Cereal vs. Cupcake

         If given the choice between cereal and cupcakes …. I’d pick cupcakes. Any time. Even at breakfast. Of course, I still use tons of General Mills coupons and I do eat cereal – but only because a girl cannot live on cake alone (though Marie Antoinette might disagree).

         Pitting cupcakes against cereal seems like an unfair matchup, but that’s exactly what Kellogg’s is doing to drive home the delicious taste of their FiberPlus Caramel Pecan Crunch. In the new tv advertisements, women participate in a cupcakes v. cereal taste test at The Perfect Circle Cupcakery in Orange, California. The bakery is famed for its chocolate lava cupcake (just typing it makes my mouth water) and so Kellogg’s figured that they’d sell their cereal by the truckload if it could hold its own against indulgent baked goods. 

         The taste testers’ consensus was that the cereal is great – but the cupcake still wins. But getting second place to world-famous cupcakes isn’t half bad for a healthy cereal. The ad finishes with the message: “Not the best tasting cupcake … the best tasking fiber. Kellogg’s FiberPlus: Taste The Plus.” And I have to say that this ballsy move is pretty effective – I’m considering swapping my General Mills coupons for Kellogg’s coupons this week and trying that cereal that can give a cupcake a run for its money. 

Dr Pepper Cupcakes are Delicious, Duh!

Cupcakes are all the rage right now. Dr. Pepper is delicious. Soda coupons rock. Tell me something I don’t know, right? Well, here’s a recipe that combines all three of those excellent things to create a treat greater than the sum of its parts: Dr. Pepper Cupcakes!!!!! There are more ingredients in this recipe than in the usual cupcake recipe – perhaps because there are 23 flavors in Dr Pepper? Don’t be intimidated, though – the cupcakes are yummy enough to be worth the work!

Here are the ingredients you’ll need to get cooking:
FOR THE CUPCAKES
1 cup of butter or margarine
1 cup Dr Pepper soda
½ cup buttermilk (or, ½ cup milk and 1 tablespoon orange juice)
2 eggs
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla
4 tablespoons cocoa
1 ½ teaspoons cinnamon
2 cups flour
2 cups white sugar
FOR THE ICING
¼ cup butter
3 tablespoon cocoa
¼ cup Dr Pepper soda
1 bag powdered sugar (you won’t need it all, but enough to make the frosting thick)
Here’s how ot make the cupcakes:
Heat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit
Heat 1 Cup of butter and Dr Pepper in medium saucepan. When butter is melted, pout into a bowl and add cocoa, cinnamon, flour and sugar.
Mix eggs, buttermilk, soda and vanilla in a bowl. Add this mixture to the butter mixture, then pout into paper-lined cupcake tins.
Bake for 30 minutes. remove cupcakes from pan, and cool while you prepare the icing.
To make the icing, heat remaining Dr. Pepper, butter, and cocoa in a saucepan and stir until well blended. Stir in the remaining ingredients, adding sugar as needed until the icing reaches a thick consistency. Ice cupcakes and serve.
These are a fun twist on traditional cupcakes, and the finished product definitely carries the flavor of the soda it’s named for. It may seem weird to eat Dr Pepper at first, but I can promise you’ve never had anything like it! If you’ll be making these cupcakes, don’t miss out on these soda coupons – just because you’re going all-out in the kitchen doesn’t mean you have to go for broke at the grocery store!