Last year i wanted to get Joe something for Valentine’s Day that avoided the sickly pink hearts and fluffy teddy bears that usually line the shelves at this time of year. Without a fondant love heart in sight i set out to make a batch of these ‘man-cakes’ and they went down so well i thought i’d share the recipe for any budding bakers who’ve been bitten by the love big this February!
Usually these cupcakes are made with a chocolate batter but i’ve combined a few recipes together and fiddled around with some of the measurements to create a blonde cupcake that’s a little bit lighter but just as manly! If you like pancakes with maple syrup and bacon you’re sure to LOVE these…
The Cakes (makes 8-10 depending on how big you bake!)
180g of Self Raising Flour
2 Eggs
43g of Butter
a dash of Salt
180g of light Brown Sugar
1 teaspoon of Baking Powder
250ml of Beer (i used a bottle of doombar)
½ teaspoon of Bicarbonate or soda
– Combine your flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda in a small bowl
– Cream together the butter and brown sugar adding the eggs one at a time, until mixed.
– Pour ¼ of the dry ingredients into the mixer and mix together using a hand mixer.
– Pour in some of the beer and mix again!
– Continue this until all the ingredients are combined and you’re looking at a yummy (slightly runny) cake batter
– Line a muffin tin with cases and fill 1/2 – 3/4’s full with your mixture
– Bake at 350°/Gas Mark 4 for 30-40 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean
– Allow your cakes to cool completely on a wire rack – this is essential to make sure your cakes don’t go soggy from that yummy beer inside!
The Icing
180g Butter, softened
200g Icing Sugar
3 tbsps Maple Syrup
– Mix together your butter and icing sugar in a large bowl to create a buttercream
– Add the maple syrup and combine until you get a flavoured mixture of pipeable consistency
Caramelised Bacon Topping
Pack of Streaky Bacon
Brown Sugar
– Spread out your streaky bacon on a baking tray lined with foil.
– Grill until nearly cooked and sprinkle on lots of brown sugar and return to the grill until crispy
– Break up your bacon and generously sprinkle over your cupcakes!
The finished result is a light spongy batter slightly flavoured with beer and a sweet syrupy topping with added salty sweet bacon bits! I picked up a cupcake box from Tesco and some pretty ribbon from Dunelm to create the perfect little valentines package….who needs shop bought love when you can whip it up in the kitchen!
Don’t forget to tweet me a picture @xameliax if you give my recipe a go! #maplebaconmancakes
xax