Root Beer Float Cupcakes

Another cupcake from the glorious cupcake book! :) This is quite the tasty - and fun! - cupcake! I think this would be great for a birthday party, served with root beers on the side.

Root Beer Float Cupcake

1 white cake mix (I had funfetti, so that's what I used)

1 c of your favorite root beer (I just bought A&W, but this would be FABULOUS with Brick Oven rootbeer, and next time I'm going to dish out the pennies for IBC)

- Mix together root beer and cake mix. Pour into paper liners and fill 3/4 full. (Yes, that's really all there is to the cupcake! How cool is that, right?)

*Hints! Use a mixer. Using the funfetti cake mix with the sprinkles in it made it hard for the batter to all get moistened by the rootbeer. But even with a regular cake mix, your batter would be smoother and more even if you use a mixer. You don't want pockets of dry cake mix in your finished cupcake! :)

I added an extra ounce or two of root beer. Why not right?

Next time I will also add 1/2-1 tsp root beer extract or flavoring. See below...

- Bake at 350 degrees for 15-18 minutes (or about half of that for mini cupcakes) or until cake springs back when lightly touched. Remove from oven and allow to completely cool.

Now for the frosting..... :)

Root Beer Buttercream Frosting (which is actually vanilla buttercream frosting with a little root beer flavoring)

1 stick butter, room temperature

3-3/4 c powdered sugar, sifted

304 T milk or cream (again, I used cream... so smooth, yummy)

1 tsp root beer flavoring (Is there a different between extract, concentrate, and flavoring in the final result? I don't know. Haven't tried them all.)

Place butter in a large mixing bowl and beat until light and fluffy, about 30 seconds. Stop the mixer before adding sugar to avoid a large mess.

Add sugar, milk or cream, and root beer flavoring. Beat frosting, starting slow and increasing your speed until frosting is nice and creamy. Add more milk or cream if frosting is too thick.

*Hints! I added a little more flavoring because I didn't think the cupcake had enough of the root beer flavor that I wanted. That's why next time I'll add a little flavoring or extract to the batter as well, though I do understand because it's meant to be a root beer float, not a carbonated can of root beer. :) Using a higher quality root beer in the batter may help as well.

The frosting is REALLY sweet!

Overall, this cupcake was a huge success! I actually doubled the recipe since it was safe to eat the batter (no eggs!) and my little one and I enjoyed it as we were making the cupcakes. :) Friends and family seemed to enjoy them as well!