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Ezz @ M&W

Livin da Cupcake Loca

If you'd told me several years ago that I could put bacon into a cupcake, I would have laughed at you. Just like I would have laughed if you'd told me about little cakes on the end of lollipop sticks. Okay...that one's a little more credible. But bacon...in a cupcake? Images of savoury muffins would have crept into my limited imagination, like they are undoubtedly yours.

French Toast and Bacon in a cupcake? That's just crazy talk.

Nevertheless, I hauled Stephen into the kitchen at midnight on Friday to help me make the pièce de résistance for our submission into the Lily Chic Events/Luminoso Blu Mother's Day Table competition. Don't get me wrong - Stephen is a vital part of our business. He lifts heavy things. He climbs unstable ladders and hangs lanterns in strange places. He handles logistics and orders and my mountain of accumulated receipts. Nowhere in his contract (ha!) does it say that he has to help me make baked goods at some ungodly hour. But here we were - attempting the stuff that legends are made of. We had enough mixture for...a 13th cupcake. Not being able to wait, we broke open the mysterious little cake - steam still rising from its inner core (okay, now I'm getting carried away). We took a bite and our eyes widened. It was French Toast. It was Bacon. It was BOTH.

Fast forward several hours (and 4 hours sleep) later - cupcakes cooled and frosted, shoot complete, photos transferring to the hard drive...and we got to eat them as intended. The maple frosting was...in a word...divine. I've adapted the recipe from the original source, given that I could not find maple extract ANYWHERE. If you can - I salute you. But an extra dollop of maple syrup did it for me (and I was a little more liberal with the cinnamon too - but that's just personal preference).

So without further ado - I give you the perfect recipe for mum this Mother's Day:

French Toast & Bacon Cupcakes w/Maple Buttercream.
Adapted from The Busty Baker's adaptation of 125 Best Cupcake Recipes by Julie Hasson
Makes 12-14

Cupcakes

• 1 1/2 cups plain flour
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 Tblspn ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted and then cooled
• 2 eggs
• 1(ish) tablespoon pure maple syrup
• 1/2 cup milk
• 6-8 slices bacon (or more if you like your cupcakes bacon-y)

1. Preheat oven to 180C and line baking pan with paper liners.

2. Cook bacon in batches browned, but still flexible. Soak up any extra oil on paper towels and set aside to cool. Once bacon is cooled enough to handle, cut a couple slices of bacon into inch-long pieces. This will be the decoration on top of the cupcake, so make as many as you think you'll need. Set aside. Chop or tear the remaining bacon into tiny pieces. Set aside.

3. In a small bowl, mix together flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt.

4. In a large bowl, whisk together butter, sugar and eggs until smooth. Whisk in maple syrup. Alternately whisk in flour mixture and milk, making three additions of flour mix and two of milk, beating until smooth. Fold in small bacon pieces. Mix until evenly distributed throughout batter.

5. Scoop batter into prepared pan and bake 20-25 minutes until golden brown and tops spring back when lightly touched. Let cool in pan on a rack for 10 minutes, then remove from pan and cool completely.


Maple Buttercream
Adapted from The Busty Baker's adaptation of 125 Best Cupcake Recipes by Julie Hasson
Makes enough to frost 2 dozen cupcakes

2 cups icing mixture
3/4 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
3 tablespoons pure maple syrup
Pinch of salt

1. In a bowl with an electric mixer, beat butter until light and fluffy. Add maple syrup and salt, and beat until well combined. Add icing mixture, half cup at a time, and beat until smooth and fluffy, about 5 minutes.

2. Frost or pipe onto cooled cupcakes. Top with inch-long bacon pieces.


Original Post: http://sites.google.com/site/thebustybakersrecipes/home/french-toast-and-bacon-cupcakes

Sooooo yummy!!