Cupcakes don’t always have to be bright and covered in sprinkles and glitter. Not that anything is wrong with that, however for this recipe I wanted to put together a cupcake with a more muted colour palette and incorporate an aspect of masculinity for the guys out there.
When thinking about a delicious flavour combo to get you curiously salivating and get the girls AND guys excited, I decided that there was nothing more blokey than beer and pretzels. So here you have it, a light beer and chocolate flavoured cake, topped with cream cheese frosting and crammed packed with salty pretzels. These contrast of flavours need to be added to your bucket list and made for any event where you want to impress a beer or chocolate lover!
- Cupcake
- 115g Plain Flour
- 40g Cocoa Powder
- 200g Caster Sugar
- 1¼ Teaspoon Baking Soda
- 1 Large Egg
- 125ml Beer
- 125 Butter
- 70g Sour Cream
- 1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- For the Top
- 75g Butter - Room Temp
- 120g Cream Cheese
- 420g Icing Sugar
- Melted Chocolate - Optional
- Flick oven onto 170 degrees bake and line a cupcake tray with 12 cupcake case.
- In a medium sized saucepan, measure the beer and butter and stir on a low heat until melted and combined - Do not boil.
- Removing pot from the heat, whisk in the cocoa and sugar until dissolved. Allow to cool slightly.
- Using a free-standing mixer, add the egg, sour cream and vanilla and beat until combined.
- Slowly pour in the beer and butter mixture while still beating on a low speed.
- When combined, add in the flour and baking soda and continue to beat until smooth.
- Transfer mixture in to a small jug and pour into prepared cupcake cases, about ⅔ full.
- Bake for around 16-20 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean or cupcake springs back when touched. Remove from the oven and allow to cool.
- For the frosting, add the butter and cream cheese to the bowl of a free standing mixer and beat for about 2-3 minutes until well combined.
- Add icing sugar in two stages, beating for another 3 minutes between each.
- Pipe blobs of frosting on top of cooled cupcakes and decorated with pretzels. For an added touch, you can drizzle with some melted chocolate or homemade caramel sauce. Enjoy!

It looks different, but it looks very good.