New Favorite Hobby: Turning Drinks into Cupcakes!

I guess I can't really call this a brand new favorite hobby, since I have been doing this for a few months now. Take your favorite drink, and turn it into a cupcake. How much fun is that? Today, my attempt was making a Root Beer Float. I love root beer, especially when you can find a yummy, frothy, fresh one. It is sweet and creamy, all at the same time. Add a scoop of vanilla ice cream and voila! Perfection.

I started with my basic recipe, and then started subbing ingredients and swapping things around. This is the first time I have used root beer concentrate, so I was making guesses on the quantity. They at least smelled like root beer, and when my little man licked the bowl, he didn't seem completely grossed out. I take that as a good sign. ;)

Naked Root Beer cupcake

The second challenge is coming up with a frosting. I knew I wanted vanilla, for the cream part of the float. I was having the hardest time deciding how to make it. My vision: fluffy and silky, with that whipped cream texture, but I don't want the whipped cream taste. A definite dilemma. I finally decided on a very vanilla buttercream. I used my double strength Tahitian vanilla, and it ended up very smooth and vanilla-ey. Now I just hope the vanilla doesn't get overpowering overnight...

Frosted with Very Vanilla Buttercream

I would hate for my cupcakes to end up boring, so I decided that I should top the very vanilla frosting with a drizzle of root beer syrup. This was another first for me, never made a syrup before. Now if I can just put them together and make them fit my vision. ( I originally wanted to top them with crushed root beer candies, those barrel shaped ones, but had no luck at the store.)

Accesorized (okay, the syrup needs some work!)