Ready to try something super weird? Attempt to incorporate carbonated liquids into cupcake batter.
These were not my most successful cupcakes, however pretty they turned out! I didn’t have any cola extract or cola in a can – so instead, I used root beer extract and some ginger ale. I prefer root beer to cola anyway, so this definitely worked out for me!
This batter is very strange – it looks relatively bubbly as your pour it into your cupcake mold, and it doesn’t really rise or puff like typical cupcakes do.
I added half the amount of cherries that were recommended to incorporate into the cupcakes, since I thought they might add too strange of a texture/layer, and I wanted the cupcakes to be more root beer-y than cherry. I think this ended up being a smart decision: it left enough cherries to top off the cupcake, and added a nice surprise to the inside of the cupcake, but still left it more of a “soda” cupcake than anything else.
The cherries sunk right in to the batter as they cooked, turning them into a complete surprise! I topped it off with root beer icing (following the instructions but replacing the cola extract with root beer extract), but I couldn’t get the icing to the texture I wanted. I added much more powdered sugar than was called for, and eventually I got it to pipe the way I wanted.
Final tips:
- if you don’t particularly like maraschino cherries, feel free to leave them out! It’s a fun cupcake with or without them.
- try a buttercream frosting instead of the cream cheese frosting; it may “go” better with the soda flavor.
- don’t be afraid if the batter doesn’t rise during baking!
These look beautiful! I’m intrigued by the flavor combinations. Might have to experiment and see what happens! Thanks for sharing!