9.23.12 French Toast Cupcakes with Maple Buttercream Icing

I'm super-duper in the fall mood right now.  Anything with cinnamon, maple, pumpkin, apple, or with a Halloween-theme will do.  So, last week I put the cupcake-of-the-week up for a vote on FaceBook.  Butterbeer squeaked by with the win, but French Toast Cupcakes were a very close second.  (I'll be honest, Steve's vote for Butterbeer cupcakes counted for about 5 votes, since he is the one who is my primary taste tester).

So here we are a couple of weeks later, and I finally have a moment to make these delicious breakfast-in-a-wrapper goodies.  These cupcakes will make your house smell AMAZING, and, like many of my recipes, these are very rich.  So, have your glass of milk ready.

I modified the Streusel Topped French Toast Cupcakes with Maple Buttercream from Bakingdom.  Any recipe that uses sour cream in the cake is worth a shot in my book; it keeps the cake so moist.  The icing just wasn't maple-y enough for me, so I upped it with maple extract, which you can find in the baking section of your grocery store with the other extracts.

 

French Toast Cupcakes 
Makes approximately 24 standard cupcakes

Streusel Ingredients
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
5 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into chunks

Cupcake Ingredients
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sour cream
4 eggs, at room temperature
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

To make the streusel: In a large bowl, combine the brown sugar, sugar, flour, cinnamon, and salt. Mix the cold butter into the mixture by hand, squeezing the pieces in to mix it. Cover and freeze while you prepare the cupcakes.

To make the cupcakes: Preheat oven to 350 degrees (180 C). Line a muffin pan with cupcake liners; set aside. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. Add the butter, sour cream, eggs, and vanilla and mix well, until the mixture is smooth, about 30 seconds. Fill baking cups about 1/2 way.*  Divide the streusel evenly among the cupcakes, and sprinkle it on each one. Bake for 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

*Do not fill up to 2/3 like you normally would.  I did with the 1st batch and they grew out of the pan!

FYI: these baking cups are WAY too full.

 
Maple Buttercream Icing
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 lb. (about 4 cups confectioners’ sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup maple syrup
1/4 tsp maple extract
2-3 tablespoons heavy cream

Beat the butter on high speed until light and fluffy. Beat in the sugar until combined. Stir in the vanilla, salt, syrup, & extract. Add the heavy cream and whisk on high for 4 minutes until desired consistency is reached.

Let's face it, these are breakfast cupcakes with maple syrup-y goodness. So go ahead and enjoy one with coffee. I did & they were AMAZING. The coffee seems to cut some of the sugary-ness & gives the cupcakes a nice balance.