Coke floats are an old-fashioned treat that combines the fizzy drink with a dollop of ice cream. The flavours of this drink can be easily transferred to the wonderful mixture of a cupcake. These coke float cupcakes, from goodtoknow’s cupcake queen Victoria Threader, show you how’s it done. A sticky, sweet cola syrup flavours the sponges and the naughty ice cream topping with a cherry on top finishes it off nicely. The cakes will keep for about 3 days, so only add the ice cream just before you serve them so it doesn’t melt. You could also experiment with other fizzy drinks such as lemonade or Dr Pepper for different tastes and you can change the flavour of the ice cream too – strawberry or chocolate would work just as well.
Ingredients
- For the cakes:
- 240ml coke
- 60g unsweetened cocoa powder
- 60g unsalted butter
- 140g caster sugar
- 50g dark brown sugar
- 125g self raising flour
- 2 medium eggs
- ½tsp salt
- ¼tsp bicarbonate of soda
- For the syrup and topping:
- 260ml coke
- 1tsp cornflour
- 12 scoops of vanilla icecream
- 12 cherries
- You will also need:
- Deep muffin pan with 12 cupcakes cases
- Small ice cream scoop (optional)
Method
For the cakes:
- To make this cupcake recipe, preheat oven to 160°C/325°F/Gas Mark 3. Line 12 the muffin tray with 12 cupcakes.
- In a small saucepan, heat the coke, cocoa powder and butter over medium heat until the butter is melted. Add the sugars and whisk until dissolved. Remove from heat and let the cocoa mixture cool.
- In a large bowl, whisk flour, bicarb soda and salt together.
- In a small bowl, whisk the eggs. Fold the eggs and the coke mixture into the flour mix. Use a large whisk but don’t overbeat or the cupcakes will be dense.
- Fill cupcake liners about ¾ full and bake cupcakes for 20 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean. Cool in the tins for 5 minutes then move on a wire rack.
For the syrup and top:
- Add the coke to a small pan and heat until boiling point, then reduce the heat and simmer for 15 minutes or until the coke has reduced by half. Leave to one side to cool.
- Once cool add 1tsp of cornflour and whisk until it has thickened and has a nice dark brown colour. You should still be able to pour the syrup, if it’s too thick add a touch more coke. Leave to cool before adding to the cupcakes
- Using a skewer or toothpick, make a few small holes in the cupcakes – not right to the bottom or the papers will peel). Brush the tops of the cakes liberally with the cooled syrup.
- Serve with vanilla ice cream and a cherry. You can drizzle more syrup over the ice cream if you wish.
Top tip for making Coke float cupcakes
If you have a soda stream the coke concentrate is good for brushing on the cupcakes instead
