French Toast and Bacon Cupcakes
French Toast and Bacon Cupcakes
You’ve heard the expression, “everything is better with bacon” – well, who knew that this included cupcakes. Frankly, I don’t believe I have ever met a person who can resist the magical powers of bacon. The scent, the flavor, just thinking about bacon makes my mouth water. It’s funny how bacon plays well with so many other flavors and types of foods. Bacon can instantly take the everyday sandwich or salad to a new level. Bacon wrapped steak, scallops, chicken livers, or dates…the possibilities seem to be endless.
Anthony Bourdain’s show “No Reservations” on the Travel Channel did a episode on Portland, Oregon. Voodoo Doughnut was a strange local shop that specialized in unique donuts, one being a maple cream stick with crisp bacon. This is where the idea of the French Toast and Bacon Cupcake was born. Savory and sweet work so well together, and since I already drown my bacon in maple syrup, why not? Cinnamon, nutmeg, and a bit more vanilla are the key extras in this yellow cake recipe that give it a French Toast feel. I should note, these cupcakes smell amazing while baking!
I whipped up a Maple Buttercream to frost them with and finished them with the crown jewel…crispy bacon. For aesthetics I left the bacon in one piece, but would prefer it crumbled for easy eating! Enjoy!
French Toast Cupcakes
What You’ll Need:
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter (1 1/2 sticks), at room temperature
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 1/2 cups cake flour, sifted
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon fine salt
- 1/2 cup milk, at room temperature
- 1 ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon fresh grated nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 3 large eggs, at room temperature, separated
- Maple Buttercream Frosting, recipe follows
- Crisp Bacon
- Equipment: A six cup jumbo muffin pan or 12 cup regular muffin pan
French Toast and Bacon Cupcake Ingredients
Directions:
1.) Place a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 375 degrees F. Line the 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.
Maple Buttercream Frosting
Yield: about 1 2/3 cups, enough for 6 large or 12 regular cupcakes
What You’ll Need:
- 2 Sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 2 3/4 cups confectioners’ sugar
- 2 teaspoons heavy cream, at room temperature
- 3/4 teaspoon maple extract
Directions:
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 for me 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!
Inside of a French Toast and Bacon Cupcake
Tags: buttercream, cake, celebration cake, cupcake decorating, Cupcakes, Our Favorite Recipes
May 2nd, 2009 at 1:36 pm
my birthday is in a month, but please go ahead and send these to me early. thx.
May 2nd, 2009 at 3:02 pm
I have been trying to put together a really good maple and bacon cupcake for a LONG time after trying one at More Cupcakes in Chicago. I have tried and tried, and nothing really matches what I had there. I’m hoping to give this a try next to see what I come up with! Thanks for your love of maple and bacon!!!
May 2nd, 2009 at 5:13 pm
What a great combination and so unique!
May 2nd, 2009 at 10:41 pm
Niiiice… I could have like 3 or 4 right now
May 3rd, 2009 at 2:18 am
It really is true, everything IS better with bacon.. These cupcakes sound wonderful!
May 6th, 2009 at 9:42 am
I think I also saw that shop featured on Man vs. Food — was that the one where they had the vodoo doll donut as well? The donut w/ the bacon looked amazing, as do these.
May 6th, 2009 at 9:51 am
Wow this is the most interesting recipe I have seen in a long while. Can’t wait to try it!
May 7th, 2009 at 4:21 am
Wow. These look absolutely beautiful and delicious. I was always a fan of the bacon donut craze (and what better way to have french toast and bacon, right?)
May 7th, 2009 at 7:46 am
I know I’d rather have a donut any day of the week! Thanks for your comment.
May 18th, 2009 at 3:46 pm
are these Kosher?
May 26th, 2009 at 5:08 pm
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June 1st, 2009 at 1:25 pm
Oh, my! I think I’m in love!!
June 1st, 2009 at 9:07 pm
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June 8th, 2009 at 10:02 am
Good recipe, but i would also crumble and put bacon bits inside the batter itself.
J
June 9th, 2009 at 1:48 pm
[...] A french toast inspired cupcake, lathered with maple buttercream frosting and topped with a rather cute, crispy piece of bacon. (PicThx LifeWithCake) [...]
June 17th, 2009 at 2:49 pm
These are wonderful, just about everyone in my office LOVED them!
June 30th, 2009 at 2:22 pm
….im a vegetarian but the french toast cupcake looks good
July 13th, 2009 at 5:09 pm
I LOVED that episode of No Reservations. Someday I will go to Voodoo Doughnut and try that maple bacon one.
July 20th, 2009 at 9:39 pm
Those look fantastic! they might be the perfect thing to use to tempt my non-pastry loving boyfriend with
July 21st, 2009 at 6:12 pm
You have now met the one person who finds bacon disgusting. I actually make turkey sausage and eggs in the morning and stop and get a bagel on the way to work…..not everyone loves pigs you know!!
July 28th, 2009 at 12:16 am
If I wanted to make these the night before (I am making them for my wife to take to work) should I hold off with the frosting till the morning or will they be ok frosted the night before? Also, would regular cream suffice as we do not have heavy cream in New Zealand?
July 28th, 2009 at 8:41 am
I would wait to frost them and place bacon right before serving. Regular cream would be fine….thanks for your comment.
August 13th, 2009 at 10:47 am
Wow, that looks absolutely delicious! Great post, you did such a nice job presenting the pictures too…I am definitely going to have to try that recipe this weekend!
August 14th, 2009 at 1:53 pm
Wow, absolutely delicious looking. I agree that you did a wonderful job with the imagery as well. My sweet tooth just kicked in.
August 16th, 2009 at 3:05 am
[...] You can find more information and the full recipe at Life is Better with Cake. [...]
August 30th, 2009 at 5:53 am
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September 9th, 2009 at 12:22 pm
[...] boring old chocolate and vanilla — try intense flavors like Meyer Lemon, French Toast (with Bacon), Red Velvet, Peanut Butter and Carrot, Cardamom, Cashew, Bourbon! In fact, the very cup the cake [...]
September 14th, 2009 at 1:35 pm
Weird but tempting recipe you have there. I will give this a go for the wife on our anniversary, I will stick a candle on top
September 19th, 2009 at 12:14 am
Just tried this recipe out tonight.
I haven’t finished yet as I’m letting the cupcakes cool and frosting set before I frost them. Tomorrow I bake the bacon, frost the cupcakes and see how it turns out. *crosses fingers*
September 24th, 2009 at 8:17 am
I hope they came out great…if you can, let us know. We would love to hear from you.
September 29th, 2009 at 2:24 pm
Bacon and cupcakes… sounds like and interesting combination but they look so yummy. I can’t wait to them; they honestly look so delicious especially with the frosting melted on the cupcake.
November 3rd, 2009 at 6:25 am
I was searching through Google doing research for a blog when i came across this article and I found it very informative and interesting even though it wasn’t exactly what I was looking for it is certainly an unusual recipe i will try myself. Thanks Adele xx
November 14th, 2009 at 5:40 pm
Who would have thought of this. It’s such a cool idea. I showed my husband and he didn’t like the idea at first but I said why not! We eat french toast and bacon together it’s just all in one. I’ll be serving these next Sunday!
December 5th, 2009 at 7:26 pm
[...] This post was Twitted by lizcasler [...]
December 20th, 2009 at 3:11 pm
just made these…the french-toast taste was DEAD-ON and so good…i couldn’t find maple extract and had no maple syrup, so i made a cinnamon-sugar frosting and topped it with crumbled bacon…heaven in a cupcake.
January 3rd, 2010 at 11:56 pm
These are in my oven right now and my house smells like heaven. Can’t wait to try them!
January 15th, 2010 at 12:06 pm
I came across this article and I found it both informative and interesting. I’m off work tomorrow, so i’m going to try and make them with my young daughter for her birthday on Sunday. Wish us luck ! Thanks Michael
January 15th, 2010 at 9:32 pm
I have been trying to put together a really good maple and bacon cupcake for a LONG time after trying one at More Cupcakes in Chicago. I have tried and tried, and nothing really matches what I had there.
January 18th, 2010 at 3:00 pm
I have to say, this is a very unusual recipe, but one I really want to try! Scheduled them in for tomorrow, wish me luck! Jade xx
January 25th, 2010 at 6:27 am
I love cupcakes.It is better then other cakes
January 26th, 2010 at 9:31 pm
In the immortal words of David Cassidy…I think I love you. :-l
I’m soooo wishing it wasn’t 9:30 on a “school night” and I had butter and bacon. Now I have to wait to try these. *sigh*