root beer float cupcakes
It never takes long into the first hot week of the summer for me to get swept up in some sort of dorky nostalgia for a time or place I never knew, in this case, Main Street, U.S.A. with its drugstore soda counters counters, elaborate marble and stainless steel fountains manned by soda jerks serving five cent Cherry Cokes and root beers to bright-eyed youths that always said things like “Sir” and “Ma’am”. Of course, modern times call for modern formats, don’t they? Something you can pack up and bring to a barbecue or picnic? Thus I quickly became consumed with the idea of turning a root beer float into a cupcake; what I struggled to work out were the logistics.
Estimated Nutrition (whole recipe, rough)
What these numbers assume — 11 portions →
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Flour | 1 cup (125g) all-purpose | 455 |
| Chocolate | 1 oz (28g) semisweet | 155 |
| Butter | 1 tbsp (14g) | 102 |
| Cherry | 1 cup (138g) | 87 |
| Egg | 1 large egg (50g) | 78 |
| Cream | 1 tbsp (15ml) heavy | 51 |
| Ice Cream | 1 tbsp (15ml) heavy | 51 |
| Sugar | 1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated | 49 |
| Beer | 1/4 cup (60ml) for cooking | 43 |
| Vanilla | 1 tsp extract (4ml) | 12 |
| Salt | 1 tsp (6g) | 0 |
Totals for the whole recipe, adding one typical portion per ingredient — listed above. Quantities in the recipe are not counted, so this is a rough guide only — not suitable for medical or dietary planning.
Ingredients
- 2 cups root beer (I used
- because it was easy to find and made with cane sugar)
- 1 cup dark unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1/2 cup (1 stick or 4 ounces) unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch pieces
- 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
- 1 1/2 cups heavy or whipping cream
- 3 tablespoons powdered sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Pint of vanilla ice cream (you’ll have leftover; you’re welcome)
- Maraschino cherries (optional)