Tropical Delight: Indulge in Passionfruit Cupcakes with Silky Coconut Buttercream
Prepare to be transported to a tropical paradise with these exquisite Passionfruit Cupcakes, crowned with a luscious Coconut Buttercream. If you crave the vibrant, sweet-tart essence of passionfruit, combined with the creamy richness of coconut, this recipe is your ticket to a dessert experience like no other. Each cupcake holds a delightful secret: a surprise center filled with homemade passionfruit curd, an incredibly easy and quick-to-make addition that many might argue surpasses even classic lemon curd in its bright, tangy allure. Get ready to bake a batch of pure sunshine!
These tropical treats feature a wonderfully tender, light, and airy cupcake base, infused with the delicate flavors of both coconut milk and passionfruit juice. While the cake itself offers a subtle hint of these exotic notes, the true explosion of flavor arrives with the generous passionfruit curd filling and the dreamily smooth coconut buttercream. This harmonious blend creates a dessert that is refreshing, luxurious, and utterly irresistible.
Whether you have access to fresh passionfruit pulp, a convenient frozen option, or jarred varieties, any form will work beautifully here. So, gather your ingredients and let the tropical baking adventure begin!
This recipe was originally published on January 10th, 2019, and has since been refined for an even better, simpler experience, omitting the meringue topping for a perfectly balanced flavor profile.
Table of Contents
- Why You’ll Love These Tropical Cupcakes
- Essential Ingredients for Passionfruit Cupcakes
- How to Make Passionfruit Cupcakes
- Pro Tips for Perfect Cupcakes
- Storage and Making Ahead
- More Tropical Recipes You’ll Love
Never Miss a Recipe!
Get the latest recipes straight to your inbox and elevate your baking!
Why You’ll Love These Tropical Cupcakes
These Passionfruit Cupcakes with Coconut Buttercream aren’t just a dessert; they’re an experience. Here’s why this recipe will become your new favorite tropical bake:
- Unmatched Texture: The cupcake base is engineered for perfection – incredibly light, fluffy, and moist. The combination of butter for flavor and oil for moisture creates a crumb that melts in your mouth, defying the common issue of dry cupcakes.
- Balanced Tropical Flavors: You get the best of both worlds with passionfruit and coconut. The subtle infusion in the cake ensures it’s not overpowering, allowing the vibrant, tangy homemade passionfruit curd and the creamy coconut buttercream to shine without clashing.
- Surprise Curd Center: Who doesn’t love a hidden treat? A dollop of bright, zesty passionfruit curd tucked inside each cupcake provides an exciting burst of flavor and a delightful textural contrast. It’s a simple addition that elevates the entire cupcake to gourmet status.
- Silky Ermine Buttercream: Say goodbye to overly sweet, grainy frostings! Our coconut buttercream uses the ermine method, resulting in a frosting that’s exceptionally smooth, velvety, less sweet, and surprisingly stable. It’s a game-changer for anyone who finds traditional buttercreams too rich.
- Perfect for Any Occasion: While they scream “summer party,” these cupcakes are versatile enough for any celebration, bringing a touch of sunshine and exotic flair to birthdays, potlucks, or simply an afternoon treat.
In fact, these cupcakes have been known to convert even the most skeptical dessert eaters. At a recent New Year’s celebration, they received rave reviews, with one guest, who typically avoids cupcakes due to their dryness, declaring them delicious. Another described them as a “foodgasm,” which we can confidently say is a glowing endorsement!
Essential Ingredients for Passionfruit Cupcakes
Jump to the full recipe card for precise measurements and detailed instructions.
- Passionfruit Pulp: This is the star ingredient! You’ll need the pure, tangy pulp from the inside of the fruit, sometimes called lilikoi or maracuya. For the cupcake batter, you’ll want to strain out the seeds to ensure a smooth texture, but don’t discard them entirely! Save some pulp with seeds for a beautiful and flavorful garnish on top of the finished cupcakes. Fresh, frozen, or jarred pulp will all yield fantastic results.
- Sugar: Both the cupcake base and the ermine frosting call for fine granulated sugar. Caster sugar (superfine sugar) is my personal preference for its ability to dissolve quickly and create a light texture, but standard white granulated sugar works perfectly well.
- Oil and Butter: This dynamic duo is key to our cupcake’s amazing texture. Butter provides rich flavor, while a neutral-flavored vegetable oil (like canola or grapeseed) contributes incredible moisture and tenderness, ensuring the cupcakes remain soft for days.
- Eggs: Always use large eggs, and critically, ensure they are at room temperature. Room temperature eggs emulsify better with the fats, leading to a smoother batter and a more uniform, tender crumb in your baked goods.
- Flour: For the ultimate light and fluffy passionfruit cupcakes, cake flour is recommended. Cake flour has a lower protein content than all-purpose flour, which helps create a softer, more delicate crumb. If cake flour isn’t readily available, you can easily make your own by combining plain (all-purpose) flour with cornflour (cornstarch in the US). Detailed instructions for this simple substitution are provided in the recipe notes.
- Baking Powder: This leavening agent is essential for giving our cupcakes their beautiful lift and airy texture. Be sure to use baking powder, not baking soda, as they react differently and are not interchangeable in this recipe.
- Coconut Milk: Full-fat canned coconut milk is used in both the cupcakes and the coconut buttercream. It imparts a creamy texture and a delicious, subtle coconut flavor. Remember to use full-fat, not light coconut milk or coconut cream, and give the can a good shake before opening to ensure the solids and liquids are well combined, especially if it’s been sitting in a cool place. Ensure it’s at room temperature for both the batter and the buttercream paste.
- Vanilla Extract: For the best flavor, always opt for pure vanilla extract. Avoid artificial vanilla essence, as it won’t deliver the same depth and quality of taste to your tropical cupcakes.
How to Make Passionfruit Cupcakes
Creating these delightful passionfruit cupcakes is a straightforward and rewarding process. Follow these steps for perfectly light, fluffy, and moist tropical treats.
Jump to the full recipe card for precise measurements and detailed instructions.
1. Make the Cupcake Batter
Begin by preparing your muffin pan with paper liners and preheating your oven. In a separate bowl, whisk together your dry ingredients: cake flour, baking powder, and salt. This step is important for evenly distributing the leavening and ensuring a consistent rise.
Next, in a large mixing bowl, combine the butter, oil, and sugar. For this recipe, I partially melt the butter (about 50%), meaning it’s still soft with some solid chunks. This unique technique allows the butter to blend easily while still contributing to the airiness of the batter when beaten. Using a handheld electric beater or a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, beat this mixture until it’s light and creamy. The mixture should become pale in color and fluffy in texture, indicating that air has been incorporated, which is crucial for a tender cupcake.
Introduce the room temperature eggs one at a time, beating just until each is fully combined before adding the next. This ensures proper emulsification, preventing the batter from curdling and creating a smooth, cohesive mixture. Remember to scrape down the sides of the bowl periodically to ensure all ingredients are incorporated.
Finally, it’s time to incorporate the dry and wet ingredients in alternating additions. Start by adding about a third of the whisked flour mixture to the butter-egg mixture, gently folding it in with a spatula until just combined. Next, add half of the coconut milk, the strained passionfruit juice, and the vanilla extract, stirring carefully. Repeat this pattern: another third of the flour, the remaining coconut milk, and then the final third of the flour. The key here is to mix gently and only until the ingredients are just combined, to avoid overmixing which can lead to tough cupcakes.
2. Portion and Bake
The batter comes together remarkably quickly! To ensure your passionfruit cupcakes bake evenly and are uniform in size, I highly recommend using a large ice cream scoop (approximately ⅓ cup volume) to portion the batter. Divide the entire batter among 12 cupcake liners in a standard muffin tin, filling each about two-thirds to three-quarters full. This leaves enough room for them to rise beautifully without overflowing.
Bake the cupcakes for approximately 18-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out with just a few moist crumbs attached. Avoid overbaking, as this can lead to dry cupcakes. Once baked, let them cool in the muffin pan for about 5 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely. Cooling completely is crucial before filling and frosting to prevent the buttercream from melting.
3. Make the Divine Coconut Ermine Frosting
While your cupcakes are baking and cooling, you can start on the truly extraordinary coconut frosting. This isn’t just any buttercream; it’s a version known as ermine frosting (also sometimes called cooked flour frosting or boiled milk frosting), and it’s my absolute favorite. While it requires a tiny bit more effort than a standard powdered sugar buttercream, the payoff is immense:
- Silky Smooth Texture: Unlike traditional buttercream that can sometimes feel grainy from undissolved sugar, ermine frosting boasts an incredibly smooth, almost cream-like texture that melts in your mouth.
- Perfectly Sweet: It’s significantly less sweet than most powdered sugar frostings, allowing the natural coconut flavor to truly shine without being overwhelmed by sugar.
- Remarkably Stable: This frosting holds its shape beautifully, making it perfect for piping and ensuring your decorated cupcakes look pristine.
- Made with Pantry Staples: You can use regular granulated sugar, which most people have on hand, rather than needing specialized icing sugar.
To begin, whisk together flour, coconut milk, and about half of the granulated sugar in a small saucepan until thoroughly smooth. Cook this mixture over low heat, stirring continuously for about 5-6 minutes. The goal is to cook out the raw flour taste and allow the sugar to dissolve completely, resulting in a very thick, pudding-like paste. You’ll know it’s ready when you can see the lines of your whisk in the paste and the raw flour smell has vanished.
Transfer this hot paste onto a flat bowl or plate, spread it thinly, and cover it directly with plastic wrap (ensuring the wrap touches the surface to prevent a skin from forming). Allow it to cool completely to room temperature. You can place it in the fridge to speed up this process, but ensure it’s at room temperature before proceeding to the next step, as cold paste will seize the butter.
Once the flour paste is cool, prepare your buttercream. In a large mixing bowl, beat the softened unsalted butter and the remaining granulated sugar together until very creamy, light, and fluffy (this usually takes about 5 minutes of beating). Then, add the cooled flour paste, one dessert spoon at a time, beating well after each addition until fully combined. Continue beating the mixture on medium-high speed for another 5-7 minutes. Don’t be alarmed if it looks like it’s separating or curdling at first; just keep beating! It will eventually come together into a beautifully smooth, almost whipped cream-like consistency. This extended beating incorporates air, making it incredibly light and pipeable.
4. Assembly: Bringing Your Tropical Cupcakes to Life
Now for the most exciting part – assembling your beautiful passionfruit cupcakes!
Once your cupcakes have cooled completely, create a small cavity in the center of each. You can use a specialized cupcake corer for a perfectly neat hole, or simply use a sharp paring knife to cut a cone shape, removing the center portion. Alternatively, the wide end of a metal piping tip works effectively. Fill this newly created space with a generous spoonful (about a teaspoon and a half) of your vibrant homemade passionfruit curd.
Next, using a piping bag fitted with your favorite nozzle (a round or star tip works wonderfully), pipe a decorative ring of the gorgeous coconut buttercream around the outer edge of the passionfruit curd filling. Then, pipe a small dot of buttercream directly into the center, aiming to cover most of the curd while still leaving a slight “dent” or depression in the middle of the frosting. This indentation is intentional!
To finish, gently scatter some shredded coconut flakes over the buttercream, focusing on the outer edges for a lovely textural contrast and an extra touch of tropical flavor. Finally, add another small dollop of passionfruit curd into that central dent you created. If you have any remaining passionfruit pulp with seeds, spoon a delicate drizzle over the top of the curd. These final touches not only enhance the flavor but also add visual appeal, making your passionfruit cupcakes truly irresistible!
Pro Tips for Perfect Cupcakes
Achieving bakery-quality cupcakes at home is easier than you think with a few expert tips:
- Accurate Measurements Are Key: Especially for dry ingredients like flour and sugar, weighing them with a kitchen scale ensures accuracy and consistent results. If you don’t have a scale, use the spoon-and-level method: spoon flour into your measuring cup, then level it off with a straight edge, rather than scooping directly from the bag.
- Don’t Overmix the Batter: Once you add the dry ingredients to the wet, mix only until just combined. Overmixing develops the gluten in the flour, leading to tough, dense cupcakes instead of the desired light and fluffy texture. A few small lumps are perfectly fine!
- Room Temperature Ingredients: As mentioned, room temperature eggs and coconut milk are crucial for a smooth emulsion and a tender crumb. For butter in the buttercream, ensure it’s properly softened (but not melted) so it creams effectively.
- Avoid Opening the Oven Door: Resist the temptation to peek during the first two-thirds of the baking time. Fluctuations in oven temperature can cause cupcakes to sink.
- Cool Completely: Before coring, filling, and frosting, your cupcakes must be entirely cool. Even slightly warm cupcakes will melt the buttercream and thin the curd, leading to a messy outcome.
Storage and Making Ahead
Planning ahead can make baking these passionfruit cupcakes even more enjoyable!
- Passionfruit Curd: The homemade passionfruit curd is wonderfully make-ahead friendly. Store it in a sterilized, airtight jar in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks. Keep it sealed until you are ready to fill your cooled cupcakes.
- Cupcake Bases: The plain cupcake bases can be baked in advance and stored. Once completely cooled, place them in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days, or freeze them for up to 3 months. To freeze, wrap individual cupcakes tightly in plastic wrap, then place them in a freezer-safe bag or container. Thaw at room temperature before filling and frosting. They thaw exceptionally well, retaining their moist texture.
- Coconut Buttercream: The ermine buttercream is best made on the day you plan to frost the cupcakes. While it can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for a couple of days, it will firm up and lose some of its whipped consistency. If storing, allow it to come to room temperature and re-whip it with an electric mixer until smooth and fluffy again before piping.
- Assembled Cupcakes: Once assembled and frosted, these passionfruit cupcakes are best stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 2-3 days. To enjoy them at their best texture and flavor, take them out of the fridge approximately 30 minutes before serving to allow the buttercream and cake to soften slightly.
These finished passionfruit cupcakes embody all the delightful elements of summer: bright, fun, and packed with vibrant flavors. The tangy passionfruit, creamy coconut, and soft, airy cake combine to create a perfect, irresistible treat that’s sure to brighten any day.
More Tropical Recipes You’ll Love
- Passionfruit Tart: A classic tart showcasing the intense flavor of passionfruit in a buttery crust.
- Pineapple Coconut Cupcakes: Another fantastic tropical cupcake, perfect for pineapple lovers.
- Creamy Lemon Coconut Slice: Zesty lemon and rich coconut come together in this refreshing slice.
- Coconut Strawberry Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting: A beautiful pairing of coconut and fresh strawberries.
- Mango Coconut Cheesecake: A rich and creamy cheesecake bursting with mango and coconut goodness.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Did you try this passionfruit cupcakes recipe? Leaving a rating and comment below the recipe is so helpful!
Hungry for more? Subscribe to the newsletter for free recipes straight to your inbox. Also, follow along on Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram.
Passionfruit Cupcakes with Coconut Buttercream
Rate
Pin
Ingredients
- 195 g cake flour 1 ½ cups, see notes
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 57 g unsalted butter 50% melted (notes)
- ¼ cup neutral flavoured vegetable oil
- 1 cup caster sugar or white granulated sugar (200g /7oz)
- 2 large eggs room temperature
- ½ cup coconut milk room temp & shaken well (125ml)
- ¼ cup strained passionfruit pulp seeds removed
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
FOR THE COCONUT BUTTERCREAM
- ¾ cup caster sugar or white granulated sugar (150g / oz)
- ¾ cup full fat coconut milk shaken well (180ml)
- 2 ¼ tablespoons plain flour (all purp flour) (9tsp, notes 1)
- 170 g unsalted butter softened (½ cup / 4oz / 1 stick)
- ½ cup passionfruit curd store-bought or homemade (notes)
- shredded coconut optional
For best results, always weigh ingredients where a weight is provided
Equipment
-
stand mixer or handheld beater
-
mixing bowls
-
Saucepan
-
cupcake corer useful but not essential
-
Regular muffin pan
Instructions
-
FOR THE COCONUT PASSIONFRUIT CUPCAKES:
Preheat the oven to 180C (160C fan forced) / 350F. Line 12-hole muffin pan with paper liners. Set aside.
-
In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the cake flour, baking powder, and salt to lighten and evenly disperse. Set aside.
-
Using a large mixing bowl and handheld electric beater (or stand mixer with paddle attachment), beat together the butter, oil, and sugar on medium speed until well combined.
-
Add the eggs, one at a time, beating each until the mixture is smooth. Scrape down the sides of the bowl from time to time.
-
Add ⅓ of the flour mixture to the butter and egg mix. Stir with a spatula until just combined. Now, add half the coconut milk, the passionfruit juice, and the vanilla. Stir gently to combine. Repeat these additions in three more parts, stirring each time until only just combined – flour, coconut milk, flour.
-
Divide the batter evenly between the muffin pans, filling to about ⅔-¾ full.
-
Bake for around 18-20 minutes. They’re done when a toothpick comes out with just a crumb or two attached.
-
Let them cool for 5 minutes in the pan, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
-
FOR THE COCONUT BUTTERCREAM:
In a small saucepan, whisk together the coconut milk, flour, and half the sugar until smooth. Heat over low heat for 5-6 minutes until the sugar dissolves and the mixture thickens to a very thick paste. It’s thick enough when you can see the lines of the whisk in the paste and the smell of uncooked flour has disappeared.
-
Pour into a shallow bowl, cover with plastic wrap making sure the plastic wrap is touching the paste (this will stop the top from forming a skin), then place in the fridge to cool completely.
-
Once the milk paste is completely cool, beat together the butter and remaining sugar until really creamy (about 5 minutes). Make sure to regularly scrape down the sides of the bowl.
-
Add the cooled milk/flour paste and salt, and beat on medium-high for 5-7 minutes. If it looks like it separates at the start, don’t worry, keep on beating, and it will beat up into an almost whipped cream consistency.
-
ASSEMBLY:
Use a knife or cupcake corer to cut roughly a ¾ inch hole in the top center of each cupcake, then fill with just over a teaspoon of passionfruit curd.
-
Pipe a ring of buttercream around the top of each cupcake, then pipe a dot into the center to cover the curd but still leave a dent. Add a little more curd to the dent.
-
If using, scatter some shredded coconut over the frosting, then finish off with a little drizzle of passionfruit pulp if you have some on hand.
-
Please take a moment to leave a comment & rating. It’s appreciated and so helpful.
Notes
- Tablespoons: I use a standard Australian 20ml tablespoon (equal to 4 teaspoons). Check your measuring spoons before use.
- Cake Flour Substitute: Cake flour is a blend of plain flour (all-purpose flour) and cornflour (US cornstarch). If you can’t find cake flour, you can easily make your own: for this recipe, use 165g of plain flour and 30g of cornflour. Sift them together thoroughly before use.
- For the 50% melted butter in the cupcake batter: Place your butter in a microwave-safe bowl and melt in two short bursts of 15-20 seconds. The goal is for about half of the butter to be melted, while the other half remains in soft chunks, without mixing. This technique helps ingredients blend smoothly while still creating aeration for fluffiness. If you don’t have a microwave, you can achieve this by placing the butter in a small bowl set over simmering water. Regular softened butter can also be used, but the 50% melted method yields a slightly more tender result.
- This recipe has been slightly altered since its initial publication. It previously included a small plain meringue topping. If you wish to add meringues, you can use this meringue recipe, simply omitting the peppermint and chocolate elements.
- This is my highly recommended Homemade Passionfruit Curd recipe, which pairs perfectly with these cupcakes.
- For consistent and accurate baking, it is always recommended to weigh ingredients like flour and sugar using kitchen scales. If weighing isn’t possible, use the spoon and level method for dry ingredients (don’t scoop directly from the bag).
- Nutrition details provided below are approximate and derived from an online calculator. Variations may occur depending on the specific brands and exact quantities of ingredients you use.
EXPLORE MORE CAKES AND CUPCAKES!
Calories from Fat 243