These cupcakes were a total spur of the moment decision. I had a bottle of Chocolate Cherry Diet Dr. Pepper and I remembered having seen this recipe recently. I’m not sure if Chocolate Cherry Diet Dr. Pepper or just plain Dr. Pepper is supposed to be used in this recipe, but I used the chocolate cherry one. I did know right away, however, that I would be using a different frosting (I originally wanted a white chocolate cherry ganache frosting, but couldn’t work out how to make that and couldn’t find a recipe for it!).
In reviewing this cupcake, I have to say right away that these are the moistest and softest cupcake I have ever eaten. The cake itself could have just melted in my mouth. It is absolutely delicious and does indeed taste like Chocolate Cherry Diet Dr. Pepper.
I had to make some changes to the recipe to suit my ingredients. First, I wanted to cut the recipe into fourths, since the original recipe is for 30 cupcakes and I am only one person! I wanted to make about 7 or 8 to share with the family though, so using this calculator I cut the recipe into fourths. Isn’t it strange though that I ended up with 15 cupcakes! The reason is, I believe, that I didn’t fill the cupcake liners up as much as I should have. I found out through trial and error that the liners should be over 3/4 full of batter in order for the cupcake to rise into a nice dome above the top rim of the liner.
My substitutions of ingredients were as follows, since I didn’t have all the ingredients called for in the recipe:
* I used all purpose flour instead of cake flour.
* I used a melted chocolate substitute for the unsweetened chocolate. 3 tablespoons of unsweetened cocoa powder mixed with 1 tablespoon of oil equals 1 ounce of an unsweetened chocolate bar. I used this substitution, but I added it to the batter right after I let the Dr. Pepper and butter mix set for 10 minutes, then whisked in the chocolate substitution.
* I used plain yogurt instead of sour cream.
* Note that this batter is very runny; I used a measuring cup to pour it into the liners.
* As for the frosting, I decided to use a different recipe because I’ve recently had an experience using an egg white-based frosting and I didn’t have much luck, so I used a basic vanilla buttercream recipe (recipe here). Instead of using 1 tablespoon of milk in the buttercream, I used 1 tablespoon of maraschino cherry syrup and I also added one drop of pink food coloring to give the frosting a nicer pink coloring. There was only a very very slight taste of cherry in the frosting.
I decided to use the pink and purple sugar sprinkles like the photo in the original recipe because for some reason those two colors remind me of soda, so I think it adds a nice touch. The cherry on top is a must, too; wouldn’t be complete without it.
Final word – these are SO good, and like I said, extremely moist! Such a nice treat on a rainy Sunday afternoon, like today!
Updated later: On the second day, these cupcakes taste even better and are still more moist than any cupcake I’ve eaten. I do notice that on the second day the cherry taste of the cake is stronger than it was right after I made them. These little cakes are so flavorful that I dare say they don’t even need frosting; a scoop of ice cream and a cherry would suit these cupcakes just fine, I’m sure!
These cupcakes look delicious! Your description of them sounds fantastic.