Third times a charm, as the saying goes. Back in June we took Audrey out to dinner after her farewell dance recital and several family members graciously attended. Our young cousin, Abby, ordered a shirley temple and it reminded me of when my girls used to do that. As I watched how much she enjoyed it I thought about how it would be a fun flavor for a cupcake. So I told her I would make some for her. I finally was able to get to that but came up with some interesting road blocks. First of all, there is a wide variety of recipes for the drink itself! I had to decide on what flavor combinations I thought sounded best and went with gingerale and cherry. The lemon-lime flavors didn't sound as authentic to me. Then several times I found out that other people had made cupcakes using a cake mix box and a can of soda. I understand that sounds easy and even a little fun - but I wanted to make it all from scratch. So then I wondered if I could take just the dry ingredients of a cake recipe and only add the sugar & soda. I tried that twice using cake flour & too much soda the first time. I used all-purpose flour and less soda the second time but both resulted in very chewy, gummy products. Although the flavor of the gingerale was there and that tasted pretty good so I knew I was on the right track. I did a little more research and found out that a cake mix box has some shortening in it. I also found a recipe on the Curvy Carrot website (www.thecurvycarrot.com) that was from scratch and looked through my own recipe box again. After a few tweaks & modifications I think I finally hit the mark.
The cake tasted of gingerale yet it was light and subtle. It was moist and fluffy too! I wanted them to look like the drink does when the grenadine is poured into the glass so rather than color some of the batter to bake onto the bottom of the cupcake, like the curvy carrot recipe does, I brushed the tops of them and let the grenadine soak in. I used a cherry-vanilla frosting and even though I think that maraschino cherries are awful, disgusting little things, they are synonymous with the drink - so I made an exception and put one on top. They do have a way of making the whole look so cute, I have to admit! The whole thing came together and reminded me of the sweet innocence of childhood and all things good.
this was actually a sample one - the ones I took to Abby had more grenadine showing through
As a Post Script - when Abby tried them she rolled her eyes, groaned in delight and said "this is soooooo gooood!" Yea! That's what makes baking so much fun for me!!
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