The Piña Colada is a sweet, rum-based cocktail made with rum, cream of coconut, and pineapple juice, usually served either blended or shaken with ice. It may be garnished with a pineapple wedge, a maraschino cherry or both. The Piña Colada has been the national drink of Puerto Rico since 1978 ~ Wikipedia

Two bartenders claim to have invented the Pina Colada. Ramón Portas Mingot says he created it in 1963 at the Barrachina Restaurant, 104 Fortaleza Street, Old San Juan. The restaurant stands by his claim to this day. Ricardo García, who worked at the Caribe, says that it was he who invented the drink. The Caribe Hilton Hotel outside San Juan, was the first luxury hotel to open in the region, becoming a popular destination for the rich and famous who helped spread word of the drink.

I am a cocktail kind of girl. Maybe the sweetness of the chilled alcoholic beverage is what appeals to me. Wine I find sour, Beer I find bitter and of course Whiskey takes bitterness to another level for me, I’m unashamed to say. I’ve tasted most of the sweet flavoured cocktails and I love most of them.

In my throes of culinary inventiveness, I dreamed up my series of cakes tasting like my favourite cocktails. Developing the recipes, I realised that all the goodness of fresh fruit, dried fruit and herbs was being used to flavour my cakes. So, in fact they are nutritious cakes.  To add the alcohol or not is an option. I’ve kept the base cake recipe the same, adding flavourings and alcohol according to the cocktail I was being inspired by.

My post on the series of cocktail flavoured cakes can be read on Cocktail in a Cake.

Pina Colada Cocktail Cake

Ingredients ~

100 gms soft butter
100 gms caster sugar
110 gms flour
¼ tsp baking powder
3 eggs
100 gms dried Coconut flakes
4 rings of tinned pineapple
¼ cup Coconut flavoured Rum

Method ~

1. Beat the butter and caster sugar till pale and double in volume.
2. Add one egg at a time, beating into the batter till well incorporated.
3. Chop 3 of the pineapple rings and add to the batter along with the coconut flakes.
4. Gently stir in the Coconut flavoured Rum.
5. Sift the flour and baking powder and fold into the batter.
6. Pour the batter into a greased and floured baking tin.
7. Bake at 160*C for 25-30 minutes or till done.
8. Decorate with the remaining pineapple ring and a cherry.