As far as I know, root beer float cupcakes came into being a few years ago. To be honest, I always thought this was a completely bizarre cupcake flavor and never had any desire at all to try them.
However.
I have a 5 year old who is obsessed with all things root beer.
And he has these little. pug. stuffed animals.
They are family members. They go everywhere with us. They navigate in the car. I like to hide them in odd places and play #hidethepugshideyowife
Anyways. It turns out the pugs' birthday was a few weekends ago. Want to guess what flavor of cupcakes they requested?
And so I strapped my old lady panties on and sucked it up and tried my hand at root beer float cupcakes.
I adapted the frosting from a fluffy vanilla frosting recipe, and it. was. AWESOME.
Seriously amazing. It tasted just like root beer. And it was light like whipped cream and full of flavor.
I tried flavoring some cupcakes with root beer extract, but honestly you couldn't really taste it, and I think I would have been happier with French Vanilla cupcakes so the recipe below reflects that.
The conclusion is that these cupcakes are fantastic, and not just for pugs. It doesn't even have to be your birthday.
The frosting isn't the simplest recipe (yes, it does require you to put a pan on the stove), but it is one of my favorite frostings, because it is so light, and it is worth EVERY SECOND.
Please make these for your pugs.
Happy Tuesday!
Root Beer Float Cupcakes
-24 French Vanilla cupcakes, baked and cooled (I just use a box mix, substitute milk for the water, and add some sour cream and an extra tsp vanilla.)
Light & Airy Root Beer Frosting
Recipe adapted from Light & Airy Vanilla Cupcake Frosting
-6 Tbsp flour
-1 cup milk
-1 cup butter
-1 cup granulated sugar (yes, granulated)
-1 tsp vanilla extract
-2 tsp McCormick Root Beer Extract
In a small pan over medium heat, whisk together the flour and milk. Whisk continuously until it begins to thicken. Keep cooking, and stirring with a spatula, until you start to see the bottom of the pan. Keep cooking until it has the consistency of pudding.
Put mixture in the fridge and let it cool completely. You don't want it warm at all when you add it to the frosting. You can even put it in the freezer if you're impatient.
Using the whisk attachment of your mixer, beat the butter and sugar together until fluffy. Continue to beat while adding thickened milk mixture, vanilla, and root beer extract. Beat to combine and then scrape down the sides. Continue to beat for 7 or 8 minutes or until frosting comes together and is light and fluffy. Sugar granules should be completely dissolved. (Test by rubbing some frosting between your fingers and checking for grittiness.)
Scoop frosting into a piping bag and pipe it on top of baked cupcakes using a large round tip. Garnish with straws and root beer barrels.
6 comments:
These sound fabulous!
These are SO gorgeous. I'm so addicted to root beer too. I can't buy those candies or my mouth gets all funky because i never stop eating them!
haha happy birthday pugs! i would like to try these. i love rootbeer too!
haha Dorothy- I know exactly what you are talking about!
My son requested these cupcakes for his Cub Scout snack after looking for fun recipes. I spent a couple of days trying to find the root beer extract at the grocery stores. I didn't think it would be that big of a deal because my grandmother always had it to make homemade root beer. I never found it here in Colorado so I had to try and get creative with the flavoring. I found some A&W Root Beer Float Dessert Topper with the ice cream toppings. It was a long shot and let me just save you the time if you need to improvise. Don't use the A&W Dessert Topper. The flavor was disgusting. My Cub Scout's opinion is the opposite of mine but don't be fooled by a 9 yr olds love of sugar. The frosting had great texture. It was light and fluffy like the name suggests. I will try it again with actual Root Beer extract when I find it.
Tam's Towne- Thanks for your comment. I have noticed it is much easier to find and more widely available in the summer. I'm so sorry the dessert topper didn't work out. Definitely try again when you find some extract, this frosting is so good. I think it's perfect for cub scouts!
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