I will be forever in debt to the person who figured out you can bake with soda. My early first attempts (making a rainbow caking using diet sprite with friends) were horrible. They tasted pretty bad, they looked even worse. Using soda to make a cake mix is tricky business. Its not as simple as following package directions. You need to know what works and what doesn’t. Most of the time they don’t set right and they almost always stick to the wrapper, even if you use the more expensive parchment wraps. This doesn’t mean they aren’t delicious when prepared the right way, it just means they take a little more effort. The other day I made two types of soda cupcakes and today we’re going to take a look at what needs to be done.
On the left, we have a cupcake made with Mountain Dew. On the right, Dr Pepper. The rules for making cupcakes with soda are simple. One box of cake mix and 12 oz (one can) of ANY soda to replace the water, oil, and egg. Its a great idea. For the Mountain Dew I used a box of lemon cake mix and for Dr Pepper I used triple chocolate fudge. The Mountain Dew cupcakes came out much better, in that they actually taste like Mountain Dew. The Dr Pepper cupcakes taste good, but they just taste like chocolate cupcakes.
To make the Mountain Dew cupcakes, as previously mentioned, I used a box of lemon cake mix and 12 oz of Mountain Dew. I used parchment baking cups and filled them about half full. When you use soda to make a cupcake they rise A LOT more than normal, so I don’t recommend filling them to the 2/3 mark or they’ll spill over quite a bit. Just pop them in the oven at whatever temperature the box tells you and check them at the time they should be done according to the box. They probably won’t be done. I had to add about 10 minutes to the original time. Once they come out of the oven put them on a cooling rack and let them completely cool down before frosting them.
To make the frosting I used the basic frosting recipe (butter and powdered sugar) but instead of using milk as my liquid, I used Mountain Dew and a splash of lemon juice. Just whip the butter and powdered sugar together, than add liquid until you’ve reached the consistency you like. You can add a little food coloring if you like. I used 3 drops of green and 2 drops of yellow. Once I got the frosting done, I frosted the cupcakes and added some green sugar sprinkles for added “cuteness”. The thing to watch out for when using soda to make frosting is that it separates. You can see in the picture that its starting. These are best made in smaller batches (you can freeze cake batter) and eaten same day.
For the Dr Pepper cupcakes I used the same method for the Mountain Dew cupcakes, except I used triple chocolate fudge cake mix. These didn’t rise quite as much as the Mountain Dew cupcakes, but they still rise more than normal. I used the same parchment wrappers and added an extra 5 minutes to the cook time on the box. I also noticed that these cooled down faster than the Mountain Dew cupcakes. I can’t really think of a reason why, it was just a pleasant surprise.
When I frosted these I again whipped the butter and sugar but this time used Dr Pepper as my only liquid. This resulted in a very weird frosting. I could not get the right texture at all. Its not as nice as the other frosting, but it tasted just as good. I originally used a few drops of red food coloring for this frosting, but then I realized I was making red and green cupcakes, and this isn’t about my Christmas baking, so I added a few drops of blue and got purple instead. Once they were frosted I shaved some frozen chocolate on a cheese grater and sprinkled them extremely liberally. I was hoping to get curls but the chocolate had been in the freezer too long and just kind of flaked, which still works.
There have been some combinations I’ve been dying to try, like using orange or grape soda. I don’t make soda cupcakes very often because they are very very sweet, but when I do make them, lemon lime sodas are always the big hit. So don’t be scared, and give this a try. You might be surprised and find something you really like.
The 50's Wife 
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