I am all about cake for breakfast. Even better is breakfast as cake. My maple bacon blueberry French toast cupcakes are the best flavors of breakfast. Filled with a jammy blueberry filling, these French toast cupcakes are lightly spiced with cinnamon and nutmeg and topped with sweet and buttery maple Swiss meringue buttercream, fresh blueberries and salty bacon crumbles. All that is missing is a cup of coffee. Eat them for breakfast. Eat them for dessert. They’re super yummy for anytime of the day.
French toast cupcake batter
In addition to the usual butter, milk, eggs that contribute to making French toast, these cupcakes are also lightly spiced with cinnamon and nutmeg. The nutmeg is the secret to making these cupcakes taste like French toast. So, so good. This recipe uses the reverse creaming method (you can refer to this post for more info), which creates a soft and fluffy cupcake with a tight crumb.
Blueberry Filling
This blueberry filling is so good on so many things. When I make it, I almost always double it, so I can use it on pancakes or ice cream. You can use either fresh or frozen blueberries for this recipe. The blueberries are cooked down with a little bit of sugar and mashed to release the juices. The mixture is reduced and thickened. Lemon juice and cornstarch are combined to make a slurry that is whisked into the blueberry mixture to thicken it. Cool the mixture before filling the cupcakes.
Maple Swiss Meringue Buttercream
My maple buttercream is made using both maple syrup and sugar for the meringue base. I like to add a small amount of maple extract to get more of that pancake syrup flavor, but you can totally omit it. The maple syrup definitely shines in this buttercream. For a comprehensive guide on Swiss meringue buttercream, check out this post.
Assembling the French toast cupcakes
Once the cupcakes and blueberry filling are cooled completely, assemble the cupcakes. Using a small paring knife, at an angle, cut a cone out of the center of the cupcake, about halfway down the cupcake. Cut the cone off of the removed piece to make a lid that will sit on top of the filling. Fill the cupcakes with a heaping teaspoon of the blueberry filling and place the lid on top. Alternatively, you can use a cupcake corer. This is the one I use.
Pipe or frost the filled cupcakes with the maple Swiss meringue buttercream. Top with the crumbled bacon and fresh blueberries.
If you make these maple bacon blueberry French toast cupcakes, let me know! Drop a comment or tag me on Instagram. I love seeing your creations.
Enjoy!
Ash xx
For more cupcake recipes, check out these posts:
Carrot Cake Cupcakes with Brown Butter Cream Cheese Frosting
Funfetti Vanilla Cupcakes with Chocolate Fudge Frosting
Maple Bacon Blueberry French Toast Cupcakes
Ingredients
French Toast Cupcakes
- ½ cup (119ml) whole milk, room temperature
- 1 large egg
- 1 large egg yolk
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons canola oil
- 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1½ cups (175g) cake flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 3/4 cup (150g) granulated sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
- ¾ teaspoon cinnamon
- ⅛ teaspoon nutmeg
Blueberry Filling
- 1 ½ cups (255g) blueberries
- 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons lemon juice
- 1 ½ teaspoons cornstarch
Maple Buttercream
- 5-6 large (150g) egg whites
- 2/3 cup (100g) pure maple syrup
- 2/3 cup (132g) granulated sugar
- 1 ½ cups (170g) unsalted butter, room temperature
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
- ¼ – ½ teaspoon maple extract
- 4 slices thick cut bacon, cooked and finely chopped
Instructions
Make the blueberry filling.
- In a saucepan, heat the blueberries and sugar over medium heat. Bring to a simmer, stirring frequently to prevent burning.
- .Mash the blueberries with the back of a wooden spoon to release the juices.
- Reduce the heat just enough to keep the mixture at a simmer and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until the blueberry juices begin to reduce and concentrate, about 8 minutes.
- In a small bowl, make a slurry by combining the lemon juice and the cornstarch.
- Remove the blueberries from the heat and whisk the slurry mixture into the blueberry mixture. Stir constantly until the mixture thickens.
- Cool the blueberry filling to room temperature before using.
Make the French Toast cupcakes.
- Heat the oven to 350F. Line a cupcake pan with paper liners and set aside.
- In a measuring cup, combine the egg, egg white, vanilla and oil. Whisk to combine.
- In the bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the cake flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg and mix on low speed for a minute to combine.
- With the mixer still running, add in the softened butter pieces. Mix on low speed until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. You should be able to gather a bit in your hand, squeeze and you have a solid piece. This means the butter is evenly distributed.
- With the mixer still on low, slowly pour in the milk, mixing JUST until the flour mixture is moistened. You will not use all the milk at this time. Pour the remaining milk into the bowl with the eggs and oil, and whisk to combine. Set aside.
- Turn the mixer speed to medium and whip for a full 90 seconds. The mixture should be whipped up, thick, and lighter in color.
- Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl to ensure everything is properly mixed.
- With the mixer speed on low, add the egg/oil/remaining milk mixture in two additions, scraping down the bowl after each addition has been mixed in.
- Once all the wet ingredients have been added, give the bowl a final scrape and mix with a spatula.
- Bake the cupcakes for 17-20 minutes, until a toothpick comes out with a crumb or two when inserted in the center of the cupcake. Don't over bake.
- Place the baked cupcakes on wire racks to cool for 5 minutes. Carefully remove the hot cupcakes from the pan and cool completely on a wire rack.
- Using a sharp knife, cut a hole into the center of the cooled cupcakes to create a space for the blueberry filling. The piece you removed will be the shape of a cone.
- Spoon the blueberry mixture inside each carved out cupcake. Fill the cupcake with the filling to the top, about a heaping teaspoon full. Slice off the pointy end of the cone piece you removed so that it can fit on top of the filling. Place on top of the filling.
Make the Maple Buttercream.
- Weigh out egg whites, maple syrup, and granulated sugar together in a non-reactive bowl.
- Clip a candy thermometer onto the side of the bowl and place over a pot of simmering (not boiling) water, whisking constantly and gently until temperature of the egg/sugar mixture reaches 160F.
- Using a sieve, strain the egg white/sugar mixture into the bowl of a stand mixer.
- Mix on medium speed with the whisk attachment until the mixture is glossy, reaches stiff peaks and the outside of the bowl is no longer warm. You cannot add butter to the bowl if it is warm or the butter will just melt when added.
- Once the mixture reaches stiff peaks, switch out the whisk attachment for the paddle attachment and begin mixing on low speed.
- Add the softened butter cubes, a couple at a time, until incorporated.
- Let the buttercream mix. It might curdle or look lumpy but that’s ok. Keep mixing. This could take some time.
- Keep mixing on low and add the salt, vanilla and maple extract, if using. Mix until everything is fully incorporated. The buttercream is ready when it is smooth, satiny and creamy.
- Top the cupcakes with maple buttercream and top with a bacon bits and fresh blueberries.
