Pinoeer Woman's Dr. Pepper Cupcakes

I bought myself the Pioneer Woman's newest cookbook, The Pioneer Woman Cooks, A Year Of Holidays a little while ago, and the first recipe I tried was her Dr. Pepper Cupcakes.  I want to start by saying that almost every recipe I have tried by the Pioneer Woman, and I have tried a lot of them, has been delicious.  I believe this must have been a user error, because after making this and receiving such negative reactions, I realized I had used orange flavored prunes instead of original prunes.  This may have contributed to the downfall of these cupcakes.  Anyway, as you can read, these were a major upset in our household.  Everyone was so excited for Dr. Pepper cupcakes, because we love Dr. Pepper around here, but these didn't taste like Dr. Pepper, not even the frosting which had 4 cups of it in there. 

 

So these cupcakes were each 351 calories, and they are super moist, have great texture, and should've been delicious.  I didn't think they were so terrible, but Aaron actually threw his away, so I'm saying he gave them a 1.  Owen and Noah and I gave them a 6, but everyone said they wouldn't have any more of them.  Sigh.  I'm sure the orange flavored prunes were part of the problem, since they did taste overwhelmingly of orange.  Here's what you do:

 

For The Cupcakes:

1/2 c prunes, roughly chopped

1/2 c dried cherries, roughly chopped

1 c Dr. Pepper (I used caffeine free)

1 c butter

1/4 c unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 c boiling water

1/2 c buttermilk

3 eggs

1 t baking soda

1 1/2 t vanilla extract

2 c all-purpose flour

1 1/3 c sugar

1/2 t ground nutmeg

1/2 t anise seed

1/2 t ground ginger

1/2 t ground allspice

1/2 t ground cardamom

For The Frosting:

4 c Dr. Pepper

1 1/2 c salted butter, softened

1 t ground ginger

2 1/2 c powdered sugar

1 T grated lemon zest

1 T grated orange zest

1/2 t vanilla extract

 

Preheat oven to 325.  Line two 12 cup muffin pans with paper cupcake liners.  Add the prunes and dried cherries to a medium saucepan.  Pour in 1 c of Dr. Pepper, then bring it to a slow boil over medium heat.  Cook it for 5 minutes, then remove it from the heat and set it aside to cool, about 20 minutes.  In a separate saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat.  Add the cocoa powder, then add in the boiling water and whisk it together until smooth.  Set this aside to cool.  In a small pitcher, combine the buttermilk, eggs, baking soda, and vanilla and whisk until combined.  In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add the flour, sugar, nutmeg, anise seed, ginger, allspice, and cardamom.  With the mixer on low, drizzle in the butter-cocoa mixture.  Then pour in the buttermilk mixture, and the Dr. Pepper fruit mixture.  Mix until it's all combined, then scoop the batter into the muffin tins.  Bake the cupcakes for 18 minutes (mine went for about 25 minutes), then cool completely before frosting them.

 

Gently boil 4 c Dr. Pepper over medium heat until the mixture has reduced to 1/2 c, about 25 minutes (mine took more like 35).  Add the butter to the bowl of an electric mixer, then add the ginger, powdered sugar, zests, and vanilla.  Beat it until the mixture is light and fluffy.  Add the Dr. Pepper reduction very slowly with mixer on low.  Continue beating until the frosting is smooth.  Frost cupcakes and serve.

 

Sounds delicious, right?  And it should've been.  I am blaming the orange prunes :).  Try these and tell me how they turn out, would you?