Friday, November 11, 2011

Dr. Pepper Cupcakes

Monday was roommate Blair's birthday, but he hasn't been home since Sunday (let's not talk about how the kid literally sleeps at his office most nights....). So he finally came home last night and that means birthday treats! He has a major sweet tooth, but wouldn't even point me in the direction of a flavor that he likes, so this is what he got.

I found these Dr. Pepper cupcakes from BS in the Kitchen via Pinterest. I was reluctant to make them because the "recipe" is hardly a recipe. Ingredients, but no amounts. And weird ingredients at that. You can check hers for her original comments, but below is what I ended up doing. I'm estimating on amounts since I was just throwing stuff in there.

The results is super sweet (almost too much - could use less sugar), but delicious. The cake is extremely light and fluffy, which I love. The icing has a little bit of the bite on the end. And it really does taste and smell like Dr. Pepper. If you're a DP fan, you'll love these.
What you need for the cake:
1 box chocolate cake mix (I used Betty Crocker milk chocolate)
3 eggs
1 cup Dr. Pepper
1/2 cup melted, unsalted butter

Now here are the fancy directions: Beat 'em all together. Yup, that's it. Beat until well combined. Scoop into cupcake liners and bake at 350 for 12 minutes. It makes 24 cupcakes.

What you need for the icing:
1-1.5 lbs powdered sugar
2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
4 T. Dr. Pepper
2 tsp vanilla
4 tsp maraschino cherry juice
1 tsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp finely ground pepper (I used white pepper)
1/2 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 cup Dr. Pepper reduction (boil 1 cup Dr. Pepper with 1/2 cup sugar and then reduce heat and simmer 30 min)

Beat together the sugar and butter until smooth. Then add in the DP, vanilla, and cherry juice because those amounts are pretty accurate. Then you throw in the lemon juice, pepper, ginger and nutmeg and adjust until it tastes right to you. The original recipe calls for licorice and apple flavoring, too, neither of which I had on hand. Happy guessing to you.
Ice and stick the cherries on top. Cuz they're cute.

6 comments:

  1. oh my gosh! we need to try these! those look amazing! you go girl!

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  2. Ya, I thought of you guys when we made them. They're so good! Please come visit. We'll make them together.

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  3. Replies
    1. In recipes, an uppercase T = tablespoon and a lowercase t = teaspoon
      I'm trying this recipe for a special party this weekend!

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  4. I was really excited about this recipe, but it just didn't work out for me. The cake is good, although so light and fluffy that it was falling apart while eating it. And the frosting was so thin with all the liquids that I couldn't use it-- even after chilling for hours. I tried thickening it with powdered sugar (which didn't work), and then it was too sweet. Really disappointing. I hate to say it, but I think I'm going to have to stick with user-rated recipes from now on. Hope this one works out for other people, though. It's on the right track.

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  5. I am also very, very disappointed with the recipe. The soda completely thinned out the frosting and the recipe never mentioned when to put in the "soda reduction." The cupcakes came out fine but the frosting was a complete failure.

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