The Ultimate Man-Cake!

This recipe, and any other update on this food blog, is long overdue. Life has been a little bit hectic over the past few weeks with a new job, crazy schedules, more rigorous workouts, and everything that comes along with being extremely exhausted. I haven’t lost my love of eating and cooking though and I intend to be back on in full force within the next few weeks. These bacon cupcakes are no doubt the most delicious, manly cupcakes I’ve ever made. They really appeal to everyone BUT my mother and were so easy to make, I am considering making a cake version because one small cupcake is just never enough.

Side note: There are amazing running trails all around Vancouver and I’d gladly make a few recommendations once you eat these bad boys!

Ingredients:

4 Strips of bacon

¾ Cups of Brown Sugar

1 ½ Cup of flour

1 ½ Tsp of Baking powder

¼ Tsp of Salt

½ Cup of browned butter (melt over medium heat, until butter is golden brown. Remove from heat and set aside)

2 Eggs

½ Cup of Buttermilk (Simply add a Tbsp of lemon juice to 1/3 cup of milk, it will curdle)

¼ Cup of Maple Syrup

For the Maple Buttercream: 3 eggs yolks, 1 cup of butter, 1 cup of maple syrup

1. Cook all 4 slices of bacon until very crispy. Chop into tiny little pieces; keep ¼ of the bacon for decorating at the end.

2. In a bowl, mix in the flour, baking powder and salt.

3. In a larger bowl, mix in the browned butter, brown sugar, eggs, buttermilk, and maple syrup until well combined.

4. Gradually stir the flour mixture into the wet bowl. Lastly, stir in ¾ of the bacon bits into the mix, stir, and scoop evenly (3/4 full) into 12 muffin cups.

5. Bake for 18 minutes in a 350-degree oven. Once baked, let them cool a few minutes in the muffin pan before cooling completely on a wire rack.

6. To make the buttercream: Use an electric whisk to whisk 3 egg yolks for 5 minutes until light and fluffy, set them aside. Using a candy thermometer, boil 1 cup of the best quality Maple Syrup until it reaches 240-degrees. It will have thickened and should only take about 15 minutes. WATCH IT CLOSELY, and where a long sleeved shirt. In a stand mixer, add the beaten yolks, slowly let the maple syrup drip down the side of the bowl until the maple syrup and yolks are completely incorporated. Beat until the bowl in only slightly warm to the touch. Cut two sticks of cold butter (1 cup) into small pieces, mix them in 1 at a time until the buttercream is fluffy and golden brown (4-5 minutes of mixing). Done! I’d strongly recommend using a stand mixer for this recipe but a hand held would probably work as well if you have enough patience…

7. Once the cupcakes are fully cooled, ice with some of the maple buttercream and top with a few bacon bits.

Bon Appétit!

Cupcake Recipe inspired by Nestle.

Buttercream Recipe: Martha Stewart.