piña + colada

Imagine yourself lying on a beach of white sand, surrounded by cool blue water and sunny skies. In your hand you're holding a delicious piña colada, but wait, that's not a glass, that's a doughnut! You're in paradise as you take a bite and the pineapple filling gushes while the toasted coconut provides a delightful crunch as the rum glaze warms your tongue. 

Mmmm.

I call this the Paradise Doughnut. The doughnut itself has a combination of pineapple and coconut flavorings that I ordered from Bakto Flavors. I highly recommend these flavorings! You'll probably see a mixture of the a bunch of them in my upcoming recipes, but no worries! I will try my best to find adequate substitutes just in case you don't have these wild flavorings yourself. Usually, I will substitute with vanilla because I typically put the extracts in the dough and use alternative ingredients for either the fillings or toppings, so you'll get all of the flavors of the doughnut whether you have the extracts or not. (Does that make sense?)

The glaze has a bit of a kick to it because of the rum, but that can always be substituted with rum emulsion or flavoring for those that prefer non-alcoholic piña coladas. 

For the topping, I toasted sweetened coconut shavings in the oven. You can do this in your toaster at a medium setting, or simply heat the oven to 250 degrees F and keep an eye on it! Coconut (in my experience making these doughnuts) is very easy to forget about and accidentally burn.

The pineapple filling is amazingly easy and so delicious! It starts with canned crushed pineapple and the aroma of the filling as it's cooking is fabulous, just the smell of your kitchen while you're cooking these doughnuts is worth the effort!

Without further ado, here's what you'll need to create these bites of tropical paradise for yourself:


for the doughnut:

1 Cup + 2 tbsp Bread Flour

1 Cups + 2 tbsp All Purpose Flour

3 Egg Yolks

1 packet yeast (2 1/4 tsp)

1 cup Milk, warmed

1/2 tsp coconut extract*

1/2 tsp pineapple extract*

2 Tbsp + 1/2 tsp sugar

1/2 tsp salt

4 tbsp butter – room temp

6 cups of vegetable oil for frying

for the rum glaze:

1/4 cup milk

1 cup spiced rum**

2 cups powdered sugar

for the coconut topping:

1 1/2 cups sweetened shredded coconut

for the pineapple filling:

1 can crushed pineapple, pureed

1 cup sugar

2 tbsp corn starch, tempered***

1/4 tsp salt

*if you do not have these extracts, simply replace with 1 tsp of vanilla flavoring.

** if you would prefer the rum to be cooked down, eliminating some of the alcohol, pour into a sauce pan and let it simmer for 2 hours on low heat. This will allow a lot of the alcohol to evaporate. Alternatively, you may use 4 Tbsp of rum extract mixed with enough water to equal 1 cup.

*** tempering means to take a large spoonful of the mixture that you're working with, transferring it to a small bowl, mixing the corn starch in it until there are no lumps and then pouring back into the original mixture.

Step 1: Combine bread flour and AP flour in a medium sized bowl, whisk until well mixed throughout.

Step 2: Warm cup of milk for 1 minute & 45 seconds on high. Add ½ of a yeast packet and mix until dissolved. Make sure the milk isn't too hot or else you could kill the yeast!

Step 3: Add 1 cup of the flour mixture to the milk and yeast, mix with a paddle attachment in a stand mixer until smooth. Let sit in a warm place for 30 minutes.

Step 4: After 30 minutes, add pineapple extract, coconut extract, eggs and remaining yeast. Mix until smooth.

Step 5: Add 1 cup flour to the mixture. Mix in the sugar.

Step 6: Cut up the butter into about 4 pieces and add to the mixture, mix until well combined.

This is what it looks like to temper
the pineapple filling! After the corn
starch is dissolved into a few
spoonfuls, you can mix this back
into the original mixture and let
it cook to thicken up!

Step 7: Remove paddle attachment and attach dough hook, add remaining flour.

Step 8: Let the mixture sit for 30 minutes covered in plastic wrap in a warm place.

Step 9: While letting the mixture rest, toast the coconut at 350 degrees F for 10 minutes, or until slightly brown.

Step 10: After the dough is done resting, press down gently, wrap in plastic wrap then chill for 1 hour.

Step 11: While letting the dough chill, begin cooking the pineapple filling. Combine pureed pineapple, sugar, cornstarch (don't forget to temper it or you'll end up with lumps!) and salt in a medium sauce pan on medium-high heat. Strain the mixture into a bowl, then pour back into the pan and let it thicken. Chill until ready for use.                       

Step 12: After one hour, roll out dough and cut doughnuts. Place on a greased and floured pan to prevent sticking. Cover with a small towel or paper towel for 30 minutes, checking occasionally. Dough should double in size.

This is what a filling tip looks like.
You can find them at a local
craft store or anywhere that
sells cake or baking supplies
(you'll need a coupler as well!)

Step 13: While waiting for your dough to proof, begin making the rum glaze. Combine rum, powdered sugar and milk. Mix until smooth.

Step 14: After proofing, place doughnuts in a pot filled with vegetable oil, heated to about 365 degrees. Fry for about 2-3 minutes, flipping half way through. After removing the doughnuts from the oil, place on a cooling rack with a pan underneath to catch the oil.

Step 15: Once doughnuts are cool, fit a pastry bag with a filling tip. Fill the bag with the pineapple filling mixture. Once all doughnuts are filled, dip the top of the doughnuts in the rum glaze. While the glaze is still wet, dip the glazed side of the doughnut into the toasted coconut mix.

For a printable version of this recipe,

click here.



There you have it! 'Til next time,