.