Cherry Coke Cupcakes

The frosting here reminds me of a little beret.

After baking three types of cupcakes for A's third birthday party trials, we finally have a winner. BAJ EXCLAIMED when he tried the batter that these were by far the best yet (I believe he mouthed Effing Awesome). These Cherry Coke cupcakes from Annie's Eats were really good, and they look pretty too!

They really don't have a whole lot of Coke flavor, but they are delicious anyway. I wasn't, however, a big fan of the frosting here. It was pretty thin and a little runny, so for the birthday party, I'm going to make a buttercream frosting to go with it (which will be dyed Spiderman-esque!). This time, we used three cherries in each cupcake, and pressed them all the way down. Three is probably a good number, but next time, I won't press them all the way in.

So, go make these because they're awesome!!!


Cherry Coke Cupcakes
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Yield: 10-12 cupcakes
Ingredients:
For the cupcakes:
1½ cups all-purpose flour
3 tbsp. cocoa powder
½ tsp. baking soda
¼ tsp. salt
¾ cup sugar
8 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 large egg
½ cup buttermilk
¾ cup Coca-Cola
¼ tsp. maraschino cherry juice
2 tsp. vanilla extract
Maraschino cherries, stemless
For the glaze (optional):
1 cup confectioners’ sugar
2 tbsp. Coca-Cola
For topping:
2/3 cup heavy cream
3-4 tbsp. powdered sugar
Maraschino cherries
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350° F. Line a muffin pan with foil or paper liners. In a medium bowl combine the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt. Stir together and set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the sugar and butter. Mix on medium-high speed until light and fluffy. Mix in the egg until incorporated. In a bowl or large measuring cup, combine the buttermilk, Coke, maraschino cherry juice, and vanilla extract; stir to combine. (This mixture may look disgusting and/or curdled – it’s okay!)
Mix the dry ingredients into the butter-sugar mixture on low speed, alternately with the liquid ingredients, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients and mixing just until incorporated. Divide the batter evenly between the cupcake liners. Drop 4 or 5 stemless maraschino cherries into each cupcake well and push them down into the batter. Bake for about 18 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool in the pan 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
To make the optional glaze, combine the confectioners’ sugar and Coke in a small bowl and whisk until smooth. Spoon or drizzle a small amount of the top of each cupcake. Allow to set.
To make the whipped cream topping, add the heavy cream to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Begin whipping on medium speed, slowly adding the confectioners’ sugar and gradually increasing the speed to high as the cream holds soft peaks. Whip until the cream holds stiff peaks, being careful not to overbeat. Spoon or pipe the whipped cream on top of the cupcakes and top each with a maraschino cherry.