There's no beating around the bush with these Chocolate and Pepsi Cupcakes. We absolutely loved them. Not only were they delicious with their hit of chocolate and background notes of Pepsi, they were also light, super soft and a doddle to make. Rather than being made with the classic techniques of creaming and folding, these delicious cupcakes were made with a simple melting method, which even Mr E, a self professed non-baker, would manage to rustle up!
Like many keen bakers, the Only Crumbs Remain kitchen is packed with recipe books which have been collected over the years. When I find myself with a spare half hour during the week before starting to make our evening meal, I often select a recipe book from the shelves to pour over whilst enjoying a pot of tea. Earlier last week I perused the fabulous bakes in James Martin's recipe book, Desserts. Amongst the numerous delicious looking bakes was a Chocolate Cola Cake. The thick slice of moist chocolate cake, dressed with a chocolate frosting and served with a chocolate caramel sauce complete with mini marshmallows really caught my attention.
Not only did the cake look amazing, but it also intrigued me having been made with Cola. Would it really taste of Cola I wondered? So there being only one way to find out, I donned my pinny, reduced the quantities and made a batch of cupcakes with the resultant batter. However, being a household which prefers Pepsi Max over Cola, James Martin's recipe was adapted to make this easy to make delicious sponge with our preferred fizzy drink.
The main flavour in our Chocolate and Pepsi Cupcakes was chocolate, as expected. Happily though, my dad, Mr E & myself picked up on the subtle background taste of Pepsi, which had been used in the two frostings as well as the batter. However, my mum was unable to detect the caramel notes of Pepsi Max.
Besides replacing the Cola with Pepsi Max and baking the batter as cupcakes I also decided to use some wholemeal buckwheat flour in the mixture. Having read Easy Peasy Foodie's post about the virtues of buckwheat grains, I was keen to try the flour in some of our bakes. It's a flour I know little about having never used it before, but the package explained that 'buckwheat is a member of the rhubarb family which ripens in late autumn'. It is well suited to cake and biscuit baking, as well as 'providing a pleasing flavour to noodles, pancakes and pasta'. Despite its name, buckwheat in fact isn't a wheat and as such is gluten free. However, as confusing as it is, the Doves Farm buckwheat flour I used advised that the flour contained gluten and therefore isn't suitable for people who need to follow a gluten free diet, despite the listed ingredients simply only being buckwheat flour, and not a blend. Having been on the Dove Farm webpage, it transpires that the flour contained 'gluten from adjacent growing, storage or processing of wheat'. Having carried out a little search on the web, gluten free buckwheat flour is available to purchase from various places but its retail price is clearly even further elevated compared to the product we used in this bake. I guess the moral of the story is if you are preparing food for somebody who needs to avoid gluten, read the packaging of the product first to ensure it isn't tainted from other gluten sources.
Due to the chocolate and pepsi flavours used in our cupcakes, the buckwheat taste wasn't detected, which for some people may be a good thing given that the grains themselves are an aquired taste, but any health benefits associated with the buckwheat should still be received by the body. Of course though, these cupcakes would still be great if made with the usual plain flour instead.
And should you be wondering why I decorated the top of the cupcakes with white blobs of icing......well they're the bubbles rising in the fizzy pepsi drink, of course 🙂
Let's get to it and bake.
print recipe
Pepsi.
Hands on time: 30 mins Cook time: 20 - 23 mins Yield: 8 large cupcakes
Specific Equipment
Muffin tin
8 x Muffin sized cupcake cases
For the sponge batter
- 125g Butter, unsalted
- 100ml Pepsi Max drink
- 125g Wholemeal Buckwheat Flour, or Plain Flour
- 125g Golden Caster Sugar
- 25g Cocoa Powder
- 5g Baking Powder
- Pinch Bicarbonate of Soda
- 1 large Egg, lightly beaten
- 38ml Milk
For the chocolate frosting
- 50g Unsalted Butter, softened
- 170g Icing Sugar
- 10g Cocoa Powder
- 1.5 tablespoon Pepsi Max drink
For the white frosting
- 25g Unsalted Butter, softened
- 50g Icing Sugar
- 1 teaspoon Pepsi Max drink
Choclette Blogger
Ooh, this takes me back. I'd completely forgotten about pepsi. Buckwheat flour is a firm favourite here and I often add it to my bakes. Strangely though, I am not a fan of the whole grains. Your cakes look well worth trying. I'm rather regretting getting rid of that James Martin book now. Thanks for sharing with We Should Cocoa.
Angela - Only Crumbs Remain
Ooh we love Pepsi in out household, we often have a couple of cans in the cupboard. It was really fun to bake with it and to see how well it came out in the finished bake. Ah, this wholemeal uckwheat is the first time I've tried it in a flour, and to be honest I didn't find it all offensive, possibly because of the main flavours in the cupcakes. I love James Martin's recipe books, he's one of my favourite pastry chefs, I know if ever I had to cull my stash of books I would actuall keep all of his without any hesitation. 🙂
Angela x
Helen at Casa Costello
I have got to give these a go! They really do look like a lovely bake and I dying to see if I can detect the Pepsi taste. I even have some buckwheat flour that I've been wanting an excuse to use. Thanks so much for joining in with #BakeoftheWeek - Its great to be back! x
Angela - Only Crumbs Remain
It's great to have you back helen 🙂 Ah well seen as you already have some buckwheat flour in you definitely need to give these a try. Even if you're like my mum and don't detect the Pepsi, I'm sure you'll love them.....they were so beautifully light and scrummy 🙂 I'd love to hear how you got and if you could detect the Pepsi if you give them a whirl Helen.
Angela x
Corina
These sound gorgeous and I love the bubbles on top! I've never baked anything with pepsi or cola but love the sound of these! I'm intrigued to know whether I'd actually be able to taste the pepsi in them or not and after reading all the comments I'm thinking about what other fizzy drinks I'd like to to try something with too! Thanks for sharing with #CookOnceEatTwice x
Angela - Only Crumbs Remain
Aw thankyou Corina 🙂 I was intrigued too to see if the pepsi flavour came through, and happily it did - though only a subtle note as the chocolate was the main flavour. I too am thinking of using some other fizzy drink in a bake, and looking forward to seeing what you whip up 🙂
Thanks for your lovely comment Corina,
Angela x
Sarah Trivuncic
I've done cola cupcakes ages ago and they're so tasty! Yours look really fun!
Angela - Only Crumbs Remain
Aren;t they just sarah, I'll have to pop over and have a read about your Cola Cupcakes.
Angela x
Mandy
Ooh these look lovely! I've never baked with a fizzy drink before although I have also heard of lemonade being used in various things. Odd about the buckwheat flour saying contains gluten! I'm baffled by that. Thanks for linking up to #CookBlogShare
Angela - Only Crumbs Remain
Thank you Mandy 🙂 It was a first for me too, but I know I'll certainly be trying fizzy drinks in other bakes given how successful these were. The buckwheat and gluten thing is odd, but since reading yours and Eb's comments I've been into the Dove's Farm site and learnt that they mark it as not gluten free because of the grains grown in adjacent fields, processing and storage practices. I've adjusted my post a little to reflect that.
Thanks for your lovely comment Mandy,
Angela x
feedmemama Faye
Right, so lesson learned about visiting your blog right before lunch...scrambled eggs just isn't going to cut it now I've seen these! Faye #cookblogshare
Angela - Only Crumbs Remain
Hahaha, I'm sorry Faye 🙂
Angela x
Eb Gargano
Oooh these sound lovely - and look so pretty!! Loving the 'bubbles' Thanks for the mention 🙂 There is certainly a whole lot of goodness to be got from buckwheat 🙂 I'm surprised the package didn't say gluten free though, as buckwheat is most definitely gluten free - the only thing I can think of is either it was packaged in a factory that also handles regular wheat, unless perhaps it's a mixture of wheat and buckwheat?? I know some noodles that call themselves buckwheat noodles do in fact have quite a large proportion of regular wheat in them. It is definitely possible to buy gluten free buckwheat flour, though, because I've used it before!! Anyway, whatever the story, I'm glad it worked out so well in this bake! 🙂 Eb x
Angela - Only Crumbs Remain
Ooh now that's interesting Eb....I've just popped to have a look at the packet of flour which is from Doves Farm, and the ingredients listed is just buckwheat flour and then beneath it it says in brackets 'contains gluten', with nothing about it being produced in an environment that also handles regular wheat.....very strange especially given that you've used gluten free buckwheat flour previously. I was really pleased it worked so well in the cupcakes, though it was far from successful in a batch of Yorkshire Puds I made yesterday for our evening meal!
Your welcome re the mention, it was a great informative post 🙂
Thanks for the lovely comment, glad you liked the bubbles 😉
Angela x
Angela - Only Crumbs Remain
I've since been into the Dove's Farm web page to see if they comment any further about the gluten status of the flour, and it turns out that although buckwheat itself is gluten free this bag of flour isn't because of farming gluten products in adjacent fields along with the packaging and stotage system! Thanks for querying it Eb, it was interesting to realise how food products can be affected by neighbouring crops and manufacturing processes.
Angela x
Jacqueline Bellefontaine
They do sound rather good and i love the white bubbles on the top.
Angela - Only Crumbs Remain
Thank you Jacqueline. You know, my mum fair chuckled when i told her what the blobs of icing represented 😉
Thanks for popping by and commenting,
Angela x
Charlotte Oates
These sound delicious Angela. I prefer Pepsi Max over Coke too and usually have some in the house so I'll have to give the cake mix a try. I've never tried baking with fizzy drinks before but a few weeks ago I sampled some scones made with lemonade which tasted really good.
Angela - Only Crumbs Remain
Ooh lemonade in scones sounds really interesting Charlotte! It was amazing how well the mix worked - they were so beautifully light and chocolatey but still with a hint of Pepsi flavour.
Thanks for popping by,
Angela x