Chocolate Cherry Coke Float Cupcakes.
This is a guest-posting for Frosting For the Cause, but I wanted to keep it here as well for my own records. :-)
Remember those good ol' days? Way back when people didn't die until they lived to a ripe old age, and even then, you hardly ever heard the word "cancer" mentioned? Those days where you could sit on a porch swing and enjoy the company of your grandparents and an ice-cold Coke, and nothing was better...
... 'cept for the times when Pawpaw pulled out the ice cream, too! Nothing beats a Coke Float, right?!
Chocolate Cherry Coke Float Cupcakes
These deliciously moist cupcakes are so fudgy, yet so light... with just a hint of Coca-Cola. The cola glaze on top adds just a *bit* of fizz to your tongue, but the cherry buttercream is the high note to end on. In addition to the cherry on top, there's a second cherry waiting to surprise you in the cake!
Sing it with me, now! "I'd like to buy the world a ... cure!" ♪♫
Making these is simple, and I promise you will love them! To start, assemble all of your ingredients:
Chocolate Cherry Coke Float Cupcakes
(recipe from Coco Bean, adapted from Nigella Lawson)
Preheat oven to 350°. Combine flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt into large mixing bowl (I used my KitchenAid stand mixer). Make a well in the dry mixture and leave while preparing the other ingredients.
Pour Coca-Cola and cherry syrup into 2-qt. saucepan.
Bring to a boil over medium heat, and boil gently for 5 minutes. While you are waiting, mix together in a small bowl the eggs, buttermilk, and vanilla extract until combined; set aside.
After your Coca-Cola mixture has boiled, add the butter and cocoa powder to the saucepan. Turn heat to low, and stir until melted and smooth.
Remove from heat, and pour in a steady stream into the "well" in the dry ingredients.
(This is VERY difficult to do one-handed while trying to photograph with the other hand! Try not to splash everywhere and run down the saucepan the way I did. *grin*)
On a low speed (I set my mixer on 2), gently beat until well-combined.
Slowly pour in the buttermilk mixture.
(I got it this time. *wink*)
Mix well until the batter is a shade of dark caramel and is silky-smooth. (Nevermind the air bubbles you can see - I promise it was very smooth!)
Pour batter into prepared cupcake liners. I used a red version of these cups from Wilton. You'll want to use a taller liner than your standard ones because you need room for the glaze to pool later.
Press a "salad" maraschino cherry into the center of each cupcake.
Bake for 15-17 minutes, or until the top of cupcakes are springy to the touch, and a toothpick comes out clean.
Cool completely. While you're waiting, mix up your Coca-Cola glaze icing.
Coca-Cola Glaze Icing
In a glass measuring cup, mix cola and powdered sugar until very smooth. Drizzle over cooled cupcakes and allow to set/harden for at least half an hour.
Again, while waiting, whip up your cherry buttercream - a recipe I threw together on the fly!
Cherry Buttercream
(recipe by Nicole Cleghorn)
Cream butter until light & fluffy. Add sugar and whip until combined. Add almond extract and cherry syrup; beat well. Begin adding milk a tablespoon at a time until buttercream is desired spreading consistency. (I wanted mine soft enough to "dollop" and not so stiff for piping.)
Seriously, this stuff was so good I could've just eaten the bowlful with a spoon!
Top each cupcake with cherry buttercream and a maraschino cherry (with stem). Share and enjoy!
Philip and I dropped these cupcakes off to the midnight crews at the oncology ward of our local hospital. What a surprise they were for the ER attendants when we came in the middle of the night! :-)
Remember those good ol' days? Way back when people didn't die until they lived to a ripe old age, and even then, you hardly ever heard the word "cancer" mentioned? Those days where you could sit on a porch swing and enjoy the company of your grandparents and an ice-cold Coke, and nothing was better...
... 'cept for the times when Pawpaw pulled out the ice cream, too! Nothing beats a Coke Float, right?!
Chocolate Cherry Coke Float Cupcakes
These deliciously moist cupcakes are so fudgy, yet so light... with just a hint of Coca-Cola. The cola glaze on top adds just a *bit* of fizz to your tongue, but the cherry buttercream is the high note to end on. In addition to the cherry on top, there's a second cherry waiting to surprise you in the cake!
Sing it with me, now! "I'd like to buy the world a ... cure!" ♪♫
Making these is simple, and I promise you will love them! To start, assemble all of your ingredients:
Chocolate Cherry Coke Float Cupcakes
(recipe from Coco Bean, adapted from Nigella Lawson)
- 3 cups flour
- 1-1/2 cups sugar
- 1 tsp. baking soda
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 4 tsp. vanilla extract
- 1 cup unsalted butter
- 6 Tbsp. cocoa powder
- 1-1/2 cups Coca-Cola
- 1/2 cup maraschino cherry syrup
- 24 maraschino cherries (with stems)
- 24 "salad" maraschino cherries (without stems)
Preheat oven to 350°. Combine flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt into large mixing bowl (I used my KitchenAid stand mixer). Make a well in the dry mixture and leave while preparing the other ingredients.
Pour Coca-Cola and cherry syrup into 2-qt. saucepan.
Bring to a boil over medium heat, and boil gently for 5 minutes. While you are waiting, mix together in a small bowl the eggs, buttermilk, and vanilla extract until combined; set aside.
After your Coca-Cola mixture has boiled, add the butter and cocoa powder to the saucepan. Turn heat to low, and stir until melted and smooth.
Remove from heat, and pour in a steady stream into the "well" in the dry ingredients.
(This is VERY difficult to do one-handed while trying to photograph with the other hand! Try not to splash everywhere and run down the saucepan the way I did. *grin*)
On a low speed (I set my mixer on 2), gently beat until well-combined.
Slowly pour in the buttermilk mixture.
(I got it this time. *wink*)
Mix well until the batter is a shade of dark caramel and is silky-smooth. (Nevermind the air bubbles you can see - I promise it was very smooth!)
Pour batter into prepared cupcake liners. I used a red version of these cups from Wilton. You'll want to use a taller liner than your standard ones because you need room for the glaze to pool later.
Press a "salad" maraschino cherry into the center of each cupcake.
Bake for 15-17 minutes, or until the top of cupcakes are springy to the touch, and a toothpick comes out clean.
Cool completely. While you're waiting, mix up your Coca-Cola glaze icing.
Coca-Cola Glaze Icing
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 4 Tbsp. Coca-Cola
In a glass measuring cup, mix cola and powdered sugar until very smooth. Drizzle over cooled cupcakes and allow to set/harden for at least half an hour.
Again, while waiting, whip up your cherry buttercream - a recipe I threw together on the fly!
Cherry Buttercream
(recipe by Nicole Cleghorn)
- 1 cup butter, softened
- 1 pound powdered sugar (3-3/4 cups)
- 1 tsp. almond extract
- 4 Tbsp. milk
- 2 Tbsp. maraschino cherry syrup
Cream butter until light & fluffy. Add sugar and whip until combined. Add almond extract and cherry syrup; beat well. Begin adding milk a tablespoon at a time until buttercream is desired spreading consistency. (I wanted mine soft enough to "dollop" and not so stiff for piping.)
Seriously, this stuff was so good I could've just eaten the bowlful with a spoon!
Top each cupcake with cherry buttercream and a maraschino cherry (with stem). Share and enjoy!
Philip and I dropped these cupcakes off to the midnight crews at the oncology ward of our local hospital. What a surprise they were for the ER attendants when we came in the middle of the night! :-)