Whoopie Pies are a favorite treat up here in Pennsylvania and for good reason – they’re portable and two cakes filled with tasty frosting. If you’ve never heard or tasted a whoopie pie, I highly recommend trying out this recipe or my Mint Chocolate Whoopie Pie or Blueberry Orange Whoopie Pie. The traditional whoopie pie flavors are chocolate, vanilla, red velvet, and my go to in the Amish markets – Pumpkin, but since those flavors are classics I’ve chosen to switch it up with the ultimate summer cocktail – Pina Colada!
This Pina colada whoopie pie is one of my absolute favorites I’ve created in the kitchen. With two coconut cakes sandwiching pineapple curd and a coconut rum swiss meringue buttercream, it will definitely take you to a beach sipping on a Pina colada. I would make the pineapple curd first so it cools while you’re making the cakes and buttercream. You can use any buttercream frosting recipe if you don’t want to try swiss meringue, but what I love about the swiss meringue buttercream is that it’s a less sweet frosting option so your whoopie pie isn’t a sugar bomb. One important thing I will highly suggest is to make sure your egg white and sugar mixture is not grainy before beginning to whip into the meringue. Funny story – the very first time I made swiss meringue buttercream, I was too impatient with my burner on low and ignored the grainy sugar and began to whip which lead to a grainy frosting… not the most pleasant mouth feeling. If you don’t want to make your own frosting and want to take a shortcut, then you can buy a tub of frosting at the store and mix in the extracts and rum for your yummy whoopie pies!
Pina Colada Whoopie Pie
Makes: 12 whoopie pies
Total Time: 2 hours, 45 minutes
Whoopie Pies
- 2 ¼ cup all purpose flour
- 1 ½ tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp salt
- 8 tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup light brown sugar
- 2 eggs
- ½ cup milk, room temperature
- 1.5 tsp white vinegar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ¼ tsp coconut extract
- Optional: ¼ tsp rum extract
- 1/3 cup shredded unsweetened coconut
Swiss Meringue Buttercream (SMBC)
- 6 egg whites
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 1 ½ cups unsalted butter (3 sticks)
- ¼ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp coconut extract
- ¼ tsp rum extract
- 4 tbsp white rum
Pineapple Curd
- 2 egg yolks
- 1 whole egg
- 2/3 cup granulated sugar
- 1/3 cup pineapple juice (canned or jarred)
- Pinch of salt
- 6 tbsp butter
- Preheat oven to 375°F and line a baking tray with parchment paper.
- In a small bowl, mix together to milk and vinegar, set aside.
- In a another bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time until just incorporated and add the extracts.
- Slowly alternate mixing in the flour and milk mixture, beginning and ending with the flour until just combined – do not overmix. Gently mix in coconut.
- Using a tablespoon, dollop 2tbsp size of batter onto the parchment paper and gently shape to a circle using the back of the spoon to ensure even spreading. To prevent the batter from being very domed – spread to flatten the batter lightly to your circles and bake for 10-12 minutes until the cakes bounce back when lightly poked. Place on a cooling rack when baked.
SMBC
- Begin by adding a small amount of water to your double boiler (saucepan) ensuring your mixing bowl does not touch the water. Heat on medium heat.
- In either a stand mixing bowl or a large metal bowl, add egg whites and sugar and give a whisk to incorporate. Place your mixing bowl over your double boiler and continuously whisk until the egg white mixture becomes loose and foamy, about 170°F if you have a thermometer, *and your mixture is not grainy*. This typically takes me 6-7 minutes of whisking, but to test, dip your pointer finger in the mixture and rub with your thumb to feel for granules or just look to see if you can see any on your finger.
- Once you’ve whisked your mixture and it is no longer grainy, attach the whisk attachment to your stand mixer and begin whipping until the mixture has cooled and there are stiff peaks – about 15 minutes. Add salt while its mixing, once you see stiff peaks.
- While your mixture is whipping, take your butter out of the refrigerator and slice into tbsp size shapes. This allows the butter to still be cool when you add it – if its room temperature or too warm, your buttercream can turn soupy.
- When your meringue has cooled down, begin whipping on medium high and add 1 tbsp of butter at a time until each has incorporated well. Add the extracts and rum after the last addition of butter.
Pineapple Curd
- Begin by adding a small amount of water to your double boiler (saucepan) ensuring your mixing bowl does not touch the water. Heat on high heat.
- Mix the egg yolks, egg, sugar, pineapple juice and salt in a heat safe bowl on top of the double boiler and begin whisking. Continuously whisk to prevent the egg yolks from curdling and whisk until the curd has become thick like a pudding (10-15 minutes). Canned pineapple juice will thicken faster. Once the curd has thickened, remove from heat and whisk in the butter until completely incorporated and melted in the curd.
- Put the curd in a container, put cling wrap on top ensuring it is touching the curd so a skin does not form and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight.
Now its time to assemble! Take the SMBC and make a thin layer between the top and bottom coconut cakes. Using a piping bag or Ziploc bag, pipe a barrier of SMBC around the edge of one of the cakes and fill the center with the pineapple curd. Sandwich the coconut cakes and you have one delicious whoopie pie! These can be made ahead, individually wrapped with cling wrap and enjoyed up to 5-7 days later.
I hope you enjoy these Pina Colada Whoopie Pies as much as I do! If you make them, please comment below and tag me on instagram @theladlebearer.