Make Maple Bacon Cupcakes

Sound crazy? I thought so to. I’d been wanting to try these for awhile, and then I’d been given a request for them. So I tried them. They were a HUGE hit. Some people were sold from the start and loved them more than they expected. Others were hesitant to begin but then it was love at first bite. It’s certainly a unique cupcake, and a taste I’ve never experienced, but it.was.so.good. The cupcake is sort of like a pancake, and the frosting… oh the frosting… it’s to die for!

Maple Bacon Cupcakes
(Yield: 18-20 cupcakes)

Ingredients:

• 2 1/2 cups flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3/4 tsp ground ginger
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
• 1/2 cup brown sugar (I used light)
• 2 large eggs
• 1 1/4 cups maple syrup
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup buttermilk

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350*
2. Mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and ginger together. Set to the side.
3. In a mixer, beat butter and sugar on medium speed until fluffy.
4. Add in eggs, maple syrup, and vanilla. Mix until well blended.
5. Mix the dry ingredients alternating with the buttermilk. (I did dry mixture, buttermilk, dry mixture, buttermilk, dry mixture, buttermilk)
6. Fill cupcake liners. Batter will likely be pretty thick. I filled mine between 1/2-1/3 of the way full.
7. Bake for 18-20 minutes, or until done. You can use a toothpick, it if comes out clean, they are done. Or if you touch the top & the cake “bounces back” it is done.
8. Set the cupcakes aside to cool completely.

Maple Butter Frosting

Ingredients:

• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
• 3 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 2/3 cup brown sugar (I used light)
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 3/4 cup maple syrup
• 3/4 tsp vanilla extract
• 1-2 cups confectioners’ sugar (depending on desired thickness)

Directions:

1. With a mixer, beat softened butter, cream cheese, brown sugar, and salt until smooth.
2. Continue beating, add maple syrup and vanilla.
3. Add the confectioners’ sugar slowly. My frosting was a bit on the running side, so I added a little extra. Use your best judgement on consistency & thickness. Mix until completely blended.
4. Refrigerate frosting for about an hour before frosting. (If your strapped for time this may not be necessary, but because of the maple syrup, this frosting can be on the runnier side. Mine stayed on my cupcakes but did get a bit soft.)

Recipe originally from The Extraordinary Are of Cake

Candied Bacon

Ingredients:

6-8 pieces of bacon (depending on how much you want per cupcake, I used half a piece per cupcake)
1/2 cup brown sugar (I used light)