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What kind of a birthday person are you? Do you like to fly under the radar and pretend it didn’t happen? Or do you like to stake a claim on the entire month and find excuses to celebrate all month long? Normally I fall somewhere in the middle, celebrating on the day of and maybe an extra day on a weekend if my actual birthday fell on a weekday. But in anticipation of the big 3-0 a bit more was planned to celebrate and it wasn’t all hubris.

I am lucky enough to have met and retained quite a few friendships from the days before even having a driver’s license and as a result we are all turning 30 within a few months of each other. However, since we have slowly spread across the country over the years it makes it hard to have a joint party. So instead we decided to take a vacation together this summer!

Since birthday’s are not complete without dessert, I whipped up some cupcakes with the help of this year’s “Share a Coke” campaign which features 1,000 names, along with fun terms like “Friends” and “BFF” on a range of Coke products from mini cans to 2 liter bottles that I found at Giant Eagle. What better way to “Share a Coke” than with my long time friends, advancing into the next decade together? We’ve spent so many fantastic years as friends and it’s time to celebrate many more to come!

We will be traveling to San Juan, off the coast of Seattle, where we will be hiking, whale watching, kayaking, biking, wine/distillery touring, and likely eating everything delicious in sight. We will also visit the mainland for one day in Seattle before being whisked back to our daily lives. And since that wasn’t enough we also booked the same connecting flights to and from to maximize our time together. People on that plane are going to hate us with all our our excitable and likely slightly inappropriate banter.

But since we are flying, obviously I cannot bring the actual bottle of Coke that says “Share a Coke with Friends” on it or the mini cans that say “Share a Coke with your BFF” so instead I baked it into cupcakes. The cupcakes I made are cupcake versions of the popular Coke sheet cake comprised of a chocolate-Coke cake topped with marshmallow frosting and a Coke glaze. I will likely remake these inside of mason jars or just place them pre-baked into jars or tupperware so that we can enjoy them together on the last leg of our flights heading to our destination. They are probably the stickiest, messiest cupcakes I’ve ever made but they were so good!

One year ago: Peanut Butter & Jelly Parfait

Three years ago: Glazed Lemon Poppy Seed Pudding Cookies

Four years ago: Spicy Chicken and Pepper Jack Pizza with Whole Wheat Crust

COKE CUPCAKES WITH MARSHMALLOW FROSTING

Makes 12-14 cupcakes

Ingredients:

CUPCAKES

1 cup Coca-Cola

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, cut into pieces

1/2 cup + 2 Tbsp granulated sugar

1/4 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 egg, lightly beaten

GLAZE

2 Tbsp (1/4 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature

2 Tbsp Coca-Cola

1 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder

1 cup powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

FROSTING

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature

1 cup powdered sugar

1 (7 oz.) jar Marshmallow Fluff

1 tsp vanilla extract

Chopped toasted pecans (optional)

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350F. Line a cupcake pan with baking papers.
2. In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine Coca-Cola, cocoa powder, and butter and cook until butter is melted. Add sugars and whisk until dissolved. Remove from heat and let cool.
3. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt.
4. Whisk egg into the cooled cocoa mixture until combined. Gently stir flour mixture into cocoa mixture.
5. Use a 1/4 cup measure to pour batter into the cupcake papers. Bake cupcakes for 25 minutes or until cake springs back when lightly pressed in the middle. Allow cupcakes to cool completely before frosting.
6. While the cupcakes cool make the glaze. In a small saucepan over medium heat, bring butter, coke, and cocoa to a boil, stirring until butter melts. Remove from heat then whisk in sugar and vanilla. Set aside to cool while you prepare the frosting.
7. For the frosting, in a large bowl beat butter and powdered sugar until fluffy and well mixed. Add vanilla and beat until incorporated. Fold in fluff with a rubber spatula until blended. Add to piping bag and pipe onto cupcakes, but don’t pile too high as the frosting does settle. If preferred, add more powdered sugar to make a firmer frosting. Follow with a dollop of glaze and a sprinkle of chopped pecans, if desired.

Source: Cupcakes from Sprinkle Bakes, frosting from Lil’ Luna, and glaze from My Recipes.