Coca-cola cupcakes

For a housewarming party on Saturday I was inspired to create a recipe for Coca-cola cupcakes. The "Co-cola cake" tradition is one of my favorite discoveries upon moving down south, but the cake is such a strange concoction that I wasn't really sure how well it would translate into cupcake form. For starters, co-cola cake is traditionally glazed or iced rather than frosted, but that makes for not so pretty cupcakes. However, I didn't find any great cola frosting recipes on my many Googles, so I became concerned that the presence of cola in a buttercream based frosting might destabilize it, much like real lime juice did when I made lemon lime cupcakes a few months ago. I also was worried the cupcakes would be lacking if they didn't have that traditional glaze element, because the icing is the best part of a co-cola cake.

I decided to give it a shot and wing it with an amalgamation of a few recipes, and thankfully things turned out right on the first try and it was simply divine. My worries about unstable frosting did hold, however: these were starting to get a little drippy after 2 hours on the cupcake stand at the party. However, if you keep them refrigerated and serve them pretty quickly, then you won't even notice the frosting issues.

For Cupcakes:

2 2/3 c. cups plain flour (I used Swan cake flour)

1 ½ c. sugar

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

2 large eggs

1 c buttermilk

2 tsp vanilla extract

1 c. (2 sticks) unsalted butter

8 Tbsp cocoa powder

1 ½ c. Coca-Cola

1 c. small marshmallows

For Coca-Cola icing:

½ c. unsalted butter

3 T unsweetened cocoa

6 T Coke

16 oz. powdered sugar

1 t. vanilla

For Coca-cola frosting:

1 c. unsalted butter

5 to 6 cups powdered sugar

¼ c. milk

2 t. vanilla

1 to 3 T Coke

1 to 2 T cocoa

Preheat oven to 350F. In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking soda and salt. In a separate jug, mix together the egg, buttermilk and vanilla.Gently heat the butter, cocoa and Coca-Cola in a heavy saucepan until melted, then add marshmallows, turn off heat, and stir until melted. Add mixture to the bowl of dry ingredients and mix with a wooden spoon. Add the buttermilk mixture to the batter and stir well until everything is incorporated.

Portion out the batter into paper-lined muffin tins. Fill to about two-thirds to three-quarters full. The recipe should make about 24-30 standard sized cupcakes. Bake at 350F for about 20 minutes or until a skewer inserted comes out clean. Let cool completely (or overnight) before icing or frosting.

To make icing, melt 1 stick unsalted butter in saucepan with 3 tablespoons cocoa and 6 tablespoons Coke, stirring until all butter has melted. In bowl, add butter mixture to 16 oz. powdered sugar and whisk until lumps disappear. Stir in vanilla. Poke holes in cupcakes with fork and spread icing on each cupcake just to glaze the top. Chill remaining icing for at least 1 hour.

To make frosting, combine 2 sticks unsalted butter and 4 c. powdered sugar in mixer at high speed. Add vanilla and milk and mix until smooth. Add 1 c. sugar and cooled remainder of coca-cola icing and mix on high until well-blended. Add 1 c. sugar, 1 T coke, and 1 T cocoa, and mix until well-blended. (You will have to play with the amounts of coke, cocoa and sugar to make sure frosting reaches desired consistency.) Chill in refrigerator at least one hour, then pipe or spread onto cupcakes over coca-cola glaze. Decorate as desired. Cupcakes will retain their frosted shape best if refrigerated for at least an hour after frosting.

Makes 24-30 iced and frosted cupcakes.

The butterfly decorations in the photo were purchased online from Baker's Nook, and are fully edible (made of sugar). The daisies are from Wilton, and were purchased at Michael's.