What's Baking: Bake Your Favorite Cocktail

July was my month to host the What's Baking challenge for my monthly blogging group.
I chose Bake Your Favorite Cocktail because who doesn't love a nice cold cocktail in the summer? I asked the group to transform their favorite drink into a baked treat.
They came up with some great ideas, so have a look and enjoy! 

Eva from Eva Bakes made White Russian Cupcakes

Nicole from Seven Ate Nine made Guinness Cupcakes

Kate from Kate's Recipe Box made Rum & Coke Cookies

Amanda from Our Italian Kitchen made Irish Car Bomb Cupcakes 

Catherine from Pursuing Domestic Goddess-ness made St Germaine Cookies

Steph from Brownies and Blondies made Creamsicle Bundt Cake

And I made Strawberry Colada Cupcakes

Strawberry Colada Cupcakes

This month, I'm the host of our What's Baking challenge, and I chose Bake Your Favorite Cocktail. I am a wine and beer girl, but I do enjoy a cocktail now and again—especially on a hot summer day when I'm floating in the pool. My drink of choice is coconut rum mixed with cranberry juice with a splash of pineapple juice. I decided to use coconut rum and pineapple rum in the cupcakes, and I subbed strawberry for the cranberry in the icing to come up with a strawberry colada cupcake. They were a frozen drink in cake form!

Strawberry Colada Cupcakes
1 box white cake mix (I used Duncan Hines.)
3 egg whites
3/4 cup water 
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 tablespoons coconut rum
2 tablespoons pineapple rum
1/2 teaspoon coconut extract
1/2 cup shredded coconut

Preheat oven to 325 degrees and line four mini cupcake tins with 48 mini cupcake liners.
Mix together all ingredients except shredded coconut on medium speed for about 2 minutes.
Fold in shredded coconut.
Fill cupcake liners about 3/4 full and bake about 10–12 minutes.
Cool cupcakes on a wire rack.

Strawberry Whipped Frosting
1 container vanilla Cool Whip Frosting
3–4 tablespoons seedless strawberry jam
1/2 cup shredded coconut

Stir together frosting and strawberry jam until just combined. 
Spread frosting on cupcakes and then dip tops in shredded coconut.
Store cupcakes in the refrigerator until ready to serve.

"Fried" Ice Cream

When I was a teenager, I used to work at a Mexican restaurant named Chi-Chi's. You might remember the restaurant being in the news for an unfortunate Hepatitus A outbreak a couple of years ago. It was linked to green onions, sickened hundreds of patrons, and spelled the demise of the company. Well way before any of this happened, I worked as a waitress at a local Chi Chi's. And I loved it. While there, I was introduced to all kinds of glorious Mexican foods from enchiladas to burritos to the chimichanga. It was there that my love affair with sour cream blossomed. I also fell in love with another dish: fried ice cream. I probably sold at least one of these to every table that I waited on. People loved fried ice cream and could not get enough. I remembered the recipe from work: corn flakes, ice cream, cinnamon sugar, whipped cream, and honey. Here's a secret: We rarely ever dipped the ice cream into the fryer because it left an oily mess on the plate—so it wasn't truly fried ice cream. I decided to employ this technique. I also decided to use Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal since it was all I had on hand and didn't feel like making a trip to the store for corn flakes. This dessert brought me back to my days at Chi-Chi's.

"Fried" Ice Cream
adapted from Chi-Chi's

1/2 gallon french vanilla ice cream (or any other flavor)
3 cups Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal (or corn flakes mixed with 2 tablespoons cinnamon-sugar mixture)
whipped cream
honey (or chocolate or caramel or strawberry sauce)
sprinkles

Crush cereal into crumbs.
Form ice cream into 1/2 cup–3/4 cup balls and roll in crushed cereal.
Place on waxed paper and freeze until solid (about an hour or so).
Top with honey (or any other topping), whipped cream, and sprinkles.