Cherry Coca-Cola Cupcakes

Last time I made cupcakes for our school's bake sale for Free the Children, I made Oreo cupcakes, and they were awesome.

This time, I decided to make Cherry Coca Cola Cupcakes. They feel totally retro - like something you might eat if you lived in Pleasantville. Can't you just see the cupcake all in black and white, except with the bright red cherry?

I won't lie to you guys, they're pretty tasty. And I'm a dedicated Coca-Cola hater... so you know they've got to be good.

Just like the last batch of cupcakes, these ones came courtesy of Annie's Eats. I made two batches and a few adjustments to the original recipe - mostly adjusting amount of cherries and the glaze proportions(Yes, there's a glaze under that pillow of whipped cream) and the method.

I think it would be fun to try a batch with Coke and a batch with Pepsi and see if there's a difference.

Cherry Coca-Cola Cupcakes

(from Annie's Eats)

Ingredients

1½ cups all purpose flour
3 tbsp cocoa powder, sifted
½ tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt

3/4 cup Coca-Cola

½ cup buttermilk
¼ tsp maraschino cherry juice
2 tsp vanilla

3/4 cup granulated sugar
½ cup unsalted butter
1 large egg

16 maraschino cherries (in juice/syrup, not candied), halved

Glaze

1 cup icing sugar
¼ cup Coca Cola

To serve: whipped cream & maraschino cherry halves.

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375º. Line a 12 cup muffin pan with liners.

2. In a medium bowl, mix together flour through salt. Set aside. In a large measuring cup, mix together buttermilk, Coca-Cola, cherry juice and vanilla.

3. Cream together butter and sugar (either using your stand mixer or in a large bowl using a hand held mixer) until light and fluffy. Add in dry and wet ingredients, alternating between the two, beginning and ending with the dry (so, add ¼ of the dry ingredients followed by 1/3 of the wet).

4. Fill each muffin cup about ½ full. You will have batter left in the bowl. Place three maraschino cherry halves in the batter each muffin cup, pushing down slightly. Top with additional batter, until it reaches the 2/3 - 3/4 mark.

5. Bake in oven for 22 minutes. Cupcakes are done when tops spring back when touched lightly. Let cool in pan for 5 minutes before transferring to rack to finish cooling.

6. While cupcakes are cooling, mix together the glaze ingredients. Pour 1 tbsp over each muffin, spreading to coat with the back of a spoon.

7. Just before serving, top with whipped cream and a cherry half.