One interesting thing - it's really hard to get
water in plastic bottles here, and it's tough to
tote a glass bottle with a pint of fluid in it.
The solution is to use a reusable collapsible
plastic bottle, but Lilli forgot hers (I just
stop for a beer, which in Cologne, Bonn, and
Berlin is cheaper than bottled water or soft
drinks. On the other hand, they hand out
plastic straws for drinking out of your glass
bottles. So the Europeans are just as irrational
as the Americans, only they don't see it.

You can get American-branded products in plastic,
Coke and such, but I get the feeling that there's
some sort of penalty for doing so. I haven't yet
tried the famous Fritz Kola yet, fearing for my
life because of the caffeine content. Interesting
too how the Europeans have made big bucks out of
strong stimulant products (Red Bull, for example),
while the alcohol consumption is pretty amazing.

Red Bull cupcakes
Categories: sweet, caffeinated
Servings: 18

h - For the cupcakes
12 Tb butter, softened
1 1/2 c sugar
3 eggs, at room temperature
1 ts vanilla
2 c all-purpose flour
2 1/2 ts baking powder
1/4 ts salt
1/3 c whole milk
6 oz Red Bull energy drink (sugar-free not recommended)
1 oz red food coloring [M says too much]
h - For the frosting
12 Tb butter, softened
2 c sifted powdered sugar or more as needed
2 oz Red Bull energy drink
blue food coloring

For the cupcakes
Preheat oven to 350F.

Mix butter and sugar in a bowl until fluffy. Add
eggs, mix again, and then add vanilla.

Sift flour, baking powder, and salt together in
a separate bowl. Also, if you haven't already,
measure out the milk and the Red Bull (you can
mix them into the same measuring cup, but it
looks a little funky).

Alternate between adding the dry ingredients and
wet ingredients to the batter. Add food color to
your heartÿs desire.

Fill your cupcake pan with batter.

Bake for 20 min, then let cool. Brush tops with
more Red Bull, if desired.

For the frosting
Cream butter, add half the red bull, then add
powdered sugar a bit at a time, mixing as you go.
Add the rest of the Red Bull for flavor/consistency
as desired. Add icing coloring as desired to achieve
a bright blue.

Mandarrrrrr at geniuskitchen.com
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