French Toast & Bacon Cupcakes

Well these are just fanTABulous and I'm more than a little irritated I didn't make something so good myself for Dessert Club this month. I'm having a hard time getting over my boring and disappointing cupcakes. Especially when I could have, and should have, gone here for inspiration.

But these, these are like total genius. I love French toast - oh, with fresh nutmeg! And, like any good overweight American, I love bacon - especially when it gets a little maple syrup on it, hello! And I am delighted to finally have a great Maple Buttercream recipe. This post has it all!

Over and over the tasters exclaimed, "It tastes like breakfast!" A good breakfast, like a long weekend breakfast, or an eating out breakfast. An indulgent breakfast. The best kind. Have milk and orange juice nearby. YUM!French Toast & Bacon Cupcakes (print recipe)
3/4 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature (1 1/2 sticks)
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups cake flour, sifted
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp fine salt
1/2 cup milk, room temperature
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
1 tsp cinnamon
3 large eggs, at room temperature, separated
Maple Buttercream Frosting, recipe follows
6 slices crisp bacon

1. Place a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 375 degrees F. Line a standard 12-cup muffin pan with paper cupcake liners.

2. In a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the butter and sugar and mix on low speed until just incorporated. Raise the speed to high and mix until light and fluffy, about 10 minutes. (Occasionally turn the mixer off, and scrape the sides of the bowl down with a rubber spatula.)

3. Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, nutmeg, and cinnamon. Set aside. In a small bowl, whisk together the milk and vanilla, and also set aside.

4. Add the egg yolks to the creamed butter one at time, waiting for each one to be fully incorporated before adding the next.

5. Reduce the speed of the mixer to low. Alternately, add the flour mixture in 3 additions and the milk in 2 additions, waiting for each to be fully incorporated before adding the next (scrape the bowl down occasionally). Raise the speed to medium and mix briefly until a smooth batter is formed. Transfer the batter to a large bowl.

6. Thoroughly clean the bowl of the mixer and put the egg whites inside. Whip the egg whites on high speed, using the whisk attachment, until stiff peaks are formed.

7. Working in 3 batches, using a rubber spatula, fold the egg whites into the batter, until just incorporated. Divide the batter evenly among the cups in the muffin pan. Bake, rotating the pan once, until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center of the cakes comes out clean, about 30 minutes.

8. Remove the cupcakes from the oven and cool completely. Makes 12 cupcakes

Maple Buttercream Frosting
Yield: about 1 2/3 cups, enough for 6 large or 12 regular cupcakes
2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 3/4 cups confectioners' sugar
2 tsp heavy cream, at room temperature
3/4 tsp maple extract

1. In a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or with a hand-held electric mixer in a large bowl, mix the butter and sugar on low speed until incorporated. Increase the speed to high, and mix until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. (Occasionally turn the mixer off, and scrape the down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula.)

2. Reduce the speed of the mixer to low. Add the heavy cream and maple extract.. Raise the speed to high and mix briefly until fluffy (scrape down the bowl occasionally). Store in the refrigerator until somewhat stiff, before using. May be stored in the refrigerator for 3 days.

Crisp Bacon
Bacon works well baked in an oven at 425 degrees on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake 12-15 minutes, drain grease, and bake another 5-7 minutes or until crisp. You can do it in a pan as well.

Finally – Frost the cooled French Toast Cupcakes with the Maple Buttercream Frosting and top with a Crisp piece of Bacon! Break/crumble the bacon over the cupcake to get a little in each bite.

*And how do you like my little cupcake pedestal? My mom gave it to me for Christmas. Just knew it would come in handy!

Recipe from http://lifewithcake.com via Dessert Club member A.M.

Gingery Maple Thins (by Tona)

Guest Baker Tona is my other sister. She's a super busy scholar, full-time professor, mom of four, agriculturalist and community do-gooder, so she doesn't always have time for hard-core baking. But she had a snow day last week and made these little delights for you and me. Thank you! Tona lives in Stow, Massachussetts.
I'm not usually a fan of crystallized ginger, but I really liked these cookies. I used Australian ginger, maybe that makes a difference? It seemed really soft and not as rubbery as I've used in the past. It took about 5 "wafers" of ginger to get 3 tablespoons of finely chopped. I also substituted Mapleine for the maple extract since that's what I had on hand.

I think I made my dough balls too big - more like a walnut sized is probably best, since I didn't get 2 dozen out of this. Or you could just double the recipe.

I would say these are a rather subtle cookie, perhaps even a slightly elegant one - they're not too sweet, which is nice. They were really delicious right out of the oven.

Gingery Maple Thins
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground ginger

8 T (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened

1/2 cup packed light brown sugar

1 large egg

1/4 cup pure maple syrup

1 tsp maple extract

3 T minced crystallized ginger

1/4 cup granulated sugar1. Preheat oven to 350. Line baking sheets with parchment or silpat. Combine flour, baking soda, and ground ginger in a bowl. With electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add egg, maple syrup, and maple extract and mix until incorporated. Reduce speed to low, add flour mixture and crystallized ginger, and mix until just combined.

2. Place 1/4 cup granulated sugar in bowl. Moisten hands with water and roll dough into 1 1/2-inch balls, then roll in sugar. Place sugared balls 2 inches apart on prepared baking sheets. Using flat-bottomed glass, press each ball to 1/2-inch thickness. Bake until golden, 12 to 14 minutes. Cool 5 minutes on sheets, then transfer to wire rack to cool completely. (Cookies can be stored in airtight container for 1 week.) Makes about 2 dozen cookies

Recipe from Cook's Country, December 2009

Brigham Young's Buttermilk Donuts

Yesterday was Pioneer Day. It was, you ask?

It's a state holiday in Utah, commemorating the arrival of the first pioneers in the Salt Lake Valley in 1847, led by Brigham Young. It's celebrated with parades, picnics, plays and parties in the west, and sometimes in Mormon communities throughout the country and world. Click here to learn more.As a Mormon growing up in the east, I was always a little ambivalent about Pioneer Day. It's part of the history and cultural heritage of my Church, but not really my family or home. I do have one grandmother descended from pioneers but the rest of my family are from other places, and I always considered Scandinavia and historical Virginia bigger players in my personal heritage.

However, I can always appreciate a reason to party, and the pioneer trek is full of incredible stories of sacrifice and miracles. Worth knowing, worth commemorating. My friend Shanna from Idaho always celebrated it with her family growing up. They would invite some other families over, dress up in pioneer clothes, and have a true Pioneer Day. Stations for the kids included shaking cream into butter, sawing a log, sewing a button, hammering nails, and going on a mini pioneer trek through the "wilderness" (their farm.) She said it gave her an appreciation and love for her pioneer ancestors. And they always finished the day with "Brigham Young's Buttermilk Donuts" from a pioneer cookbook her mom had.
But now Shanna lives in Arlington, so for Pioneer Day this year she and our friend Genevieve (from Utah) invited some friends to play in the back yard and have the homemade donuts. I'd been really looking forward to it, but Ginger was sick so we had to stay home. Darn delicate 2-year-old. Luckily, Shanna dropped by later with a plate of sweet-smelling pioneer puffs for us, so we wouldn't totally miss out.

Little circles of love, that's what these are. I almost cried when I smelled the maple icing, wondering how fast I could eat dinner so I could have one for dessert. I have almost no donut-making experience myself - why try when Krispy Kreme is already perfect? But these have made me reconsider, and I just may be trying my hand at it sooner than expected.

After all, it's never too late to become a pioneer.
Brigham Young's Buttermilk Donuts

2 cups buttermilk
2 eggs, beaten

1 c. sugar

5 3/4 c. flour

2 tsp. soda

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. nutmeg

1/4 c. melted butter

1. Heat vegetable oil in a large pot or deep skillet so that it's deep enough for the donuts to not touch the bottom. Use a candy thermometer to monitor heat - you want to get to 375.

2. In a large bowl, combine buttermilk, eggs and sugar. Blend well. Stir in melted butter.

3. Sift together dry ingredients and beat into buttermilk mixture.

4. Roll or pat out dough onto floured surface to about 1/4 inch. Cut with 2 1/2 in. cutter (make sure to flour the cutter so it doesn't stick). A donut cutter is ideal, but if you don't have one, use a biscuit cutter or glass and whatever you can figure out to cut out the hole (like a lid or tiny jar.)

5. Fry donuts and holes in vegetable oil that is 375 degrees - monitor heat between batches. If it is too cool the donuts will get too greasey while cooking; if it's too hot they won't cook all the way through. Add oil as needed so donuts don't touch bottom of pan. Flip when golden brown to cook other side. Lay cooked donuts on a cookie sheet lined with paper towels. Cool slightly. Dip in glaze, then lay glaze side up on wax-paper-lined cookie sheet.

Glaze

1/2 c. boiling water

1 lb. powdered sugar
2 tsp. either vanilla or maple flavoring

Mix a little of the water into the powdered sugar to make a paste. Add the rest of the water. This should be a glaze, not a thick frosting. Add 2 tsp. of either vanilla or maple flavoring. Glaze only 1 size of the donut.