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Summer is my favorite. And so are cupcakes. Add in a little beach party and you have a recipe for bliss. Easy parties are also my jam, so while on a recent vacation I whipped up a beach themed soirée complete with semi-homemade Dr Pepper® cupcakes that were total crowd-pleasers. While we can’t always be at the beach (WHY? WHY CAN’T I ALWAYS BE AT THE BEACH?!) I figured out a formula for beachy fun whether you are sitting ocean side or want to recreate that feeling while landlocked hundreds of miles away.
HINT: this helps.
To get this party started, we hit up Kroger where the limited edition Pick Your Pepper Dr Pepper bottles caught my eye. They’re playful and fun, which is the spirit I wanted to create at the beach party. I recall seeing a recipe years ago where you mix soda with boxed cupcake mix to create light and airy cupcakes, so that’s where I started. We added in Dr Pepper to keep it fluffy and buttermilk to make them moist, and tweaked the flavors to match that beloved brand. We topped them with not only a cherry garnish but also popping candy for a surprise fizz that everyone loved! The straws were the final festive touch that announces that this is going to be something special. Put it all together, and y’all, WE HAVE A WINNER.
Somehow the cupcakes turned out airy but also rich and delicious. Not sure how they manage to do it all, but that’s the magic of Dr Pepper I suppose. The actual flavors in Dr Pepper are a closely guarded secret, but some guess there’s vanilla in there and others swear there’s a hint of cherry. All I know is that it’s delicious, and as a nod to the rumored flavors I added a splash of both cherry juice and vanilla in this recipe.
Ingredients
Dr Pepper Cupcakes:
1 box Devil’s Food Cake Mix
3/4 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup Dr Pepper
2 TB maraschino cherry juice
Cherry Buttercream Frosting:
1/2 cup solid vegetable shortening
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup butter (1 stick)
4 cups confectioners sugar, sifted
2 TB maraschino cherry juice
maraschino cherries (garnish)
popping candy (garnish)
Directions
Dr Pepper Cupcakes:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line 2 muffin tins with cupcake liners.
- In a large bowl, add the boxed cake mix, buttermilk, and vegetable oil. Mix until combined.
- Add eggs in one at a time, mixing after each one is added, until all three are incorporated. Add vanilla and mix again.
- With your mixer running at low speed, slowly add in the Dr Pepper until combined; remember, it fizzes so go slow!
- Once mixed, pour 2/3 cup of mix into each muffin tin. Bake 18-22 minutes until a cake tester or toothpick inserted in the center of the cupcake comes out clean. Let cool completely before frosting.
Cherry Buttercream Frosting:
- In a large bowl, beat shortening and butter with electric mixer until light and fluffy, approximately 3-5 minutes. Don’t skimp on this, beating them well helps the flavors fully combine and keeps the frosting light and non-greasy! Beat in vanilla until combined.
- Gradually add the sifted confectioner’s sugar, one cup at a time, beating on medium speed until fully incorporated. Icing will be dry.
- Gradually add in the cherry juice and continue to beat at medium speed until light and fluffy, approximately 2-3 minutes. It should be smooth when tasted; if it’s still grainy, beat for a little longer until the desired consistency.
- Now let’s frost these guys like a boss. The best way to fill a piping bag: make sure piping tip is firmly inside, fold the top edge over itself on the outside, fill with frosting, and then close the bag and roll the top down until it’s primed and ready to pipe.
- To frost the cupcakes as shown: Put pressure on the bag and slowly make a circle of icing around the outside edge of the cupcake by moving your hand counterclockwise. Once you’ve made a circle, instead of closing the circle continue to squeeze out icing in circles towards the center (like a swirl) until totally filled.
- Just before serving, sprinkle with popping candy and place a cherry on top. Stick a straw in to create a fun final touch. You can see I placed it in a new cupcake liner so they ‘popped’ in the photos, which is a nice but certainly not necessary detail.
Just before serving, sprinkle with popping candy and place a cherry on top. Stick a straw in to create a fun final touch. You can see I placed it in a new cupcake liner so they ‘popped’ in the photos, which is a nice but certainly not necessary detail.
Now, for the rest of the party! Friends, I’d like to introduce the newest member of our family; we call him Shep. He likes to drift, is full of fun, but anchored when you need him. Shep is the life of the party.
Once inflated, we piled on some towels and the waterproof speaker. We filled the inflatable’s coolers with ice and Dr Pepper bottles so we could sip and float. You don’t need a beach to do this; a lake, river, or even a pool will suffice.
You can’t not have fun on an inflatable island filled with snacks and good music playing while you lazily float, chat, and laugh.
Back on the beach, our picnic basket held snacks and the cupcakes, and a beach towel spread on the dock provided the perfect place to enjoy them after floating. We nestled some sunscreen in there too, because SAFETY FIRST.
Who says kids have all the fun? The retro style and playful labels inspired me to gather up some games the adult crowd would enjoy too– including water squirters, Giant Solid Wood Tumbling Tower, and horseshoes.
You gotta love the look of an ice cold beverage on a hot summer day.
If you’re Snapchatting your way through summer like me, you can snap the code on the Dr Pepper bottle for an exclusive filter– I was surprised to see each of the filters matched the new limited edition labels! And if you’re NOT on Snapchat, I think you should give it a try. We love to play with the various filters and I save many of my snaps as a way to document our daily celebrations and excursions. Add me on Snapchat so we can follow each other– and snap me your Dr Pepper filter-filled photos!
To make purchasing them even sweeter, for a limited time buy any three Dr Pepper 12pk or 8pk 12oz (any variety) and receive a coupon for a free Dr Pepper 20oz. This great offer is available 6/21-8/15, so make sure to call or visit your local Kroger or Kroger banner store for offer specifics!
This gives you a whole lotta’ Pepper to enjoy and turn into cupcakes.
Have you tried soda infused cupcakes yet? Aren’t they fun? Imma gonna go float for a little while longer, go whip up a batch and let me know what you think!
