Pepsi Cupcakes

close up shot of frosted chocolate cupcakes topped with sprinkles on a cooling rack

5 from 7 votes

These Pepsi cupcakes are the ultimate in soft, moist party treats featuring a chocolatey cake topped with creamy vanilla frosting.

Prep Time10

Cook Time23

Total Time33

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: Pepsi Cupcakes Recipe

Servings:

Calories: 274kcal

Ingredients

Cupcakes

15.25 ounces chocolate cake mix (I used Betty Crocker Super Moist Dark Chocolate boxed cake mix)
12 ounces Pepsi cola, room temperature

Frosting

1½ cups unsalted butter, room temperature
6 cups powdered sugar, sifted
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
¼ cup heavy cream
½ teaspoon salt
red, white, and blue sprinkles, optional garnish

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line 2 standard muffin pans with 20 cupcake liners. Set aside.
In a large bowl, add the dry chocolate cake mix and the can of room-temperature Pepsi cola. Allow the bubbles to settle for a minute or so.
Using an electric mixer, on medium-low speed, beat the cupcake batter for 1 minute or until all the bubbles have been incorporated into the cake mix and your batter is thick and smooth.
Fill each of the 20 cupcake liners ¾ full with the chocolate batter. Bake for 20-23 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Allow your Pepsi cupcakes to cool on the counter completely before frosting them
To make the vanilla buttercream frosting, you will add the room-temperature butter to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Whisk on medium-high for 2 minutes.
Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add 1 cup of the powdered sugar to the creamed butter. Start the mixer on low, then gradually increase the speed to high until all the powdered sugar is incorporated.
Scrape the sides of the bowl and add another 1 cup of powdered sugar and whip until incorporated as in step 5. Repeat until all the powdered sugar has been incorporated. This should take about 4 to 5 minutes.
Add the vanilla extract, heavy cream, and salt to the buttercream frosting and whip on high for another 2 to 3 minutes or until your frosting is smooth and fluffy.
Transfer your vanilla buttercream frosting to a piping bag, or zip-top plastic bag with the corner snipped off, and frost your Pepsi cupcakes. Garnish with the red/white/blue sprinkles.

Notes

Using parchment paper cupcake paper liners for these cupcakes is recommended. Due to their delicate nature, the parchment paper liners release from the cupcake so much easier than a standard paper cupcake liner. The paper ones tend to stick to the cupcakes much more when peeling them away to eat the cupcakes.
When scooping out your Pepsi cupcake batter into the cupcake liners, a 2-inch cookie scoop works great for this. A level scoop is approximately ⅓ cup of batter and will fill your cupcake liner ¾ full. This method ensures that all of your cupcakes are the same size and bake evenly.
When making your frosting, you may have to whip the butter a little longer, or not quite as long, to get a smooth and fluffy frosting. If your room is on the colder side during the winter months then your butter will take longer to whip. The same goes if you are in the south during the summer months, it may not take as long.
You may also find that you need to add a little extra (½-1 cup) powdered sugar or an additional 1 tablespoon of heavy cream to get your frosting to a pipeable consistency.

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