Cherry! Coke! Cherry Coke! And sugar free Cherry Coke? Shut the front door, this cannot be. Thanks to Kayte, I just discovered this guilt free drink (nope, harmful, artificial sweetners don’t scare me). Not bad. And it reminded me of a recipe I recently saw around the blogs – Cherry Coke cupcakes. I mean, mind as well be chocolate dipped Redvines coated in sugar plum clouds and cotton candy rainbows… I had to try it.
To be honest, the recipe from Annie’s Eats just looks like some science experiment. It doesn’t particularly make sense to me, but then again, not many things in my life do. I love it. The ingredients are:
1½ cups all-purpose flour
3 tbsp. cocoa powder
½ tsp. baking soda
¼ tsp. salt
¾ cup sugar
8 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 large egg
½ cup buttermilk
¾ cup Coca-Cola
¼ tsp. maraschino cherry juice
2 tsp. vanilla extract
Maraschino cherries, stemless
There was also a Cherry Coke “glaze” deal that is basically powdered sugar and coke. Definitely interesting, but not really something I can’t live without. Then for the topping, I just made what the recipe called for, whipped cream.
As you can see, the cupcakes came out adorably! Cherry Coke taste, not so much, which I was not surprised about. I wonder why the recipe didn’t call for Cherry Coke itself, instead of regular Coke. Annie? Anyhow, the whipped cream was super yummy. I know it’s a basic thing to make, but it was my first time and I burn toast. So go ahead Lin, brush your shoulders off 
They tasted pretty good, although not Cherry Coke-y at all. Interestingly, they taste like gingerbread and have this quaint holiday feeling to them.
Who knows, you all tell me. I like them, but I feel like it’s a misnomer to refer to them as Cherry Coke cupcakes. What about Cupcake Sundae? Gingerbready-But-Not Cupcakes? I hear crickets… Any ideas people?
Yeah baby!
- The cupcake itself is moist and has that interesting “I can’t put my finger on it” quality.
- Whipped Cream came out perfectly. I started with one tablespoon of confectioner’s sugar and slowly kept adding more while whisking it until I came to a taste and consistency that I liked.
- Piping frostings instead of spooning them is so much easier. I did wish I were one of those freaks that can do it with a spoon and make it look effortlessly rustic.
- These things, good or not, are freaking cute!
Mmmm, not so much…
- Not enough Coke flavor. Maybe that’s a good thing. I mean, who wants to eat Coke in dough form?
- Maybe using fresh cherries would taste better, and instead of using the Maraschino juice, grenadine might produce a more pronounced punch. Or!… What if I cut up a bunch of fresh cherries into small pieces and added them to the batter? That could be insane!
- I was debating during mixing the ingredients whether I should add more cocoa powder. Having a chocolatey taste would have made it more tasty. (How come “tasty” doesn’t have an “e” in it? Weird.) Next time I’ll try to follow my instincts more.
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