The 115 Calorie Cupcake

An Almond Buttercream cupcake for only 115 (actually 113.5) calories?! Yeah, it sounds too good to be true, but it's possible (and delicious!) using these ingredients:

I found out just recently that you can prepare a standard cake mix using a diet soda rather than oil and eggs. I was definitely intrigued, but a bit iffy about the whole thing, so I had to try it for myself with my own little twist.

For the batter, I used a box of yellow cake mix, one can of Diet Cream Soda & 1/4 teaspoon of almond extract (1/2 teaspoon would be okay if you want a bit more almond flavor, but be careful because the stuff is pretty potent). I used a hand-mixer and kept mixing until the batter was completely smooth. The consistency of the batter surprised me since it thickened up really nicely:

The batter divides into 24 cupcakes (1/2 serving of batter per cupcake) if you fill them each 2/3 full

From what I have read, the cupcakes are supposed to cook for the time instructed on the cake box (as well as the temperature instructed), but I only left mine in for 15 minutes and did the toothpick test to make sure they were done at that point.

They smelled delicious cooking in the oven, and they looked amazing when I removed them!

For the frosting, I used Betty Crocker "Whipped" Buttercream Frosting and used a hand mixer to incorporate another 1/4 teaspoon of almond extract. A serving of the frosting is 2 tablespoons (100 calories), but I found that a 1/2 Tablespoon was plenty and cut down the calorie count to 25. I also added a garnish of two slices of almond (approx 3.5 calories, which is immaterial, but still included in the total).

They were delicious! And the best part is their stats:

113.5 Calories, 3.05g Fat, 186.25mg Sodium, 20.85g Carbs, 1.15g Protein, 12.3g Sugar

The possibilities are truly endless with the base of using any cake mix with any Diet Soda. Chocolate cake mix would also be tasty with Diet Cream Soda, and the "Whipped" variation of frosting is available in a ton of flavors. I will likely try a Red Velvet Cake mix next with the Whipped Cream Cheese frosting. The portion is fairly small (as it always is for a cupcake) but these are perfect to take to a function for a less unhealthy dessert option.