Dr Pepper Cupcakes

The Quest for the Perfect Cupcake continues...

As I continue my journey on the Quest for the Perfect Cupcake, I am taking requests from friends and family for what type of cupcake I should try next. So far, I have made Dark Chocolate Cupcakes with Salted Caramel Frosting, Red Velvet Cupcakes with Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting, and (my favorite so far) Turtle Cupcakes.
A friend at work has lunch with her fiancée on Mondays (they are seriously so sweet). Mandy and Shane have their romantic lunches and usually finish them off with whatever baked treat I have brought in for my workmates. So far Shane has gotten to try all of the cupcakes on The Quest, and LOVED them. I told him he could pick the next recipe, and he certainly did not disappoint. After getting himself setup on Pinterest and searching out cupcake recipes, he pinned this one and sent it to me.

The original recipe from BSintheKitchen calls for a chocolate cake mix as a base, and of course, I was out. Fear not friends, I just adapted the same chocolate cake base from my dark chocolate cupcakes and instead of the coffee used the same amount of Dr Pepper soda. The original recipe also called for a LOT of strange and random ingredients I didn’t have on hand, so I went with my own vanilla cream cheese recipe and added the Dr Pepper reduction from the original recipe.

All in all, a delicious, light cupcake with amazing frosting. The Dr Pepper reduction was time consuming, but totally worth it. It made the frosting taste SO GOOD!

Dr Pepper Cupcakes with Dr Pepper Infused Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting and Topped with a Dr Pepper Reduction

Recipe adapted from BSIntheKitchen
This recipe makes about 4 dozen regular cupcakes

Cupcake Ingredients
1 1/2 cup butter, at room temperature
3 cups sugar
2 eggs
2 egg whites
1 1/2 cups Cocoa Powder
4 cups all purpose flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp Vanilla extract
2 2/3 cups Dr Pepper
Dr Pepper Reduction Ingredients
2 cups Dr Pepper
1 cup sugar
Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting
2 sticks (1 cup) butter, room temperature
2 8oz package of cream cheese, room temperature
4 tsp vanilla extract
4 cups icing sugar
Instructions

Preheat oven to 350. Cream butter and sugar until very light and fluffy, about five minutes. Add in eggs and egg whites and beat again until light, about three minutes.

Alternate the dry ingredients and the Dr Pepper and vanilla, starting and finishing with dry ingredients. My batter looked and tasted almost foamy, it was strange, but don't worry. Mix for another 15 seconds or so until it starts to look smooth.

Scoop into your prepared cupcake pans and bake until a skewer inserted in the cupcake comes out clean, only for about 12 minutes. It must be the chemistry of the soda or something, but they really didn’t take as long as regular cupcakes to bake!
While the cupcakes are baking, mix 2 cups of Dr Pepper with 1 cup of sugar. Dissolve the sugar into the Dr Pepper and bring to a boil on the stovetop. Reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes, stirring every few minutes. The goal is to reduce the mixture to a syrup, similar in texture to pancake syrup. It took me about 35 minutes to get the mixture thick, but I think I could have left it longer.

While the reduction is reducing, beat together butter and cream cheese until light and fluffy. Add vanilla extract and slowly incorporate the icing sugar until well combined. At this point, wait until the Dr Pepper reduction is ready, and cooled down a bit. Add two to three tablespoons of the reduction to the icing mixture then beat about five minutes, until light and creamy.

Using a Wilton 1M tip, pipe a swirl onto the top of the cupcakes. Using a spoon, drizzle more of the reduction over the tops of the cupcakes. If you are serving these right away, the reduction will glaze over the top in beautiful amber colored beads of goodness.

I drizzled the cupcakes the night before they were served at our work potluck and the after sitting in the fridge overnight, the Dr Pepper reduction was incorporated into the icing swirls. Still totally delicious, but the color contrast was lacking on the second day.

I hope you enjoyed this recipe, and will give it a try! I am sure the instructions seem time consuming, but it's really not that bad. I will be linking this recipe up on A Bowl Full of Lemons, Delightful Order and Serenity Now. Come check them out!