Mt Dew Cupcakes

Yep...you read that right. Mt Dew cupcakes. I've seen a TON of recipes for Mt Dew cupcakes...but most don't really cut it for that authentic Mt Dewey flavor. I found one on food.com that looked promising and tweaked it a bit. The result was pretty damn good...the cupcake itself wasn't very sweet at all, but the frosting - wow..it was the sugary "I feel like my teeth are going to rot out of my mouth this instant" goodness that you expect from regular Mt Dew. So they complement each other well. I wouldn't suggest eating one or the other strictly by itself...but together...deliciousness.

MT DEW CUPCAKES
_{Makes 12 cupcakes}

For the cupcakes

1/2 c unsalted butter, room temp
3/4 c sugar
2 large eggs, room temp
1/4 c Mt Dew soda
2 T Mt Dew syrup (I'll explain in a minute)
2 T frozen orange juice concentrate, thawed
Zest from half a lemon and half a lime
1 1/4 c + 2 T all-purpose flour
3/4 t baking powder
1/8 t salt

FIRST AND FOREMOST: Pour about 2 1/2 cups of Mt Dew into a pot and place on the stove. Bring to a boil and then turn to low and let it condense/evaporate. It took me about 20-30 minutes to get a syrup. Please note that it won't be sticky like maple syrup, but it will be thicker than the non-condensed soda. You'll need this for both the cupcake and the frosting.

1) Preheat oven to 325° and prepare a cupcake pan with liners.

2) In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

3) Combine Mt. Dew and orange juice concentrate in a cup and set aside.

4) In a separate bowl, use a hand mixer and cream butter and sugar. Scrape sides and add zest, blend. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each egg and then scraping sides of bowl.

5) Add dry mixture to sugar/butter bowl, alternating with Mt Dew mixture. So add flour, blend on low, scrape sides, add Mt Dew, blend, scrape sides, add flour, blend, scrape sides...blah, blah, blah...try to add dry ingredients in three batches and liquid in two.

6) Pour the batter in the lined cupcake pan (about 2/3 full) and bake for 16-18 minutes. You can do the toothpick test or just touch the tops of the cupcakes. If the cake bounces back, it's done. Let them sit in the pan about 5 minutes and then cool them on wire racks.

For the frosting

1/4 c Mt Dew syrup
1/2 c unsalted butter, room temp
2 1/4 c powdered sugar
2 T Heavy cream
2 t frozen orange juice concentrate, thawed
Zest of half a lemon and half a lime
Food coloring (Optional of course. I used both yellow and green)

1) Using a hand mixer, cream butter and sugar in a bowl. Add heavy cream and Mt Dew syrup. Beat until fluffy. Add OJ and zest and blend again. At this point you can either use the frosting as is OR add the food coloring. I divided the frosting into 2 bowls and colored one with yellow and one with green. Just add a few drops of food coloring at a time and beat with the mixer until combined.

To use two colors, take a piping bag and fill one side with one color and the other side with the other color. Squeeze the bag until both colors start coming out of the tip. I used a Wilton 1M Star tip with these (it's my new favorite). Enjoy!