Drop of Disney

Happy Friday! I’m branching out a little bit this week as I’m celebrating the premiere of the new Barbie movie! I’m so excited to see this movie and couldn’t resist making some fun treats for it so I’m excited to share Malibu Barbie’s Sunset Party! Enjoy these Malibu Sunset inspired cupcakes and mocktails!

For this party, I made two treats — cupcakes and mocktails. Both are inspired by the Malibu Sunset cocktail, which has tropical flavors of pineapple, orange, grenadine, and coconut. I thought these, and the fun orangish pinkish swirl were a perfect pick for celebrating Malibu Barbie!

The cupcakes have a pineapple cake, which is topped with a swirl of orange-pineapple and grenadine frosting. I actually used the cake portion of my Dole Whip Cupcakes recipe for this as they’re a delicious cupcake packed with crushed pineapple.

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To make the cupcakes, first whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Then, in a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the vanilla to butter mixture and then add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Mix in the crushed pineapple and then gradually add the flour mixture, beating just until combined. 

Divide the batter into the prepared muffin pan. For these cupcakes, I used liners that had a swirl of pink, yellow, and orange that I found on Amazon. They were the perfect match of sunset and Barbie. Bake the cupcakes at 350 F for 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool the cupcakes in the pan for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Since I wanted both the orange and grenadine flavors found in a Malibu Sunset in these cupcakes, I decided to make two frostings and swirl them together. To make the grenadine frosting, beat the butter in a medium bowl until creamy. Add the powdered sugar and grenadine and beat until smooth. I didn’t addd any extra red food coloring to the frosting, I just used the color that came from the grenadine as I liked the softer pink. If you want a richer color, you could add a few drops of gel food coloring. Transfer the frosting to a piping bag.

To make the orange-pineapple frosting, beat the butter in a medium bowl until creamy. Add the powdered sugar and orange-pineapple and beat until smooth. For this frosting, I did add a few drops of orange gel food coloring so that it was a soft orange color. Transfer the frosting to a piping bag.

To decorate the cupcakes, You’ll need to cut the ends off the two piping bags and then put them both into a large piping bag fitted with a large star piping tip. Pipe a swirl onto the tops of the cupcakes, pressing evenly on both bags so that the colors come out evenly. For accessories, I added a mix of tropical drink umbrellas, Barbie “B”s, and maraschino cherries.

Next, make the mocktails! First, fill a hurricane glass halfway with ice cubes. Add four ounces of orange-pineapple juice and 2 ounces of coconut water. Stir together. 

Slowly pour one ounce of grenadine syrup down the inside edge of the glass. As it sinks down and then rises up through the juice, it’ll create an ombre effect. I then added a paper flamingo and pineapple, and Barbie decal.

Hope you have a blast at Malibu Barbie’s Sunset Party! And enjoy the new Barbie movie!

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Malibu Barbie’s Sunset Party

Come on Barbie, let’s go party! Malibu Barbie’s Sunset Party features festive Malibu Sunset inspired cupcakes and mocktails!

Course Dessert, Drinks

Keyword Barbie, Cupcakes, Malibu Sunset

Prep Time 30 minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes

Total Time 45 minutes

Servings 12 cupcakes

Ingredients

Barbie’s Malibu Sunset Cupcakes

Pineapple Cupcakes

• 1 ⅔ cups all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ cup unsalted butter, softend
• ¼ cup light brown sugar, packed
• ½ cup granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs
• 8 oz crushed pineapple, undrained

Grenadine Buttercream

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 2 tablespoons grenadine
• 2 cups powdered sugar

Orange-Pineapple Buttercream

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 2 tablespoons orange/orange pineapple juice
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• orange gel food coloring

Decoration

• maraschino cherries
• tropical drink umbrellas
• Barbie cupcake decorations

Equipment

• piping bags
• large star piping tip

Barbie’s Malibu Sunset Mocktails

• 1 mocktail
• 4 ounces orange pineapple juice blend
• 2 ounces coconut water, strained (no pulp)
• 1 ounce grenadine syrup
• tropical drink umbrellas, paper flamingos, paper pineapples for garnish
• 16 ounce hurricane glass
• ice

Instructions

Pineapple Cupcakes

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line a 12 cup muffin pan with cupcake liners.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
3. In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy (about 3 minutes).
4. Add the vanilla to butter mixture and beat on low speed. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition.
5. Add the crushed pineapple and mix to combine.
6. Gradually add the flour mixture, beating just until combined.
7. Divide the batter into the prepared muffin pan. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
8. Cool the cupcakes in the pan for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack. Cool completely before frosting.

Grenadine Frosting

1. In a medium bowl, beat the butter until creamy.
2. Add the powdered sugar and grenadine. Beat until smooth.
3. Transfer to a piping bag.

Orange-Pineapple Frosting

1. In a medium bowl, beat the butter until creamy.
2. Add the powdered sugar and orange juice. Beat until smooth.
3. Add a few drops of red food coloring and beat until well incorporated.
4. Transfer to a piping bag.

Assembly

1. Place the two piping bags into a larger piping bag fitted with a large star piping tip.
2. Pipe a swirl of frosting on the top of each cupcake.
3. Place a maraschino cherry and Barbie decal or tropical umbrella on top of each cupcake.

Barbie’s Malibu Sunset Mocktails

1. 4 ounces orange pineapple juice blend
2. 2 ounces coconut water, strained (no pulp)
3. 1 ounce grenadine syrup
4. ice
5. tropical drink umbrellas, paper flamingos, paper pineapples for garnish
6. 16 ounce hurricane glass

Malibu Barbie's Sunset Mocktails

1. Fill the hurricane glass halfway with ice cubes.
2. Add four ounces of orange pineapple juice and 2 ounces of coconut water. Stir together.
3. Slowly pour one ounce of grenadine syrup down the inside edge of the glass. As it sinks down and then rises up through the juice, it’ll create an ombre effect.
4. Add desired garnishes and serve.