Dole Whip Cupcakes

Raise your hand if you are bored during this period of self-isolation. 🙋‍♀️

Because I am. And you know what else? I’m missing Disney fiercely. With the possibility of it having to remain closed for longer, I needed to make sure I got my fix. Like, yesterday. So when we saw someone come up with the idea for Dole Whip Cupcakes I knew I was in.  

If you didn’t know, I bake for one of my side jobs and I knew this one was right up my alley. Plus, when I get down baking always lifts me up, so it was perfect timing for us to discover this idea.

But when I read the recipe I discovered they used a cake mix; which is fine, don’t get me wrong, but two things: 1) I never have them around, and 2) scratch cupcakes are always better… and they really aren’t much harder! Plus, I always have the stuff around to bake whereas you don’t always have specific mixes on hand. So this is how to make these cupcakes from scratch!

I like to get all of my stuff ready in advance so that I’m not scrambling, so this is what you’ll need! (Full recipe below)

Supplies

Dry Stuff: 1 1/3 cup flour, 1 teaspoon baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon of salt. 

Wet Stuff: 1/2 cup crushed pineapple, 1 stick softened butter, 1 cup sugar (yes, technically this counts as a “wet” ingredient), 2 eggs, 1 teaspoon vanilla, and 1/2 cup milk.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and prepare your muffin tin with 12 cupcake liners. I really really like the “StayBrite” type by Reynolds because they are foil lined so they hold up better and stay pretty.

The Process

I like to start with getting my butter creaming in my mixer first so that I can do other things while it works. So start with creaming 1 stick of softened butter in a stand mixer for about a minute, and then add in your cup of sugar. Allow to beat for 4 minutes, or until fluffy.

While that beats, whisk together your flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl and then set it aside. At this point, I opened my can of pineapple… I got CHUNKED, which I would recommend instead of crushed because I was able to get more juice from it that I saved for use later in the buttercream. 

Add your eggs, one at a time, to your butter mixture, and then add in your vanilla until combined. 

At this point, we are going to be alternating our dry ingredients with our 1/2 cup of milk. Start with your dry mix and put in about 1/3, and then do 1/2 of your milk, 1/3 dry, last 1/2 milk, and last 1/3 dry; when that has come together add in your pineapple. Be careful not to over mix!

Bake for 18-20 minutes, until the tops spring back when you touch them (or until a toothpick inserted into them comes out clean). Transfer pan to wire rack to cool for 5 minutes before removing the cupcakes from the pan. Cool completely.

EDIT: So when I made these, they were not quite pineapple-y enough for me, so here is something that I wish I did: With the remaining 1/4 cup of pineapple juice you have from the can, boil and reduce slightly in order to make a syrup that you will then brush onto the cupcakes when they are warm to add more flavour. 

Icing:

To make your buttercream beat 1 1/2 sticks of butter with 3 cups of sifted icing sugar and a pinch of salt. Now, you don’t HAVE to sift your sugar but it does make for a smoother buttercream in the end so I highly recommend this step if you have the time. Add in your vanilla and your 1/4 cup pineapple juice and beat on medium-high until light and fluffy. Optional: Add in some yellow gel food colouring. 

Prepare a piping bag with a large star tip and fill with your buttercream to make a “Dole Whip Swirl”. We all know that’s the best part of Dole Whip anyways!

Finish them off with a chunk of pineapple and enjoy! 

Danielle has a video of this process on her YouTube channel (Dani-mite Bakes), so if you want to make them along with her follow the link here!

What do you think of this recipe? Would you make Dole Whip Cupcakes for yourself? Let us know and have a magical day!

Danielle