IronCupcake_009: "Drink Cheerwine" Cupcakes

Iron Cupcake:Earth_009
Theme: Soda Pop
My entry: "Drink Cheerwine" Cupcakes
Voting begins: Tuesday, April 28 @ http://www.ironcupcakemilwaukee.com/ and will be open through Monday, May 4 at 12 noon Central.

As soon as I saw that this month's theme for Iron Cupcake:Earth was soda, I knew immediately what drink I was going to use! Since I was born, we've been going to my Grandma's house in North Carolina for every major holiday. While we're there, it's always a treat to get a bottle of Cheerwine. Until recently, Cheerwine was hard to find oustide of NC. Thankfully, now you can get it at most grocery stores in the South. For my Iron Cupcake entry, I went in the direction of red velvet. I wanted to emphasize the color of the soda, and I also needed a recipe that called for water. (Substituting water in recipes that call for milk can result in gummy cupcakes.) I adapted a recipe called "Wacky Cake" from the 1983 book, The Southern Heritage Cakes Cookbook. Instead of using cold water, I used cold Cheerwine. I also added a tablespoon of red gel food coloring. The flavor of Cheerwine wasn't really detectable in the cake, so I knew I had to bring it in the frosting! I made a 7-minute frosting, again subbing Cheerwine for the water. I also added a tiny bit of cherry and almond flavorings. Finally, some Cheerwine flavor! These cupcakes are 100% delicious. The cake part is moist and tender, and the frosting is so light and airy! I am very pleased with these "Drink Cheerwine" Cupcakes as my Iron Cupcake entry for this month!

Ingredients... I promise that's not a jar of blood! I'm thinking the original cake was called "Wacky Cake" because of the strange order the ingredients are mixed.
Finally, it looks like batter! Ready for the oven...
Making the frosting...
I'm pretty proud of these cuppies! ;)

Cheerwine Cupcakes
Makes 12-14 cupcakes

1 cup sugar
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
Pinch of salt
1 ½ teaspoons vanilla
1 tablespoon white vinegar
1 tablespoon red gel food coloring
1 ½ sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup cold Cheerwine soft drink

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a muffin pan with paper liners.
Combine first 5 ingredients in a large bowl. Add vanilla, vinegar, food coloring, and butter; beat well. Slowly stir in water; beat well.
Divide batter evenly among muffin cups. Bake for 15-17 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in pans for 10 minutes. Finish cooling on wire racks.

Cheerwine Frosting
1 ½ cups sugar
2 egg whites
¾ cup Cheerwine soft drink
¼ teaspoon cherry flavoring (or 1 drop cherry candy flavoring)
¼ teaspoon almond flavoring

Combine sugar and egg whites in top of a double boiler; add water, and beat on low speed of electric mixer for 30 seconds or just until blended.
Place over boiling water; beat constantly on high speed of electric mixer about 7 minutes or until stiff peaks form. Remove from heat. Add flavorings, and beat 2 additional minutes or until frosting is thick enough to spread.


Overall rating on a scale of 1-5
Moistness: 5
Tenderness: 5
Frosting: 5

Prizes provided by Etsy artists:
A creation by FRUITFLYPIE
A pair of cupcake earrings from LOTS OF SPRINKLES
Also, CAKESPY, who is now going to be doing a piece for our winner each month until further notice!
SWEET CUPPIN CAKES CUPCAKERY will be tossing in sweet surprise.
Corporate prize providers:
HEAD CHEFS by FIESTA PRODUCTS
HELLO CUPCAKE by Karen Tack and Alan Richardson
JESSIE STEELE APRONS
CUPCAKE COURIER
TASTE OF HOME books
UPWITHCUPCAKES.COM
Iron Cupcake:Earth is sponsored in part by 1-800-Flowers