"Corny" Pineapple Cupcakes

As I mentioned the other day, we had a big BBQ here at the house on Sunday. It was sort of a 2nd bday party for Charlotte, because we didn't get to have everyone over on her actual bday, and also a little kick-off for bbq season.We had about 30 people here and it was such a good time. I love BBQ'ing. Well John actually does all the grill work, I just love the smell and the taste. We just did a bunch of salads and then burgers, hot dogs and grilled chicken with tortillas. Corn is such a BBQ staple and since corn isn't going to be ready here for a few months, (we have a huge sweet corn farm) I made "Corn on the Cob" cupcakes. I made a pineapple cupcake that I decorated with jelly beans to give the look of butter n'sugar corn. 
For the cupcakes:
1 1/2 sticks butter, softened
1 3/4 cups sugar
3 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 1/2 cups cake flour
3/4 cups milk
3/4 cups pineapple juice
1/2 cup lightly toasted coconut
1 8 ounce can of crushed pineapple


Beat together, butter, sugar, eggs, vanilla, salt n baking powder. Then alternate the flour and liquids. After everything was well mixed, I folded in the crushed pineapple and 1/2 cup of lightly toasted coconut. I baked these cupcakes (batter made 21) at 350 for 19 minutes. I didn't fill the cupcake tins too high, a lil over half way b/c I didn't want them to rise much. I wanted a flat surface to ice and decorate.
I iced them with a Vanilla frosting- 1/2 stick softened butter, 3/4 cups vegetable shortening, 3 1/2 cups powdered sugar, 1 tbsp clear vanilla extract, 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream. Beat everything together and spread and even layer on each of the cooled cupcakes. 


To create the corn- I finally found Jelly Belly jellybeans at a local specialty grocery store. I went with crushed pineapple, coconut and vanilla bean. The vanilla bean was cool b.c they have lil flecks of vanilla in them and it sort of gave the look of black pepper. However, when I got home with them, I was furious b/c I realized the store had mixed lemon in with the crushed pineapple. Not the hugest problem, but it still really pissed me off. I had to make do though. So you can see from the picture how I did it, But then to make them even cuter, I laid 3 cupcakes side by side in corn husks and decorated the plate with a few limes. Everyone said they were delicious, however, I never got one for myself :( There was one left but before I got  to even bite into it, I dropped it. OH OOPS!! Coulda been the all the beers...
Anyway- they were a hit and the day was just a perfect day for a BBQ. Our family had a great time and I hope all of our guests did too!