Mountain Dew Cupcakes, Take 2

I delivered yesterday's cupcakes to the daycare this morning, and Bella Kate and her mom, Mrs. Corey, loved them! The daycare teachers liked them, as well, and I've already gotten some new potential customers who are friends of Mrs. Corey! How exciting!

Since the last Mountain Dew Cupcakes didn't turn out as I'd hoped, I decided to give them another go using a different recipe. This one involves a boxed cake mix using Mountain Dew instead of water, a soak of reduced Mountain Dew, and a fluffy Mountain Dew frosting.

Cake Ingredients:

1 white box cake mix

3 egg whites

1 1/4 cups Mountain Dew soda

1/3 cup vegetable oil

3.4 oz. package of pudding (I used cheesecake pudding for this recipe because it's really all I had... it was either that or pumpkin spice!)

Icing Ingredients:

1 cup vegetable shortening

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, soft

1.5 pounds confectioner's sugar (I had a 2 pound bag and used over half of it, roughly 1.5 pounds)

Mountain Dew (use what you have left from dipping the cupcakes)

Lime green food coloring

Cake Directions:

1. Preheat your oven at 350 degrees, and place 24 cupcake liners in a tin.

2. Add all ingredients to a standing-mixer fitted with a large bowl, or to a large bowl to use with a hand mixer, depending on what you have. Mix on low speed for 30 seconds, then medium-high speed for about 2 minutes until all ingredients are incorporated and no lumps remain. (This is what the box mix I used instructed to do. If the box you use calls for something else, follow those instructions.)

3. Fill the liners 2/3 full and bake for about 18 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of one of larger cupcakes come out clean.

*WHILE THE CUPCAKES ARE IN THE OVEN, prepare the Mountain Dew that you will use to soak the hot cupcakes. Pour one can of Mountain Dew into a small pan and bring to a boil over medium heat. Boil for about 5 minutes, then reduce heat to low and simmer for 5 more. Remove from heat and set aside. I ran out of Mountain Dew and had to use some of Daddy's off-brand Mountain Lightning, which is similar, but with a slightly sweeter taste.*

4. Allow the cupcakes to sit for a few minutes so that they are not too hot to touch, then move them to a cooling rack. Dip the tops of each cupcake into the Mountain Dew. I dipped them twice, but just use your judgement on how many times you want to soak them. Let them cool completely before icing them.

Icing Directions:

Beat together the butter and shortening at medium speed until fluffy. Reduce the speed to low, and gradually add confectioner's sugar until incorporated. Add the remainder of the Mountain Dew soak, or just the amount that gives you the texture that you want. Mix in as much food coloring as you want until you get your desired color. Add frosting to the tops of the cooled cupcakes, and add some sprinkles, if you want :) I added orange sprinkles to the green frosting to coordinate with the Mountain Dew bottle.

These turned out much better than the other ones! You definitely get more of a Mountain Dew flavor with them, mainly due to dipping the tops of the cakes into the reduced soda. I think that Daniel will approve of them! I'm also going to take what's left to the Alabama vs. LSU tailgate tomorrow, thus the football cupcake papers. ROLL TIDE :)

EDIT: This is what happens when you leave cupcakes on the table... if you have a kitty. Needless to say, Bellatrix was bouncing off the walls all night long.