Banana Colada Cupcakes

This month's What's Baking theme is Celebrate Summer. We celebrate summer by cooking on the grill, swimming in the pool, and enjoying frosty beverages. One of those beverages that just screams summer is a pina colada. For this recipe, I decided to adapt my grandma's carrot cake recipe, which uses baby food. I subbed banana-pineapple baby food for the carrots and omitted the spices. I topped the cupcakes with coconut buttercream, a sprinkle of coconut, and white chocolate chips. I have to say the combination was pretty amazing, even though the pineaepple flavor was very light.

Banana Colada Cupcakes

Ingredients:
2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
1 and 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
dash of salt
2 (3.5 oz.) containers banana-pineapple baby food
1 cup oil (canola or vegetable)
4 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line cupcake tins with 24 cupcake liners.
Whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl and set aside.
Beat together sugar and oil until light and fluffy.
Add eggs, baby food, and vanilla and beat well.
Add dry ingredients and mix well. 
Fill cupcake liners about 2/3 full and bake 17 - 20 minutes.

Coconut Buttercream
2 sticks butter, room temperature
5 - 6 cups powdered sugar
1 and 1/2 teaspoons coconut extract
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 - 4 tablespoons water

Cream the butter. Add coconut and vanilla extracts and beat well. Add powdered sugar one cup at a time and water until desired consistency is reached. Beat well.