Dr Pepper Cupcakes

So right after I wrote this post about losing weight, I promptly went into the kitchen and made cupcakes.  Okay maybe not that quickly.  I never make desserts because we don't need a full pan of brownies for two people (we WANT, but we don't need) but mainly because I don't like baking.  But when my mom talked about buying a cake for the baby shower she was throwing for my sister-in-law and me, suddenly I had this urge to make cupcakes.  With a box mix, of course.

My mom wanted Nutella frosting and I wanted Dr Pepper frosting.  So we did both.  I made a batch of chocolate cupcakes and a batch of vanilla cupcakes and we did half in each frosting.  (because I wanted the Nutella frosting on chocolate and my mom wanted it on white cake) To make the cupcakes more decadent, I used buttermilk instead of water and an extra egg.  That's how I do homemade.

I looked every where for a Dr Pepper frosting recipe that REALLY tasted like DP.  Dang those people for keeping their 23 flavors such a secret.   When I read a recipe that had you make a DP reduction I thought, "Wouldn't it be great if I could get some syrup from a soda fountain before it was mixed with the fizzy water????"  And then!  Inspiration!  I remembered that Target sold those ridiculous soda machines (you know, the ones that allow you to make your own fresh soda) but more importantly, they sold syrups for the different flavors!  So I grabbed some Dr. Pete syrup and soon I was on my way to Dr Pepper bliss. 

I garnished my cupcakes with maraschino cherries

Dr Pepper Frosting

1 c Butter
1/2 bag powder sugar
1/4 c heavy whipping cream
2-3 cap fulls of DP syrup (found here)
3-4 splashes of maraschino cherry juice
red food coloring, if you want

Mix and taste and add more syrup or cherry juice if needed.

The Nutella recipe my mom used is here.

My mom garnished her cupcakes with a hazelnut cookie

 And there you have it.  Cupcakes.  Just another item to check off my "real blogger" list.