chocolate root beer cupcakes in a jar.

Root beer haters beware and root beer lovers sit up straight, because these cupcakes' root beer flavour hits ya right in da face! Usually chocolate is such a strong character that it can easily overpower any competition, but the 2 cups of root beer used makes sure that that doesn't happen. Plus, I let the baked cupcakes sit overnight for an even more developed root beer punch, just like Baked suggested. Unfortunately, the frosting doesn't have as much root beer taste as the cupcakes themselves, but its just as well because I don't want to eat root beer.

As if chocolate and root beer put together weren't interesting enough, I decided to assemble the cupcakes in a jar with an additional layer of graham crackers at the bottom, inspiration from How Sweet it Is's S'mores Cake in a Jar! I decided to enhance the graham cracker layer's flavour by baking it in the oven for about 10 minutes or so until lightly golden brown and toasty. I let that cool before screwing on the lid for it to refrigerate overnight. When I opened the jar the next day, this wonderful aroma of caramel corn, albeit with less sugary heaviness, wafted out and into my nostrils. Best perfume ever! 

This recipe was supposed to be a bundt cake, but I quartered it and got about 6 cupcakes so the original yield should be 24. Anyway, despite being a bundt, it isn't dense and filling like regular ones. It has a much lighter texture, making it more akin to a cupcake than a pound cake. The good folks at Baked meant it to be that way so that this recipe can be baked anytime of the year.

Another plus point to this recipe is that it is super simple to put together! It uses the muffin method which means no creaming and no mixer. Just a bit of light stirring of dry into wet ingredients. I particularly like recipes which call for oil or melted butter because I can cut a bit of fat out by replacing some with applesauce. In this case, I substituted half of the melted butter and the cupcakes remained moist even after chilling in the fridge.

The frosting barely requires any work too. In fact, the only fussy part is melting the chocolate, but after that little hurdle, all you have to do is combine everything in the food processor and blitz!

My favourite part is assembling the cupcakes in the jar! I used 1 1/2 cupcakes to fill a jar. Of course, I gotta slice the cupcakes into half first...

put a half into the jar...

and then pipe on the frosting! I should have used a smaller star tip. The large tip pumped in almost too much frosting for my liking. Almost. Because both the cupcakes and frosting are a deep intense brown, under poor lighting they almost blend into each other which had me dumbly digging my fork into a mound of frosting without cake at times. Luckily, the frosting isn't very sweet. When it was still cold right out of the fridge, it tasted like a truffle!

I layered some crunchy chocolate balls on my frosting...

Repeat until full, and drool.

And we're done! I have to say, that graham layer really goes well with the cupcakes and frosting. Sort of like the salty contrasting the sweet. Yum.

Chocolate Root Beer Cupcakes
makes 24
recipe adapted from Baked: New Frontiers in Baking

Cake
2 cups root beer (no diet here!)
1 cup dark unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs

Frosting

2 ounces dark chocolate melted and cooled slightly
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 teaspoons salt
1/4 cup root beer
2/3 cup dark unsweetened cocoa powder
2 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar

For the cake:
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Prepare your muffin pans.

In a small saucepan, heat the root beer, cocoa powder, and butter over medium heat until the butter is melted. Add the sugars and whisk until dissolved. Remove from the heat and let cool.

In a large bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, and salt together.

In a small bowl, whisk the eggs until just beaten, then whisk them into the cooled cocoa mixture until combined. Gently fold the flour mixture into the cocoa mixture. The batter will be slightly lumpy–do not overbeat, as it could cause the cake to be tough.

Divide the batter into the prepared pans and bake for 15 to 20 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through the baking time, until a small sharp knife inserted into the cake comes out clean.

For the frosting:

Melt the chocolate over low heat on the stove. Set aside to cool.

Combine the rest of the ingredients in the food processor, add in the cooled melted chocolate, and blitz away!


Linked to Cast Part Wednesday, These Chicks Cooked, Full Plate Thursday, Sweet Treats Thursday, Sweet Tooth Friday, Sweets for a Saturday and Sweet Indulgences Sunday.