An amazing co-worker has a birthday this week. He is brilliant and never lets our team down. More often than not, he comes to our rescue and is a “go-to” guy for our team and many outside our group. Not an easy feat in a demanding engineering environment. He deserves a sweet treat to celebrate with the office crew in honor of his special day. He is very healthy. He works out, eats right and stays in shape. I rarely see him eat anything sweet, but he does enjoy the occasional Dr. Pepper. I set out to create a cupcake that would echo one of his few indulgences.

This is a rather simple recipe, one that can be thrown together the night before and chilled for morning delivery to the office. It starts with a cake mix, what could be easier?

The addition of Chinese Five Spice powder may seem odd, but it amplifies the undernotes of the Dr. Pepper and is surprisingly complimentary to the chocolate and cherries.

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Ingredients

For the cake
1 box Devil's Food Cake Mix
1/2 cup Butter, melted
3 Eggs, room temperature
1 1/4 Cup Dr. Pepper 
1/2 Teaspoon Chinese Five Spice

For the frosting
2 Cups Whipping Cream
1 Cup + 1 Tablespoon Confectioner's Sugar
1/4 Cup Dr. Pepper Reduction (recipe below)
1/4 Teaspoon Chinese Five Spice

For the Dr. Pepper Reduction 
1 Cup Sugar
2 Cups Dr. Pepper

Optional Topping
Dr. Pepper Reduction
Maraschino or Bing Cherries

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Instructions

1. Line cupcake pan with paper or foil cupcake liners.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
3. With a stand mixer or hand mixer, prepare cake per package directions, substituting oil with butter, and water with Dr. Pepper. Blend Chinese Five Spice into cake batter.
4. Fill cupcake liners 2/3 full with cake batter. Bake for 15-20 minutes until toothpick inserted in cupcake comes out clean. Remove to a rack and cool completely.
5. While cupcakes are cooking, make Dr. Pepper reduction by combining sugar and Dr. Pepper in a quart size sauce pan. Slowly bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer. Cook for 30 minutes or until reduced to a thick syrup. Cool completely.
6. Prepare whip cream frosting. Combine whipping cream and confectioner’s sugar in a chilled mixing bowl. Use all of the confectioner’s sugar to stablize the whip cream. Beat on high speed until soft peaks form. Add in Dr. Pepper reduction and Chinese Five Spice. Continue beating until stiff peaks form.
7. Spoon or pipe frosting onto cupcakes. If desired, drizzle with remaining Dr. Pepper reduction and top with a cherry.