Cherry Pepsi Cupcakes

Cherry Pepsi Cupcake

I saw a few neat recipes for Cherry Coke Cupcakes on Pinterest.com and decided to try my own rendition. They were pretty easy to make and are also pretty appealing to the eye.  I am not a big chocolate cake fan, but this cake was rockin.  It came out really moist and chewy, much more than chocolate cake usually is.  The finished product was VERY sweet, but maybe that’s all the icing tasting I had to do?  Feeling a little over sugared right now actually.  Some of the recipes I saw included a cola glaze that goes on the cupcake top under the icing, which I cannot imagine adding.

I am not a big soda drinker but when I do drink soda I prefer a Blue Sky Cola or a Pepsi Throwback.  You know, real sugar.  For these I used a can of Pepsi Throwback.

They came out great.

Oven at 350, about a dozen cupcakes

Cake Batter Ingredients:

1½ cups flour
3 tables cocoa powder
½ tea baking soda
¼ tea salt
¾ cup sugar
1 stick unsalted butter (room temp)
1 egg (room temp)
½ cup buttermilk
¾ cup Pepsi Throwback (or other cola)
1/8 cup maraschino cherry juice
2 tea vanilla extract (real stuff)
Maraschino cherries (I used 2 jars but could have used 3)

*I had a little trouble finding maraschino cherries at the grocery store, not being a typical thing I would purchase, but when I did find them, they were in the alcohol section with olives and those little white sweet onions.  I was on my way to the ice cream section to look for them after that.

• in a medium bowl, combine the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt.  Stir up and sit to the side.
• in another medium bowl combine the sugar and butter and then mi with a hand mixer until fluffyish.
• add the egg and mix until nice and fluffy.  Sit to the side.
• in a small bowl combine the buttermilk, Pepsi, cherry juice and vanilla.  stir up.  It may look funky and bubbly.  That’s ok.
• grab up the butter/sugar/egg bowl and the hand mixer, add in some of the flour mix,and start hand mixing, add some of the liquid mix, keep mixing, then flour, liquid, so on until its all combined.
• The batter will have a fluffier than usual cake batter consistency.  It almost has a slightly mousse like texture when scooping.
• Scoop it into the cupcake papers, about 3/4 full like normal.
• now stick 1-3 cherries into each cupcake, pushing into the batter.
• Bake at 350 for about 19-21 minutes.
• Allow to cool completely before icing.

Icing ingredients:

2/3 cups whipping cream

1 cup confectioners sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 tea vanilla extract

1/4 cup maraschino cherry juice

• in a medium bowl, using a hand mixer, beat the whipping cream until really fluffy.
• add the sugars, vanilla and cherry juice and continue to hand mixer until the texture you desire is reached.

I found this icing to be a bit runnier and less… decorate-able than normal.  although I did add a bit more cherry juice than I listed above.  This icing has a sweet cherry flavor and a pretty pink tint.  It compliments the cake well and I really like it, but I am sure just about any vanilla based buttercream or whipped icing would work.

Top with a cherry.

Cherry Pepsi Cupcake

Posted by riderofchaos on January 10, 2012

https://allthingskrista.wordpress.com/2012/01/10/cherry-pepsi-cupcakes/