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Oh, yes I did!
These lovelies were inspired by my first trip to the Bulk Barn, prompted by everyone on Twitter telling me how much I was missing in life by not frequenting said store. And I mean everyone. I think even Jessica Alba chimed in at one point and said “Are you crazy??”
Ok, well maybe not Jessica Alba, but you hear what I’m sayin’ right? I do follow her, I mean, I have to follow a couple celebs for kicks and since my second husband Ryan Reynolds doesn’t have a twitter account that I can stalk read,who else is there?
And she WOULD like these cupcakes, you know.
The point behind my ruminating on whether Jessica Alba would like my cupcakes is that I cave under mass peer pressure, I just can’t handle it. Especially when I think I am missing out on something cool. And everyone on The Twitter was telling me I was missing out.
So off I went.
And this magpie was surrounded by all that is good in this baking world. Bulk barrels of every baking ingredient you could imagine and some that I couldn’t. Army gummy men? Check. Every type of salted licorice? Check.
So I wandered the store in a blissful haze, until I came to the side that held the small bins.
And saw a rainbow of colored sugar.
I had to slap my self multiple times to not buy every single color. We have a rule. We are moving. Everything we buy now we have to move. I hate moving. So every purchase is punishing myself because everything I buy that is not consumed in the next two weeks I have to pack, then move.
It’s twisted logic for sure but it actually seems to work well.
This time it did, as I promised myself a “load up the new pantry” trip to Bulk Barn.
Really, I should go buy myself something pretty to celebrate the fact that I resisted shopping.
Ingredients Needed:
1 cup of butter
2 cups of sugar
4 eggs
4 cups of cake flour
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp of salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 3/4 cups of grape pop
Neon Food coloring pack
Ingredients for The Best Buttercream Icing Ever
Purple colored sugar
Cream the butter and sugar until well blended. Add your eggs one at a time, mixing well after each is added, then add in the vanilla.
Whisk the flour, baking soda,salt and baking powder together in a small bowl.
This is where the food coloring comes in. First, let’s not pretend there is anything remotely healthy about these cupcakes, so let’s not worry about dye. We just poured grape soda into the mix. Some dye is really not going to tip the balance.
On the neon package there are combos to make all sorts of colors. Choose the purple one you like then add the drops -according to the instructions on the package needed to achieve your chosen color- to the grape soda. The grape soda alone will not color these cupcakes. I put in a triple dose of the purple to make the batter color you see in these pictures.
Once you are done that, add the dry mixture to the butter/egg/sugar alternately with the grape soda pop.
And this is what you get. If it’s not dark enough, quickly mix in another batch of food coloring.
Pour into cupcake liners about 3/4 full. These are a thicker, moist cupcake and they do not rise a lot. I made most of these into mini cupcakes in small muffin tins and those can bake up anywhere from 10-15 minutes, a lot faster than large ones.
Bake at 350 degrees for 22-25 minutes. Cool completely.
Voila. Purple inside.
Of course, you use my Best Buttercream Icing Ever recipe and decorate these little beauties with a swirly top. I am developing an affinity for mini cupcakes lately, they are just the right size for kids and adults alike and the smallness just makes them so dang cute you can’t resist them.
Once they are iced, sprinkle the tops with the colored sugar.
This made one and half dozen large and 2 dozen minis. This will make 3 dozen large cupcakes and about a bazillion mini’s. Really. I can’t count that high. But let’s go with a decent 7 dozen.
I’m not going to lie to you, these are such a kid pleaser it’s unbelievable. We took almost two dozen mini’s to a playdate and the kids were in seventh heaven. The flavor is good, they do actually taste quite a bit grape pop-ish and the look, oh my friends, the look is what really makes these adorable. The shrieks of joy from eating “a purple cupcake!” will resonate through the house – and that’s just the adults- little hands will gleefully scoop up two at a time and that crunchy purple sugar..well…
..it just takes the cake.
Love,
The Purple is my Favorite Color Magpie
Grape Soda Pop Cupcakes
Ingredients
- 1 cup butter
- 2 cups sugar
- 4 eggs
- 4 cups cake flour
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 3/4 cups grape pop
- Neon food colouring pack
- Ingredients for the Best Buttercream Icing Ever:
- 1 cup salted butter
- 3 teaspoons vanilla
- 4 cups icing sugar
- 4-5 tablespoons coffee cream
- Purple coloured sugar
Instructions
- Cream the butter and sugar until well blended.
- Add your eggs one at a time, mixing well after each is added, then add in the vanilla.
- Sift the baking soda, salt and baking powder together in a small bowl.
- This is where the food coloring comes in. First, let’s not pretend there is anything remotely healthy about these cupcakes, so let’s not worry about dye. We just poured grape soda into the mix. Some dye is really not going to tip the balance. On the neon package there are combos to make all sorts of colors. Choose the purple one you like then add the drops -according to the instructions on the package needed to achieve your chosen color- to the grape soda. The grape soda alone will not color these cupcakes. I put in a double dose of the purple to make the batter color you see in these pictures.
- Once you are done that, add the dry mixture to the butter/egg/sugar alternately with the grape soda pop.
- Pour into cupcake liners about 3/4 full. These are a thicker, moist cupcake and they do not rise a lot. I made most of these into mini cupcakes in small muffin tins and those can bake up anywhere from 10-15 minutes, a lot faster than large ones.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 22-25 minutes.
- Cool completely. Ice and sprinkle the tops with the colored sugar.
Jackie says
Hi
What is coffee Cream?
Mr. Kitchen Magpie says
It’s basically 18% cream (same as table cream) but you can use half and half or 10% cream
Stacy K Wayne says
Staci buy a yellow cake and strawberry soda dttawberry jello and cool whip u cant go wrong and its delisious
Sara says
Should the grape soda be flat when added to the batter?
April says
These are seriously the best! Thanks for making it homemade with NO cake mix!
Stacey Turgeon says
Briana Palichuk Turgeon
lbblb33 says
I just made these for my sisters bday and they were a huge hit!!! I only used egg whites (6) instead of full eggs so they would stay super purple! For my buttercream, I reduced some soda to concentrate the flavor and used that instead of milk. Thanks for the recipe!!
Amber Alexander says
oooohhh SNAP!!!! YES
Dayna Burnell says
Amber ohhhhhh yes!!!
Heather Pollock says
I may try this with orange crush and orange rind!
Aussiekazza says
Hi I just made this as a cake and followed the general cake temp and timing. I did a large rectangle ready for my daughters first birthday and put it on 180 degrees celciuc as I’m in Australia and it needed about 40 mins in my oven to cook beautifully. Yum yum. Ill see if I can post pics once its finished
thekitchenmagpie says
@Aussiekazza Oooh let me know how it turns out! I see a reader below also asked, then I can let her know!
Jezebel says
Intriguing recipe! Any suggestions on how to use this batter to bake a cake instead of cupcakes? Does it need to be modified in any way?
NurseLovesFarmer says
You’re missing the step where you add the grape soda in the widget there, I assume it’s after the eggs and vanilla?
thekitchenmagpie says
_u********@li******.com
" profile_url="https://www.livefyre.com/profile/5562719/" ns="true">NurseLovesFarmer No, further on you add it alternately with the egg mixture into the dry. The pop is added alone!
StephPotter says
I don’t want to be too much of a party pooper but I worked in Bulk Barn and they treat their staff really badly – they also have questionable hygiene. I really wouldn’t shop there, if I were you…
Engaged and Running says
I cannot wait to try these! Thanks for the suggestion!!
BettyandBert Wall says
cant wait to try it.
Asmita says
These look awesome! I love the icing and the photos are stunning.
Karlynn says
Thank you! They were a lot of fun to make.
Orly says
Thanks so much for this recipe! Friends of ours had an Iron Chef challenge as part of their birthday’s and the secret ingredient was Grape. I decided that with over 30 people coming and it being a birthday and all, cupcakes were the way to go. I made this and not only did they come out awesome, but I won one of the categories! I have since had to send your blog to multiple friends that have asked for the recipe.
Thanks again!!!
Leah says
I made these for my husband, who is super picky, and he LOVED them!! I have served them to my guests as well and every one of them have loved them as well, commenting on how moist they are. Awesome recipe!
Karlynn says
Awesome! They are really moist, must be that lovely grape soda!
Lizz says
I tried this recipe this morning for my dad’s birthday party- yum! I used a different frosting recipe (3 cups powdered sugar + 1 stick butter + 2 1/2 tablespoons grape soda + food coloring) and they were so good. They tasted artificial- but not in the bad way. In the delicious grape-soda kind of way. The taste definitely wasn’t overpowering, and the texture was perfect. Thanks for the recipe!
Karlynn says
Fantastic to hear! They DO taste artifical, that good ol’ grape soda flavor. Glad they worked out!
Emily says
These look delicious!!! I really want to make them!!!! One quick question: Can you use regular flour as oppose to cake flour or is that a big no no?
Thanks
Karlynn says
You can make your own cake flour by using cornstarch, about 1/4 for every 1 3/4 cup all purpose flour just whisk them together. Regular flour will work, the crumb will be heavier though.
Heather says
Oh how sweet! Where are there Bulk Barns? Never heard of them but I want to
Karlynn says
I live in Edmonton Alberta and we have one. Not sure where else they are…
Nicole says
I recently visited the Bulk Barn for the first time as well. I COULD NOT LEAVE THE STORE. If my baby hadn’t been screaming, I would have stayed for hours. Thanks for the cupcake recipe…my two-year old is going to think this is a little piece of purple heaven!
Karlynn says
Oh Bulk Barn…oh. OH. So fantastic for bakers! Once we move, I am stocking my pantry there. The colored sugars alone make me tear up with happiness.
Amanda (onceuponarecipe) says
These are super cute! I loved grape soda as a kid, but haven’t had it since.
And I have never been to Bulk Barn…I fear that I would not be able to exercise such self control!