The great thing about a classic buttercream is that as long as you have an extract or concentrate in the flavour you want, you can make any icing you could possibly dream up. Lucky for me, One of the benefits of working in a restaurant is the little food items I get to take home; muffins, leftover cheesecake, and even root-beer concentrate.
Naturally, I had to make a root-beer buttercream, and to keep with the soda theme, I decided to make cherry coke cupcakes, adapted from Nigella Lawson’s recipe for cherry coke cake from “How to be a Domestic Goddess.” The cupcakes were rich- chocolatey cocoa in the batter perfectly complimenting the sticky sweetness of the cherry
flavour. When done the cupcakes came out moist and soft. The icing when finished had a distinct root-beer flavour, as well as being quite sweet.
Rating on the recipe choice was mixed, some guests thought the cakes were perfect the way it was, while others suggested paring the icing with a different cake (I’m thinking of trying vanilla), while other guests remarked that the icing was too sweet.Depending on how much of a sweets lover (or hater) you are, will probably determine whether or not this cake is for you, the soda on soda combination packs sugary sweetness into both the cake and the icing.
Once you get over the initial challenge of finding root-beer concentrate, either in a specialty shop or online, these
cupcakes are simple to make. With a soda-y taste that is perfect for all kinds of summer events, these playful cupcakes will bring a fabulous spin to your party.