Or you could call them muffins, but these have frosting! They are as good as coffee cake and quite the new fashion these days! Enjoy!

French Toast Cupcakes

You can make these the night before, if you want, and then have a cupcake type of French Toast in the morning.

1 tablespoon maple syrup

1 cup butter, room temperature

1 cup sour cream

13⁄4 cups sugar

4 eggs, room temperature

1 tablespoon vanilla

3 cups flour plus 2 tablespoons

21⁄2 teaspoons baking powder

2 teaspoons cinnamon

salt

Combine dry ingredients, except sugar, in a large bowl. Set aside. Beat maple syrup with butter, sour cream and sugar. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Make a well in the dry ingredients. Pour the butter-egg mixture into the well and gently combine. Do not overmix.

Butter or paper a cupcake tin. Ladle batter into each cup until it is at least 2⁄3’s full. Sprinkle top with maple sugar (recipe below.)

Bake at 350 for about 20 minutes or until a skewer thrust through the middle comes out cleanly. Frost cupcakes with Maple buttercream frosting (recipe below.)

Maple syrup

2⁄3 cup sugar

1⁄4 teaspoon maple syrup

Toss these together so you have sugar that tastes like maple, but you can still sprinkle it over the top of cupcakes. Add more sugar or maple syrup to taste, as needed.

Maple Syrup Frosting

1 cup butter at room temperature

41⁄2 cups powdered sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

salt

2 tablespoons maple syrup to 4 tablespoons

2 tablespoons heavy cream

Beat butter and add sugar by the cup, alternating with maple syrup and cream, and then beat well. Add vanilla and salt. Taste and adjust seasonings.

Blueberry Strawberry Marshmallow cupcakes

This recipe is like breakfast cereal of some kinds, wouldn’t you say? With fruit?

Strawberry Filling

1⁄2 cup water

11⁄2 tablespoon cornstarch

12⁄3 to 2 cups frozen strawberries, thawed

1⁄2 cup sugar

Dissolve cornstarch in water and stir into strawberries and sugar. Cook in a saucepan, stirring, over medium low heat until the filling thickens.

Use as is or you may mush the berries more with a masher or use your blender. Also may be strained, although it is fine without blending or straining.

Use in the middle of cupcakes or for dipping their tops.

Marshmallow Frosting I

2 egg whites, from container of dried egg whites (buy at your grocery store and reconstitute according to package directions.)

4 tablespoons sugar

2⁄3 cup corn syrup

11⁄4 teaspoon vanilla

Beat egg whites until almost stiff, than add sugar gently by the tablespoon. Beat in corn syrup and vanilla gradually, adding a little at a time. Beat egg whites until totally fluffy. Use a spoon or pastry bag to frost cupcakes.

Blueberry Cupcakes

5 to 8 blueberries per cupcake

2 cups flour

Dash salt

1⁄4 teaspoon cream of tartar

21⁄2 teaspoons baking powder

1⁄2 cup butter at room temperature

11⁄3 cup sugar

11⁄4 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup milk

4 eggs whites, only

Combine dry ingredients, except sugar. Put in a large bowl. Set aside.

Beat butter with sugar and then vanilla. Add to flour, alternating with milk. Beat egg whites until stiff but not dry. Combine with batter, in two parts. Fold egg whites in gently.

Butter well or paper a muffin tin, and fill the cups about 3⁄4’s full.

Bake at 350 for about 20 minutes or until a skewer thrust through the middle comes out cleanly.

Let cool and then dip the tops in strawberry filling (recipe above.)

Frost with marshmallow frosting (recipe above) afterwards, on top of strawberry filling, if you desire. This looks dramatic and kids and those with a sweet tooth will like the marshmallow frosting, but you can leave some cupcakes with just the strawberry dip for those who prefer that.

Coffee with caramel cupcakes

Nothing like a cup of coffee in the morning to get you going, even if it is in a cupcake.

21⁄2 cups flour

21⁄2 teaspoons baking powder

salt

1 cup of strong coffee

1⁄3 cup milk

10 tablespoons butter, at room temperature

1 cup sugar

11⁄4 teaspoons vanilla

3 eggs

Combine all dry ingredients, except sugar. Put in a large bowl and set aside. Beat butter with sugar, add vanilla, and then beat in eggs one at a time. Combine milk and coffee. Make sure mixture is cool.

Add butter batter to flour mixture, alternating with coffee mixture. Stir until just combined and make sure batter never gets too dry.

Butter well or paper a cupcake tin. Fill cupcake cups about 3⁄4’s full.

Bake at 350 for 20 minutes or until a skewer thrust through the middle comes out cleanly.

Let cool and top with dollops of whipped coffee cream and drizzle with caramel (recipes below.)

Note: you may also add one coffee bean per cupcake, one chocolate covered coffee bean, a tiny sprinkle of grated coffee or a heavy sprinkling of grated chocolate, over the whipped coffee cream and caramel drizzling, if you desire.

Whipped Coffee Cream

11⁄3 cup heavy cream

2 tablespoons sugar or more

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 to 11⁄2 tablespoons cooled coffee

Whip cream in a cooled bowl, and after it has soft peaks, gradually add sugar, vanilla and cooled coffee. Taste and adjust flavorings.

Dip coffee cupcakes in this or spoon dollops over their tops.

Caramel topping

Use either store bought caramel topping for ice cream or buy caramels in wrappers, unwrap them and melt them.

Caramel is harder to make at home, largely because of temperature differences and home ingredients (some manufacturers use a different grade of sugar than the kind we get in US grocery stores) but you can try this: melt 1⁄2 cup white sugar in a saucepan, stirring until it browns, and using 1⁄4 cup cold water to wash down the sides of the pan. Then add 3 tablespoons of butter. After butter has melted, and you have stirred it in, add 1⁄4 cup heavy cream in a slow stream, while stirring, and then let the caramel mixture boil up. Add 1⁄4 teaspoon salt and pull caramel off the heat and let it cool.

Note: some people have more luck if they do not stir during any part of the caramel recipe at all but just add the ingredients. Good luck!

Need about 1⁄4 cup.

— Mel Baker is an experienced chef, caterer and cafe manager. She resides in York County and has published “The Noisy Oven” since 2006. Email her a [email protected].