Bacon and Maple Syrup Canadian Cupcakes

Recently it was the Rugby World Cup, and as a rugby mad nation it is all that is talked about in New Zealand when it is on.  At work we do a sweepstake where we pick 2 countries out of a hat.  At the end of the world cup we have a potluck lunch where each person brings along a dish from one or both of their countries.  This year my countries were Scotland, and for the second time in a row I also got Canada. Unfortunately Canada didn’t get out of the pool matches, and Scotland lost to Australia in the quarter finals.  

As I’m known as the cupcake person at work, I once again made my Bacon and Maple Syrup Cupcakes as my Canadian dish.  I love bacon and cupcakes, so it was a match made in heaven to combine the two.  I used my favourite Vanilla Cupcake recipe and adapted it to include the bacon and maple syrup.

Recipe

3 rashes of bacon

Cook bacon in a pan and put the fat/drippings in a container to put in the cupcakes.  Chop bacon and set aside for the topping.

Cupcakes

125gm butter + reserved fat/drippings from cooked bacon rashes

125gm sugar

2 eggs

1 Tbl maple syrup

125gm self rising flour

2 Tbsp milk

Preheat oven to 190C

1. Cream butter and bacon fat together until creamy.
2. Gradually add sugar and beat until light and fluffy.
3. Set the mixer to low and add the eggs one at a time.
4. Add the maple syrup and continue beating until combined, scraping down the bowl as necessary.
5. Alternately add the self raising flour and milk in two batches, starting and ending with the flour until just combined.
6. Spoon into cupcake cases and bake for around 12 mins.  I always use a toothpick to check they are cooked in the middle.

When they cooled I also heated 2 Tbs of maple syrup until it was runny (20 secs in microwave), and brushed these onto the cupcakes.  This gave them more of a maple syrup flavour, and also keeps them moist for longer.

Buttercream Icing

This is the buttercream icing that I use for all of my cupcakes and cakes, but I have replaced the  1 tsp of Vanilla Essence for 1 Tbsp of maple syrup for these cupcakes.

This recipe is enough to ice 12-15 cupcakes.  

250gm butter

3 Cups icing sugar

1 Tbsp maple syrup

1-2 Tbs milk

1. Cream butter until creamy.  
2. Add icing sugar one cup at a time until combined and light and fluffy.  
3. Then add the maple syrup, you can add more or less depending on how sweet you want the icing.  
4. Add the milk if the buttercream is a bit stiff.

Pipe or spoon icing on cupcakes, and then decorate with chopped bacon and drizzle with maple syrup.