Cherry Cola Cupcakes

COCA-COLA CAKE (Adapted from Garvin County Extention Homemakers Recipe Book – 1980)

Preheat oven to 350. Place liners in a 12-cup cupcake tin. (The original recipe calls for baking it in an 8 X 8 X 2 pan.)
1 c. flour
1 c. sugar
1/2 tsp. baking soda
Whisk together and set aside.

In a saucepan, heat the following until fully melted:
1/2 c. butter (1 stick, unsalted)
1/4 c. marshmallows
1 tsp. cocoa powder (unsweetened)
1/2 c. Coke (I used Cherry Coke)
(Plus, I added the juice from about 1/2 a jar of Maraschino Cherries. The rest of the juice will go in the icing.)

Add wet ingredients to the dry and stir to combine.

Lastly, stir in:
1/4 c. buttermilk
1 slightly beaten egg

This recipe makes one dozen cupcakes and can be easily doubled. The cupcakes can be frozen as well, so make a double batch and have some for later! I would frost them after they’ve come to room temperature, though.

CHERRY BUTTERCREAM
With an electric mixer, blend:
2 sticks butter (you can use 1 stick of butter and 1/2 c crisco to make it more stable)
Juice from the reserved 1/2 jar of Maraschino Cherries)
1 tsp. vanilla extract

When butter/cherry/vanilla mixture is smooth, add in:
~ 4 c. powdered sugar, 1 cup at a time. You can add more or less sugar to get the consistency you want.

After frosting, place a single cherry on top of each cupcake.