Root Beer Cupcakes — The “Turner Heating & Air” Celebration Bake

Travis sent me a long email Wednesday morning. The first long email since the original Facebook message in October 2024 — we’ve corresponded in short notes a few times a year for the last two and a half years, mostly birthday-acknowledgments and a Christmas exchange, but never a real letter. Wednesday’s email was a real letter. Eight paragraphs. Three pages printed. The address line said “Kaylee, please read this when you have time. There’s no rush on a response.” I read it Wednesday afternoon while Brayden was at school.

Travis has been sober four years. He went into a recovery program in 2023 after a long quiet period that I had not been part of and that he doesn’t describe in detail except to say it had been “the bad years.” He met a partner in the program named Dale who had been a heating-and-air technician for thirty-two years before his own life had gone sideways. They had been working together at a Sapulpa heating-and-air company for two years. They opened their own small business this spring — Turner Heating & Air, a two-truck operation out of a small commercial space on Route 66. The business turned its first profit this quarter. Travis wrote: “I just wanted you to know there is something with the Turner name on it that I am not ashamed of for the first time in a long while.”

I cried at the dining table for fifteen minutes after I finished the email. Dustin came home from his Wednesday-record-label work and held me for a while. I responded to Travis Thursday morning with a short note that said congratulations and that I would think about visiting the shop. Travis wrote back at noon Thursday saying there was no pressure and he would be there if I wanted to come.

Saturday Travis texted me directly — he had my number from the email exchange last fall but had never used it — saying he was hosting a small four-years-sober-and-first-profit party at the shop next Saturday and asked, with no expectation, if I’d be willing to send a dessert. He said he would understand if I said no. I texted yes within an hour.

Sunday I made root beer cupcakes because Travis had mentioned in the email that root beer cake had been his favorite as a kid — his mother (a grandmother I have never met and who died in 2009 when I was seven) had made a root beer cake for his birthdays through his childhood. The detail had stayed with me from the email. I wanted to send something specific to him.

The technique: in a saucepan, gently warm one and a half cups of root beer with a half-cup of butter until the butter melts. Cool slightly. In a large bowl, whisk one and three-quarters cups of all-purpose flour, three-quarters cup of cocoa powder, two cups of sugar, a teaspoon of baking soda, a half-teaspoon of salt. Whisk the warm root beer mixture into the dry. Add two large eggs, a half-cup of buttermilk, a teaspoon of vanilla. The batter is thin (root beer batters are thin); that’s correct.

Scoop into a paper-lined muffin tin, filling each cup three-quarters full. Bake at three-fifty for eighteen to twenty minutes until a toothpick comes out clean.

The frosting: a stick of softened butter beat with a quarter-cup of root-beer extract (or a quarter-cup of root beer reduced down to two tablespoons in a saucepan), three cups of powdered sugar, a teaspoon of vanilla, a pinch of salt. Beat for four minutes until fluffy. Pipe onto cooled cupcakes.

Twenty-four cupcakes. I shipped twelve to Travis’s shop for the party. The other twelve stayed in Nashville. I wrote a small card for the box: “Congratulations. Mom told me you used to love this recipe. Welcome back to the Turner name. — Kaylee.”

Root beer warmed with butter. Thin batter. Root-beer-extract frosting. Here’s the build.

Root Beer Cupcakes

Prep Time: 20 min | Cook Time: 20 min | Total Time: 40 min | Servings: 24 cupcakes

Ingredients

• 1 box (15.25 oz) white or yellow cake mix
• 1 cup root beer (not diet)
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 3 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon root beer concentrate or extract
• Root Beer Frosting:
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
• 3 cups powdered sugar, sifted
• 3 tablespoons root beer (not diet)
• 1/2 teaspoon root beer concentrate or extract
• Pinch of salt

Instructions

1. Preheat oven. Heat oven to 350°F. Line two standard 12-cup muffin tins with paper liners and set aside.
2. Mix the batter. In a large bowl, combine the cake mix, root beer, vegetable oil, eggs, and root beer extract. Beat with a hand mixer on medium speed for 2 minutes until smooth and slightly bubbly.
3. Fill and bake. Divide batter evenly among the lined cups, filling each about 2/3 full. Bake for 18–20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
4. Cool completely. Remove cupcakes from the tins and transfer to a wire rack. Allow to cool fully before frosting — at least 30 minutes. Frosting a warm cupcake is the one mistake you cannot walk back.
5. Make the frosting. Beat softened butter with a hand or stand mixer on medium-high until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add powdered sugar one cup at a time, beating between additions. Add the root beer, root beer extract, and salt, then beat on high for 2 minutes until frosting is airy and smooth.
6. Frost and serve. Pipe or spread frosting generously onto each cooled cupcake. Garnish with a maraschino cherry or a drizzle of caramel if the moment calls for it. These are best served the day they’re made, though they keep covered at room temperature for up to 2 days.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 265 | Protein: 2g | Fat: 13g | Carbs: 36g | Fiber: 0g | Sodium: 190mg