These are a two-fer. They are Root Beer Float cupcakes, they are also “early-birthday” cupcakes…hence the straw AND the sprinkles. Got it? So yeah…my kid has a summer birthday, so he doesn’t get a special day designated to him at school…no goody bags to pass out to classmates, no friends making handmade cards to give him, no birthday crown… The effect of parents letting their guard down in October as opposed to April. Apparently, though…in the world we live in, where everything is always fair, everyone gets a trophy and there is no last place, my kiddo gets to celebrate his summer birthday during the school year…with a “Summer Birthday Celebration”. The sweet teachers at the school didn’t factor in, however, that my child also expected presents on his early birthday, deciding that everyone ELSE in the WHOLE school got “Summer Birthday Celebration Presents”. I let him pick his cupcake flavor instead. Life is a compromise. The choice du jour was Root Beer Float Cupcakes. Cheaper than a new iPod. These are an easy Root Beer Float Cupcake with Vanilla Ice Cream Frosting. Look what I added in there…All Spice and Cinnamon. Not enough to make it a spice cake, but enough to bump up the Root Beer flavor a bit. And I also added enough Root Beer to make them completely kid-friendly. With the batter mixed, I baked them up… And started on the frosting. It began with some vanilla ice cream. Honestly, the ice cream doesn’t make a HUGE taste difference, since I used vanilla, but the idea of throwing ice cream into the frosting made me happy. You need to let the ice cream sit out for a bit so it isn’t frozen…if you make that mistake the frosting will seem perfect until the ice cream melts, and then you will have a melty frosting cupcake. I know this because, well, I didn’t factor that in the first time. Yes, melty cupcakes everywhere. Learn from my mistakes. After I got the frosting just right, I drizzled it with a little Root Beer syrup, but you could easily use chocolate. And since we couldn’t forget that they were for a “Summer Birthday Celebration” I added some sprinkles…to amp up the birthday-ness of it all. No presents, just cupcakes. Feel sorry for my child.
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