Iron Cupcake Earth: Music

So I missed the Iron Cupcake Earth deadline for this month. I thought it was the 15th and, when I hadn't gotten anywhere by that date, I gave up. Then Friday I was looking to see if they had announced the next month's theme and noticed that it wasn't due until the 24th. Which meant I had to have it ready by Saturday.

And I did.

But I didn't have internet at the house so I couldn't blog about it. So I couldn't submit it.

But I still like what I did so here it is!

The theme was music and the cupcake was supposed to be inspired by a song. My choice was the song "Buddy Holly" by Weezer. In particular, I was inspired by the music video (which just so happened to be directed by one of the producers on my film, Spike Jonze). In the video, the band is in Al's (the soda fountain-type restaurant from Happy Days).

So I present the Root Beer Float cupcake!

There are tons of versions of Root Beer Float cupcakes, so I scoured the web and took bits and pieces from everywhere and came up with my own version.

For the cupcake:

1/2 cup condensed root beer (I used A&W and simmered it to let it condense till it was syrupy)

3/4 cups root beer (this is just regular, still fizzy root beer)

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup butter

1 egg

1 1/2 cups flour

1/2 Tbsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a small bowl, mix the butter and sugar till fluffy. Add the egg, vanilla, and then condensed root beer (one at a time). Add the flour 1/2 c at a time, alternating with the regular root beer (so 1/2 c flour, half the root beer, another 1/2 c flour, the rest of the root beer, the last 1/2 cup of flour). Mix just until combined. Scoop into cupcake pan and fill almost all the way. Bake about 20 min.

Make sure and make extra of the condensed root beer (about another 1/2 cup). Once the cupcakes are baked, poke holes in them and pour around a teaspoon of the condensed root beer over top. Do it really slowly!

Once you're finished with that, you'll put the remaining condensed root beer back on the stove and heat at medium to make the glaze.

Root Beer Glaze:

Around 1/3 c of condensed root beer

1 c powdered sugar

1/2 c regular sugar

1 tbsp vanilla

Heat the root beer and mix in all the sugars. Let it come to a boil for a second or two, then take it off and add the vanilla, mixing the whole time. Let it cool. If it gets too thick, add a little milk.

Once the glaze cools, put about a teaspoon on top of each cupcake and allow to harden. The glaze will be almost like royal icing.

I topped each of my cupcakes with a scoop of Vanilla Bean Buttercream frosting, which is a recipe I got from Martha.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature, cut into small pieces
• 1 3/4 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted
• Pinch of salt
• 1 vanilla bean, scraped
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• a little milk

• DIRECTIONS

  1. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter until creamy. Slowly add confectioners' sugar; beat to combine, scraping down sides of bowl as necessary.
  2. Add vanilla bean seeds and vanilla extract, and beat to combine. Slowly add milk and continue beating on medium-low speed until smooth and creamy, about 5 minutes.
  To make the cupcakes look like real floats, I put the frosting in the fridge for just a few minutes, then used my cookie scooper to dole out one scoop of frosting on each cupcake!