Maple Bacon Cupcakes

Happy Father's Day, ya'll!!!!  I am so excited about this weekend!  It's the first time I get to honor my incredible husband as a DADDY!!!  We have the sweetest baby girl who absolutely adores her daddy...and daddy might just be wrapped around her little finger.  ;)  If you know my my husband, he's a total "meat-and-potatoes" kinda guy.  And by meat I mean red meat.  And in his perfect world, all red meat would be wrapped in, infused with, sprinkled throughout, topped with bacon.  Lots of it.  So it's only natural that I would find SOMETHING to make him for his first Father's Day that has what else...BACON!  He about fell over when he saw these all ready for him to dive into after he got home from work.  As weird as they sound...I really like them too.  Bonus!  :)

Vanilla-Nutmeg Cake

1 box white cake mix

1 tsp. nutmeg

3 eggs

1/3 cup oil

3/4 cup milk

3/4 cup sour cream

1 tablespoon vanilla extract (yes, that says TABLEspoon)

Maple Buttercream Icing

1 cup butter; softened (I used salted, but I might try unsalted next time)

1 tablespoon milk

4-5 cups powdered sugar (4 was perfect for me)

1-3 teaspoons maple extract (I used almost 3 and it was perfect.)

1 lb. cooked, crumbled, cooled bacon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line a muffin pan with cupcake liners (20-24 should do.)

In a large bowl, add cake mix and vanilla.  Whisk together and set aside.

In a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, combine eggs, oil, milk, sour cream, and vanilla.

Add cake mix and nutmeg and stir until combined and smooth.

Fill cupcake liners 3/4 full.

Bake for 17-22 minutes (18 minutes was perfect for me).

Allow the cupcakes to cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then transfer them to a wire cooling rack to cool completely.

Once they're cooled, make the icing!

In a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, beat the softened butter on medium speed for 2 minutes.

Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add the milk.  Slowly add the powdered sugar until it reaches your desired consistency.

Add maple flavoring.  Start with 1 teaspoon and go up from there.  Depending on the brand depends on how strong it is.  I used McCormick and almost 3 teaspoons made it perfect.

Pipe the icing onto cooled cupcakes and top with cooled bacon.

Note: If you don't normally pipe icing, use a knife and spread it on.  If you do like to use a piping bag, the picture is shown with a Wilton 2C tip.  I've also used a Wilton 2D tip and they're also very pretty.