Girl's Weekend Rum and Cherry Coke Cupcakes

I few weeks ago I hosted some friend's from out of town.  It made for a wonderful girl's weekend with many fun memories.  The coordinator of the weekend was my dear friend Kellie, who's birthday we would also be celebrating.  When deciding what cupcakes to make for Kellie, Cherry Coke was one of my initial thoughts.  How to make them into girl's weekend cupcakes?  Rum!  Lucky for me, I had recently purchased a new cookbook (as if I didn't have enough!) that was sure to provide the perfect recipe (with just a few changes).

The title says it all, "Intoxicated Cupcakes 41 Tipsy Treats".  I think there will be more recipes being made from this book soon!  Check it out HERE if interested in getting your own copy.  I started with the Rum and Cola Cupcakes recipe:

Rum and Cola Cupcakes:

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 ½ tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

1 1/3 cups sugar

½ cup cocoa powder

½ cup butter-flavor shortening, cut into small pieces

2/3 cup buttermilk

½ cup cola

¼ cup rum

1 large egg

2 egg yolks from large eggs

1.        Preheat oven to 350.  Line a cupcake pan with 24 cupcake liners.  Set aside.

2.       In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, salt, sugar and cocoa.  Set aside.

3.       In a large bowl, beat the shortening, buttermilk, cola and rum.  Add the egg and yolks, one at a time.  When well mixed, add the flour mixture and beat for an additional 2 minutes, or until smooth.

4.       Pour the batter into the prepared cups.  Bake for 16 to 20 minutes, or until toothpick inserted into the center of the cupcake comes out clean.  Cool on a wire rack for 5 minutes, or until cool enough to handle.  Remove the cupcakes from the pan and cool completely.

Above are all original ingredients from the cookbook.  For the cola, I used Cherry Coke.  The cherry flavor wasn't as strong as I would have liked but I would make up for it in the frosting.  I was working around a red dye #40 allergy otherwise I would have added some maraschino cherry syrup for a burst of cherry flavor.  Do you remember the frosting I shared at the beginning of the month?  My Favorite Frosting recipe is what I used to top these cupcakes.  I simply added black cherry spreadable fruit and a bit of rum.  Again, maraschino cherry syrup would also work quite well to add cherry flavor but I think this black cherry spread added a nice cherry flavor without being too sweet.

I decided to add a bit of sparkle to these cupcakes.  I've seen disco dust used before by Amanda Cupcake (she makes amazing sparkly cupcakes!) and decided to give it a try for myself.  I dried the excess liquid off maraschino cherries and then rolled them in the disco dust.  I thought they made the perfect toppers for a girl's weekend treat!

The weekend also included a hike at a near by nature preserve where we learned how maple syrup was made and a beer and wine festival where many samples were had.  The cherry one top?  Spending time with friends, old and new.