Tomorrow I, along with a bunch of other geeky Seattleites, will be sitting in a movie theater for 15 hours. Yes, we are crazy. We’ll be enjoying AMC’s Ultimate Marvel Marathon: a day of Marvel movies leading up to a 3D midnight showing of The Avengers. Â If you know me, you know I have a habit of falling asleep in action movies, so I know I need to do something special to stay awake that whole time. Enter Mountain Dew Cupcakes. They’re delicious, they give me energy, and they will help me make friends in the theater. I’ve been given clearance to bring some cupcakes in with me, but if your theater won’t allow them, I recommend this: Bring a baggie of unfrosted mini cupcakes in your purse or coat along with a small container of frosting. But don’t tell them I told you that.
These cupcakes are super easy to make, tasty, and are a great treat for game and movie nights. Like the Marvel wrappers/toppers? You can get them at Williams-Sonoma.
- 1 box classic yellow cake mix (Funfetti and Lemon cake mixes work as well)
- 12 ounces Mountain Dew (plus some additional for glazing and frosting)
- 2 sticks unsalted butter
- 4-5 cups powdered sugar
- 1 tsp lemon juice
- 1 tsp lime juice
- 3 drops green food coloring
- 3 drops yellow food coloring
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees and prepare cupcake pans with wrappers
- Mix cake mix and 12 ounces of Mountain Dew in a bowl with an electric mixer for 2 minutes.
- Pour mixture into cupcake pans, filling each ⅔ full.
- Bake according to the directions on the back of the box, or when a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean.
- Using a pastry brush, "glaze" the tops of the hot cupcakes with Mountain Dew. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool.
- Frost and enjoy!
- Mountain Dew Frosting
- In an electric mixer, whip butter until fluffy.
- Add in 4 cups of powdered sugar, Mountain Dew, and lemon/lime juices slowly as you mix Add more powdered sugar until you reach your desired consistency.
- Add in food coloring, mix until color is even.
Delicious! Will you be seeing The Avengers this weekend?
Seeing it at midnight! Might skip the cupcakes and just sneak in a whole bunch of frosting.
Does this create a strong Mt. Dew flavor? I have yet to try this, but I know sometimes flavors get diluted in something like this. I might pick up some soda syrup and try adding a little of that if needed.
Justin–I like the way you think!
Jessica– The flavor is very light in the cupcake, and the frosting has a pretty good Mountain Dew/citrus flavor. Soda syrup or even some orange or pineapple juice would definitely be the way to go to amp it up.
Do you not add the eggs, oil, and water to the cake mix? Because the recipe simply says to take the mix and add the soda, and bake. How would that make cake? 🙂
No eggs, oil, or water needed! Take any box of cake mix and any can of soda, and you can make a cake. (If you’re looking for a low-calorie version of chocolate cake, I recommend a box of chocolate cake mix and a can of diet coke.) The cake turns out really light and fluffy!
How many cupcakes does it make?
I got 16 cup cakes out of mine and they are on the normal to generous side for size.
Yes, Marion is correct here (pay no attention to my previous comment!) I made 12 regular sized cupcakes and around 12 mini cupcakes, which would translate to around 16-18 regular cupcakes.
These are not cupcakes. These are AWESOMECAKES!
(And I can’t wait to try them!!)
I don’t have any yellow cake mix. Will plain white cake mix work ok?
Yep! Any box of cake mix should work, but I’d recommend yellow, white, or funfetti.
I tried this and it didn’t turn out well. The cupcakes’ texture was really heavy and sticky even though I baked them for 28 minutes instead of the 20-23 minutes the box recommended. The toothpick never came out clean.
As for the frosting, it’s interesting. It’s definitely got a lemon lime flavor, but doesn’t taste much like Mountain Dew to me.
I was really hoping this would work. It just didn’t.
Hmm! I’m sorry to hear that! The cupcakes do end up quite sticky at times, but I’ve never see them turn out heavy. Perhaps if you tried Diet Mountain Dew instead of regular? Sometimes the extra sugar in regular soda can weigh down the cake a bit.
For the frosting–if you’re going for a bit more authentic Dew flavor, try adding a bit of orange juice in place of the lemon and lime juice. (Mountain Dew is actually orange based, I just chose to go with the more commonly assumed lemon-lime.)
cupcakes tasted more lemoney than Mt. Dew. adding soda syrup would up the calories. Abby- are you high altitude? Big affect on baking.
The frosting was super sweet! A little too sweet. I used less powdered sugar and added some flower (so it was less sweet and it was thicker) and it was just fine. =)
**Don’t melt the butter because it will seperate out if you do!** =)
But this is an awesome recipe! Thank you!!! XD
Great suggestion!
The cupcake batter was sticky. But the cupcakes came out fluffy 🙂 I have yet to make the icing. I hope it amps up the mountain dew flavor, because my fiance and his family are obsessed with dew!
Katie,
It definitely adds flavor, but the icing’s a bit more lemon-lime than Mountain Dew-y. I’d recommend adding or substituting some orange extract to get a more authentic flavor!
I don’t think my icing came out right…it’s kind of lumpy. And tastes more like butter and powdered sugar then anything else
Katie,
Was your butter straight from the fridge? Letting it sit out until it softens and gets closer to room temperature will make for a smoother icing. And if it tastes like butter and powdered sugar, add a bit more of the flavorings or some milk.
Thanks for the advice! Now would you suggest replacing the lemon and lime for orange to get a better mountain dew flavor, or would you add the orange?
I’d say replace it, but it’s going to be based on taste. Start with just the orange–you can always add in a drop of lemon or lime after if you want!
Approximately how many calries per cupcake?
I don’t know the official calorie count, so that must mean it has no calories. Enjoy! 🙂
(If you’re looking for a low-fat option, use Diet Mountain Dew instead of regular Mountain Dew and skip the frosting. It’ll just be the calories of the cake mix alone.)
I found this today after a quick google search. I had seen Mountain Dew cupcakes on Memebase, and had to try them out for my gamer boyfriend. They turned out amazing! We are going to make these for our pre- black Friday video game marathon! Thank you for posting this recipe!
Awesome! Glad you liked them. 🙂
does it taste good
How do you know when its is fluffy
Andrea,
I think it tastes great! It’s one of my fave quick cupcakes to make. You know when the butter is fluffy because the consistency is even–not too solid or liquid. It has a “fluffy” appearance in the mixer.
so i bought 4 unsalted butter in one box how many do i put
thank you soo much im about go to my bffs birthday party at this fancy hotle it will be me an d my other bff and of course the birthy girl and the bday girl LOVES mt.dew and sicnce im the baker of the group cause my friends suck at baking the bday girl asked me to make her mt.dew cupcakes and now i know how
Andrea, the buttercream recipe calls for 2 sticks of butter.
Claire, awesome! Happy Birthday to your friend!
I made mountain Dew cupcake for thanksgiving and everyone love it tasted great can a box of chocolate cake mix work to
Andrea, if you’re using chocolate cake mix, I’d recommend using a cola or diet cola.
Is there any way to make the flavor more strong?
You could boil some Mountain Dew down into a simple syrup and incorporate that, or you could add a mixture of orange, lemon, and lime flavoring into the batter.
my frosting came out really weak flavored and only tasted like butter and sugar is there a way to fix that
Kate, you can try adding more Mountain Dew and flavorings. The frosting is a Buttercream base, so it will taste a bit like butter/sugar.
Tara do u have a recipe for Chocolate Mint Candies Cookies with Andes on top
The Marvel Movie Marathon sounds fun! And these cupcakes look so delicious! They would be perfect for any fun party or just because(;
Stopping by from the “Most Successful 2012 Post” linkup over at BlogFrog!
Tara do you have a recipe for other food
You can see all of my recipes here: https://geekyhostess.com/category/recipes/
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“Bake according to box” will result in a cloyingly sweet mess. Forgo the eggs, oil and water. The monstrosity that escaped from my oven ruined my evening.
Yes, the only ingredients you need are the cake mix and 12 ounces of Mountain Dew. But you do bake according to the box: Bake the cupcakes for the amount of minutes the box recommends, and they’ll turn out perfectly normal.
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Tara, about how much orange juice do you put in instead of lemon/lime juice?
Brit,
I used orange extract, and just put in a few drops. I’d start with 2-3 drops (in addition to the lemon and lime juice), and then taste it. Add more as you see fit! (Tasting the frosting while making it is the best part, after all!) 😉
this sounds so awesome im definitally trying it soon
Will the cake rise as its supposed to?