Cherry Coke Cupcakes

We threw a bachelorette party for my dear friend Rebecca (who's wedding I am in and making these cookies for) this past weekend. We started at our apartment, opening gifts, eating food and hanging out. We were headed to the Awesome 80's Prom downtown so our theme for the night, other than the bride to be, was 80s.

Now, 80s attire was easy. Spice and I got out the lace, the converse and the bangles, and had no problem crimping our hair. Slightly more difficult was the menu. What kind of food, praytell, is considered 80s?? We settled for ordering Dominos, Spice made a layer dip and I made these Cherry Coke Cupcakes. Of course, no one except us really cared that we stuck to the theme, but we sure did!



Neither of us could get over how good the cupcakes were. They were very soft and moist and the cherry flavor was perfect with the chocolate. The whipped cream and cherry on top were simply perfect as well. Although I'm not a soda person, I could barely tell there was any coke in these. I doubled the recipe and made mostly extra large cupcakes with just a few regular sized ones.

We all had an awesome time at the 80's prom and wouldn't you believe it, Screech from Saved By The Bell happened to be there. He must've wanted to celebrate Rebecca being single for a little while longer!



Cherry Coke Cupcakes from Annie's Eats

3 cups all-purpose flour
6 tbsp. cocoa powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 cup sugar
16 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 large eggs
1 cup buttermilk
1 1/2 cup Coca-Cola
1/2 tsp. maraschino cherry juice
4 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

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 about 24 for extra large cupcakes), 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.