Coconut and Rum Cupcakes Recipe with Coconut Frosting

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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!

Several frosted coconut cupcakes that have been infused with Rum on a table. — These boozy Coconut and Rum Cupcakes with Coconut frosting taste like a tropical cocktail in cupcake form!

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.

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

Baked cupcakes in a muffin tin on a table.

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.

Frosted cupcake on a dessert plate on a table with other cupcakes sitting around it.

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

Frosted cupcakes on a table with a glass of milk in the background.

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!

Coconut and rum infused cupcake on a dessert plate with a fork sticking out of it.

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

What kind of rum should I use?

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.

Can I start with boxed cake mix?

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.

Coconut rum cupcake on a plate with a piece cut out with a fork on a dessert plate.

More easy cupcake recipes

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