I don't drink coca-cola. But I do eat it. Weird. Yeah, I dunno.
It's way better eaten. Let's take a look, shall we?
There's some dark and white sugar cooked with dark dutch processed cocoa powder...and a can of coke! Your kitchen will smell all sorts of delicious.
There's some the ol' that pouring into this and this pouring into that. No biggie.
There's some mixing. No equipment needed. This is an old school kind of recipe.
Take a little PAM and spray the liners--this is a sticky cupcake batter. Then the usual ¾ of the way fill up in your cupcake liners.
UPDATED TIP ALERT: A few of you tried this recipe and sprayed them and the cupcake still stuck. Using foil liners should fix this problem. If you don't have 'em just know that the cupcake will stick a little. They're still awesome.
These cupcakes are chocolately, decadent, rich and kind of amaze. There's just a hint of coca-cola flavor. It's not super obvious. But despite this, it's MA-JOR.
This frosting isn't frosting--it's just whipped cream. I had plans on a coca-cola buttercream, but my inability to plan properly (read: leave the butter out), forced me to improvise.
And guess what? I kinda dig whipped cream as frosting. I might be doing this mistake on purpose next time.
Next, cherries on top!
P.S. Why are maraschino cherries so cute looking, but so gross tasting. WHY? Someone needs to fix that.
Coca-Cola Cupcakes
Recipe adapted from Baked: The New Frontier
Yields 15 cupcakes
Print this recipe!
Cupcakes:
2 cups Coca-cola (do not use diet!)
1 cup dark unsweetened cocoa powder
½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 ¼ cups granulated sugar
½ cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 ¼ teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
Whipped Cream Frosting:
1 ½ cups of heavy whipping cream
4 tablespoons of powdered sugar
½ teaspoon of vanilla extract
Maraschino cherries (for topping)
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Generously spray the inside of the cupcake liners with nonstick cooking spray.
In a small saucepan, heat the Coca-cola, cocoa powder, and butter over medium heat until the butter is melted. Add the sugars and whisk until dissolved. Remove from the heat and let cool. In a large bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, and salt together.
In a small bowl, whisk the eggs until just beaten, then whisk them into the cooled cocoa mixture until combined. Gently fold the flour mixture into the cocoa mixture. The batter will be slightly lumpy--do not overbeat, as it could cause the cake to be tough.
Pour the batter into the prepared cupcake liners/tin and bake for about 20 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through the baking time, until a small skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean. Transfer the cupcakes to a wire rack to cool completely.
In a medium bowl, beat whipping cream, powdered sugar and vanilla extract until medium peaks form. Transfer to pastry bag with a 5B star tip. In a circular motion, pipe on whipped cream and top with one cherry.
Debbie says
These cupcakes are fantastic! I use a marshmallow fluff buttercreme frosting on them and they are fabulous! I've made them for work several times and everyone loves them. In fact, I'm making a batch right now! Thanks for the great recipe.
Anjali says
Thanks......the cup cakes came out perfect...... can I put a cream cheese frosting on the cup cakes.....what's your take on this
Adrianna says
I think they'd be great with cream cheese frosting.
Marcella says
If I make these two days before they are actually eaten will they still be good?
Adrianna says
I'm afraid not. I think cupcakes should be eaten the day of or at the very latest, the day after. But if you want to make something and have it last, I'd recommend this cranberry banana oat bread. It lasts for days!
http://www.acozykitchen.com/cranberry-oat-banana-bread/
meredith dameron says
The cupcakes turned out yummy, my icing did not. any tips?
Adrianna says
Hmm...I'm not sure. What went wrong exactly?
Cassie says
I only have cherry coke at home. Does that still work out the same? Has anyone tried it?
Adrianna says
Should work just fine. I doubt the cherry flavor will come through, though. 🙂
Olivia and Nichola says
When we made this it made over 30 cupcakes!? Really nice though:)
katilda says
....do you think it will work just as well with dr. pepper??
Adrianna says
YES! You could use Dr. Pepper or Root Beer.
Christina says
These cupcakes are completely awesome. I made these a few months ago and my family loved them. I normally stay away from chocolate cupcakes/cakes mostly because I don't really like the flavor, but I gave this a try and I loved them. I love the texture and the hint of Coke flavor mixed with the chocolate. I am totally making some more to take to my dad. Thank you so much for sharing this recipe 🙂
Kelly says
Just made these with my daughter and her best friend. They are DELICIOUS and SO, SO MOIST AND RICH!! This was just our practice run. We are going to make them for a party and add a thin, chocolate-coated peppermint stick in the top of each one as the "straw". I cannot wait for all the compliments we will certainly receive! Thanks for sharing!
Katherine says
These are great. I like how you can taste a hint of coke (my husband says he can't though).
I made mine with a vanilla vodka frosting to try and simulate a mixed drink.
It is pretty good, but I am not happy with the frosting texture. I made the Wilton buttercream and added the vodka when it called for vanilla (I had to add quite a bit). Not thinking, I also added the milk the recipe called for to try an make it creamier and of course it curdled. Any suggestions for making a good and fluffy frosting with booze in it?
Adrianna says
Ooooo. Boozing frosting. Good idea. I haven't tried it but I should!
Rubin says
As a conservative, this makes me sad. So happy I have a sense of humor! 🙂
Ashley says
Thank you so much for sharing this recipe! I have a pot luck next week and without a doubt, I will be bringing this!
Ashley says
Hi! I just finished make these unique cupcakes. They're still in the oven baking. I have a question: is the batter supposed to be runny?
Adrianna says
Yes, the batter will be runny. Don't worry!
Christina says
I've always had a huge frosting phobia after a few unfortunate attempts with the hand mixer, but this frosting came out beautifully! Thanks for bringing back my frosting confidence 🙂 Also the cupcakes are fantastic, such an interesting flavor and the perfect consistency. Thanks so much for this!
KO says
I made these yesterday for a 50's-themed Anniversary party. I have to say that they were delicious, accurately represented with the description "hint of coca-cola flavor," the texture was very airy, and the cake was moist. I used a chocolate frosting since I needed to make them the night before, and it was a great combo. Thanks for the beautiful pictures and descriptive write-up. Bravo!