Four years of French and that’s one of the few things I can say. No I don’t no how to say toast or cupcake, and my accent is horrible. The truth is all that I remember is a bunch of random words and sayings that probably wouldn’t even help me if I was ever lost in France.

French toast in cupcake form… Magnifique! (I remember that too.) A few food bloggers and cupcake fanatics have come up with their own versions of this cupcake, and as a self-proclaimed French toast lovin’ girl, I had to join in. This was one of the cupcakes I made for the cupcakes and cocktails girl’s night that I hosted a few weeks ago. This was my favorite of all four cupcakes. I paired it with a light Riesling, which didn’t compete with the sweetness of the cupcake. The truth is you can probably pair this cupcake with anything, and it’s still going to be fantastic (or is it fantastique?).

Be careful when baking up breakfast-like cupcakes. There are a lot of muffins out there posing as cupcakes. Blueberry, apple cinnamon, and banana cupcakes are often just muffins in disguise. You can’t just spread frosting on a muffin and call it a cupcake. These French Toast cupcakes are the real deal ~ light, crumbly, and moist ~ everything you expect in a cupcake.  I adapted one of the Cake Mix Doctor’s cinnamon cake recipes and added my own maple syrup frosting. I sprinked a little cinnamon toast crunch cereal on top for garnish. These will definitely be repeated in my house, and are arguably better than actual French toast.  

The frosting is a very basic cream cheese frosting with a few tablespoons of syrup added. It is simple and delicious. While we’re on the topic of fakeness, that container claiming to be syrup in most of our pantries probably has no or little maple content. It’s a phony, full of high fructose. I won’t lie, I like the taste and we go through quite a bit of it in my house.  The boy and I both have a crazy addiction to frozen waffles. This ”pancake” syrup is not what you want to add to the frosting. You want to use  real maple syrup, and it will say it right on the label. Canada, Europe, and the United States all have different grading systems to classify their syrups. The different categories generally have to do with the color, flavor, and time of year the syrup was produced. Just make sure to use real maple syrup in this frosting recipe, and you can’t go wrong.

Au revoir mes amis! Be back with more tomorrow!

In the meantime, don’t forget to vote for my chocolate covered strawberry cupcake. It only takes a second! Vote here! Merci Beaucoup! You can vote daily until July 28th.

French Toast Cupcakes (Cake Adapted from the Cake Mix Doctor)

 Makes 20 to 24 cupcakes

1 package plain yellow cake mix (I use Duncan Hines)
1 package (3.4 ounces) vanilla instant pudding mix
1 1/4 cups whole milk
3/4 cup vegetable oil
3 large eggs
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 24 cupcake cups with paper liners. Set the pans aside. Mix cake mix, pudding packet, milk, oil, eggs, and cinnamon in a large mixing bowl. Blend with an electric mixer until smooth (approximately 2 minutes). Spoon batter into each lined cupcake cup, filling it 2/3 full.
Bake approximately 15-20 minutes, until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Remove the pans from the oven and place them on wire rack. Cool completely before frosting.

Maple Syrup Frosting

3 cups powdered sugar

1 8-ounce package cream cheese, room temperature

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature

2 tablespoons pure maple syrup (preferably Grade B)

Sift powdered sugar into a medium sized bowl. Mix cream cheese and butter with electric mixer until smooth. Add powdered sugar and maple syrup and beat until smooth.