I know, I know, Easter is over. But making root beer in cupcake form is a year-round affair! Or at least, it is now. Plus it’s finally kind of warming up, which means I start to crave soda-like beverages even more intensely, and what better way to celebrate spring than with cupcakes? As if you needed more reasons to try this, the cake batter is a mixture of chocolate and root beer. Reminds me of Cracker Barrel’s infamous Coca-Cola Cake recipe, which is another combination of my favorite things. Pro tip: the key to creating extra root beer-y cake is root beer extract. If you can’t find any, you can substitute it with sassafras extract. You’ll use this extract in the butter cream frosting, too, and add cherries on top for optimum root beer float charm!
For the root beer cupcakes, you’ll need:
2 2/3 cups flour
2 cups sugar
1/4 cup cocoa
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon root beer extract
2/3 cup oil
2 teaspoons vinegar
2 cups water
Yields 24 cupcakes
In a bowl whisk together the dry ingredients (the first 5 listed above). In another bowl stir together the wet ingredients (the last 4 listed above). Pour the wet ingredients in with the dry and stir until just combined and nearly no lumps remain. This batter will be quite liquid-y. Pour the batter into prepared cupcake pans so that each cup is 2/3 full. Bake at 350°F for 18-20 minutes, or until a toothpick insert in a cupcake comes out clean.
For the root beer butter cream frosting, grab this:
1 cup (two sticks) softened butter
3 teaspoons root beer extract
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon cream (you can use half and half)
Yields 2 1/2 cups
Whip together the softened butter and extract until well combined and almost fluffy. Begin incorporating the powdered sugar, 1/2 cup at a time, mixing in between. If you find the frosting gets too thick add a little cream. Pipe onto cooled cupcakes.
Thanks to A Beautiful Mess for this amazing recipe!
Photos via A Beautiful Mess
