The Uruguay Chivito Steak and Fried Egg Sandwich

No picture can do justice to how unbelievably tasty this sandwich with the long name was.

My love of Susan Feniger has been well documented (see Kaya Toast, Amaretto Flan and my constant desire to fly back to Los Angeles for dinner at Street), so when I heard she was coming out with a street food cookbook I immediately began to salivate at the many delicious possibilities it was going to add to my life (and cursed the fact that it was a pre-order forcing me to wait several more months). Finally, one glorious day in July, a box from Amazon appeared on my doorstep, and Nancy and I set about making a Sunday dinner of the world's messiest yet most delicious sandwich: The elusive Uruguay Chivito Steak and Fried Egg Sandwich. Now, we must sadly live in a world where all other (clearly inferior sandwiches) have been forever ruined.

The Uruguay Chivito Steak and Fried Egg Sandwich
Adapted from Susan Feniger's Street Food
Servings: 8 sandwiches (It's that good. You're going to want at least 8.)
Time: 60 minutes

Sammich
3 lbs skirt steak, cut into 1/2-1/4 inch strips
1 bunch fresh cilantro, chopped
6 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
4 tbsp whole-grain mustard
3 tsp sea salt
Olive Oil
2 red onions, thinly sliced
2 red bell peppers, cut into thin strips
8 large eggs
8 French rolls
16 slices provolone cheese
8 slices prosciutto

Golf Salsa
1/2 cup ketchup
1/2 cup mayonnaise
Juice of 1 lime

And now the moment when I finally prove to myself I can cook steak without the aid of grillmaster Kevin. Not being grossed out when handling all the raw meat is still a work in progress...

Finally a pink weapon for my culinary arsenal!

1. Preheat the oven to 400 F.
2. Marinade the steak strips in the Worcestershire sauce and mustard with the cilantro and salt. Let sit for half an hour.
3. Sauté the onions and bell pepper in olive oil over medium heat. Cook until the onions caramelize and the bell pepper becomes tender.
4. In a separate pan, sear the steak with olive oil for 3-4 minutes until browned. Try to get as much of the marinade out as possible before putting the steak into the pan.
5. Fry the eggs in olive oil or butter so that the yolks are still runny. I recommend cooking them over medium heat and covering the frying pan.
6. Slice the French rolls in half and place them cut side up on baking sheets. Place a slice of cheese on each half and bake for about 5 minutes or until the cheese melts and the rolls crisp up.
7. Whisk the ketchup, mayonnaise and lime juice together for a fun pink condiment.
8. Prep the sandwich by spreading salsa on each half of the roll, piling on steak, onions, and bell pepper. Top with a fried egg and slice of prosciutto.
9. Load up on napkins and bite into the gloriousness.

Sous chef Nancy earned herself a commemorative plaque for her part in making the world's most delicious and messy sandwich.

The sandwich in its stable, pre-bite state. Soon that plate would be mostly yellow.

I find it hard to properly describe the levels of awesomitude reached by this sandwich (mostly because every time I start thinking back to it, my brain shuts down, and I just start drooling). The results were some ingenious cross between a cheese steak and a Vietnamese banh mi. The steak was incredibly tender and had a nice kick from the Worcestershire and mustard (which led to everyone picking at the bowl of meat once they were done with their sandwiches). The caramelized onions and bell peppers added a light sweetness to the sandwich, while the Golf salsa provided a creaminess and hint of lime to liven things up. The true highlight of the sandwich, though, has to be that fried egg. Nothing beats biting into a fresh baked crispy roll and smothering a sandwich (and your hand because, hey, that's how gravity works) with a popped egg yolk. This sandwich was a huge hit with everyone as evidenced by the total silence aside from the sound of "mmm" while we were eating. Sadly, all the bread was consumed during the initial sandwich fest, so we had to be creative and make worthy taco substitutes instead to make sure the leftovers didn't go to waste (which would be considered a crime against humanity).

When you run out of bread, the leftovers make for an awesome taco (don't be put off by the seemingly out of place pink sauce). 

Sandwich connoisseur Jaime attempts to fit the entire sandwich in his mouth. His jaw is still recovering.

I really can't recommend buying Street Food enough. It's a culinary trip around the world with everything from spice mixes to desserts and drinks that will force you to expand your food horizons with plenty of specialty ingredients you never would have thought to use before.

We lost a lot of good napkins that day.

We finished off the meal with a salted lhassi with cumin and mint, but you're going to have to buy the cookbook to find out that recipe.

St. Patrick's Day: Chocolate Mint Bark

Everyone knows that no holiday celebration is complete without at least 3 different kinds of food. In order to round out our Irish Tacos and Car Bomb Cupcakes (and to add even more green to the day), we made some of the Christmas staple peppermint bark (only missed it by 3 months!). This added a nice, minty finish to our cooking adventure and provided us with some much needed down time since it's pretty much just melting chocolate and throwing it in the fridge.


Chocolate Mint Bark

Andes mints about to be accidentally melted!

Adapted from Family Fun
Servings: A crazy amount
Time: 20 minutes plus cooling

8 oz semisweet chocolate, chopped
4 oz white chocolate chips, chopped
1/2 tsp vegetable oil
1/2 tsp peppermint extract
Andes mints, chopped
Green food coloring

Surely there must be a market for colored chocolates. I'll specialize in brown and be rich.

1. Melt the semisweet chocolate in a double boiler, stirring continuously until smooth.
2. Pour the melted chocolate onto a cookie sheet lined with wax paper and spread it to about 1/4 inch thick with a rubber spatula.
3. Add the oil to the white chocolate and melt in the same way. Stir in some peppermint extract and food coloring and spread to about half of the thickness of the semisweet chocolate. You can use a knife to create chocolate swirls.
4. Let refrigerate until firm at least 30 minutes. Also, you can put some chopped up Andes mints before it hardens so that they stick in.
5. Peel the bark off of the wax paper and snap into servings.

More Tim Burton-esque swirls a la the chocolate cream pie.

The greatest aspect of this treat by far is the awesome chocolate swirls that form. They're what makes this dessert stand out from the Andes mints it so closely resembles in taste (pretty much dead on but with more crunch).  While making these, I learned an important lesson about melting things as I originally put the crushed up Andes on the bottom and then coated them in warm chocolate to predictable results. Also, if I had to make a change, I think I would have added a little Bailey's Irish Cream to keep the St. Patrick's Day alcoholic theme at the forefront (you wouldn't want your guests to start sobering up).

Just add a hook and they double as St. Patrick's Day earrings.

And now for a chilling exposé on Nancy's messy cooking (note: this may contain images too disturbing for younger readers):

Scooping granulated sugar proved to be an issue.

Nancy learned an important lesson about using a sifter.

She threw random foodstuffs on the ground with blatant disregard for the hardwood floors.

You don't even want to know what she did with the oddly shaped eggs.

In conclusion, if you see this woman trying to enter your kitchen, run away as fast as you can. (Note: this was in no way a response to her showcasing my messiness in Nancy and the Creme Brulee French Toast.)

St. Patrick's Day: Irish Tacos

And it even folds!

My sister had the most radical thought ever for St. Patrick's Day. She suggested I actually make a meal (or a taco to be specific) instead of just assorted desserts to celebrate the day. At first, I scoffed at the idea, but then she won me over with the words potato pancake (which we will from here on out be referring to as a "tortilla"). It was then a simple matter of combining all Irish food stereotypes (as learned from typing "Irish food" in to wikipedia) to form the all-new Irish taco. In the end, Nancy and I wound up with the ultimate meat and potatoes dish to give the fantastic Car Bomb Cupcakes a run for their money.


Irish Tacos
Servings: 8 tacos
Time: 2 1/2 hours

Boxty (recipe follows)
Kale (recipe follows)
Irish Whiskey Rib Eye (recipe follows)
Whiskey Sauce (recipe follows)
Irish Cheddar, shredded

The simplest part to prepare.

1. Follow the many recipes that come after this. 
2. Top your "tortilla" with kale, rib eye, Irish cheddar and whiskey sauce.

After seeing this, you should realize the following 4 recipes are worth the effort.

Boxty (Potato "Tortillas")
Adapted from Chow.com

Nancy's mad chopping skillz.

Servings: 8 "tortillas"
Time: 60 minutes

2 lbs white potatoes, peeled
3/4 cup whole milk, divided
1 1/4 tsp sea salt, plus more for seasoning
1 large egg
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp fresh ground pepper

Mashed taters form the base of the "tortilla"

1. Chop 3/4 of the potatoes into large dice, place in a medium saucepan, salt generously and cover with cold water. Bring to a boil  and simmer uncovered until tender (about 10 minutes).
2. Finely chop and drain the remaining potatoes and toss with 1/4 tsp salt. Set aside. Alternatively, you could remember to pack your grater and save yourself a bunch of trouble.
3. Drain the boiled potatoes then add at least 1/4 milk and mash until smooth.
4. Add the thinly chopped potatoes to the mashed potatoes.
5. Whisk the egg, remaining 1/2 cup milk, flour, pepper and 1 tsp salt together in a separate bowl. Add to the potatoes and stir until fully incorporated.
6. Heat a large nonstick frying pan over medium heat then drop and spread the batter to about 1/4 inch thick. Cook until the bottoms become golden brown then flip and cook the remaining side.
7. Keep warm in the oven at 200 F until the rest of the taco fixings are ready.

Yup, definitely looks like a tortilla and not at all like a pancake

The potato pancakes are the perfect holder for the intense whiskey flavor that follows. The starchy treat does wonders in helping absorb the flavor from the many wondrous juices of the remaining ingredients and even folds like a real authentic-like taco.

Kale

Nothing too fancy here. Just take a bunch of kale and cook it over medium heat in a large pot with some olive oil, salt and pepper until it is wilted.

Irish Whiskey Rib Eye

Adapted from All Recipes

Servings: 8

Time: 2 hours (inactive for 90 minutes)

2/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil

3 tbsp Jameson's Irish whiskey

1-2 tsp worcestershire sauce

3 tbsp soy sauce

1 tbsp green onion, minced

1 tbsp garlic, minced

1 tbsp ground black pepper

1 tsp thyme

1 tsp rosemary

4 boneless rib eye steaks

1. Marinade the steaks in the remaining ingredients in a plastic bag. Refrigerate for at least one hour.
2. Remove from the marinade and cook in a frying pan over medium high heat for about 2-3 minutes per side for medium rare. Only flip once to maintain the juices.
3. Cut and fill your tacos with it.

With all that sweet whiskey flavor you could ask for

My manhood was at steak (pun time is fun time!) as the entire dish hinged around some well-cooked steak. I somehow managed to overcome our new stove and make perfectly cooked tender rib eyes that melded beautifully with the potatoes. We found ourselves eating pieces of the steak on its own because of the absurdly amazing sweet whiskey flavor. 

Whiskey Sauce

Adapted from Food.com

Servings: enough for 8 tacos

Time: 10 minutes

1/4 lb unsalted butter

2 tbsp chopped onions

1 garlic clove, minced

3 tbsp Jameson's whiskey

1 tbsp worcestershire sauce

1/2 tsp dry mustard

Dash of Tabasco sauce

1. Saute the onion and garlic in melted butter until soft and translucent.
2. Add the remaining ingredients and simmer to reduce for 2-5 minutes.
3. Pour over your tacos and enjoy.

Nancy's fancy plating

Dousing our tacos in whiskey sauce may seem like overkill (deliciously alcoholic overkill), but it truly was the way to go. The added moisture, flavor and spiciness from the whiskey sauce helped boost the somewhat flavor deprived kale and kept the "tortilla" from being too dry.

Maybe it's just that we were starving after cooking all day without eating, or maybe it's the fact that food prepared in copious amounts of alcohol is always phenomenal (see the previously mentioned triply alcoholic Car Bomb Cupcakes, Bourbon Peaches Foster and Beer-Battered Fish Tacos), but these little pieces of Irish heaven had our mouths dancing a ridiculous drunken jig. 

One last dish remains from our St. Patrick's Day Extravaganza. Stay tuned for some Chocolate Mint Bark and the answer to the question you've all been wondering "How messy is Nancy in the kitchen?" The truth just might shock you.

St. Patrick's Day: Car Bomb Cupcakes

Since I didn't make anything in honor of the last major holiday, Leap Day, I knew I had to go all out for St. Patrick's Day. To maximize awesomeness, I called up frequent baking collaborator Nancy, the most Irish person I know (Ok, not really, but her last name is O'Connor, which qualifies her.). This ambitious day would consist of two desserts and one entree to make sure we were properly fed before truly celebrating the most sacred and serious holiday there is. Would our Irish Tacos, Car Bomb Cupcakes and Chocolate Mint Bark make everyone green with envy, or would we be forced to drown our sorrows in green beer? We'll start with the most important part of any meal- the cupcake course.

Guinness Chocolate Cupcakes
Adapted from Food Network
Previously Seen in Beer Pairing Night
Servings: 24 cupcakes
Time: 40 minutes

Inside the new superhot oven.

3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 cups sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp cinnamon
Pinch salt
1 bottle of Guinness (12 fl. oz.)
1 stick butter, melted
1 tbsp vanilla extract
3 large eggs
3/4 cup sour cream
Bailey's and Jameson Chocolate Filling (recipe follows)
Bailey's Cream Cheese Frosting (recipe follows)
Fondant (recipe follows)

Moist, bouncy and uber-chocolatey cakes

1. Put on green then open and drink a Guinness.
2. Preheat the oven to 350 F.
3. Whisk the cocoa powder, sugar, flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon together in a large bowl. Set aside.
4. Mix the Guinness, butter and vanilla together in a stand mixer with the paddle attachment. 
5. Beat in the eggs 1 at a time until fully incorporated.
6. Add the sour cream and combine until smooth.
7. Gradually mix in the dry ingredients in three separate additions at low speed. Be careful not to overmix.
8. Fill lined cupcake tins 2/3 of the way with batter and bake for 18-22 minutes or until the toothpick test comes back clean.
9. Let cool on a wire rack.
10. Remove the centers with a knife and fill with the Bailey's and Jameson's chocolate filling (recipe follows).
11. Frost and garnish.

For the base of our triply alcoholic cupcakes inspired by everyone's favorite St. Patrick's Day mixed drink (no, combining green food coloring and beer does not count), I turned to an old recipe from October when Kevin, Jaime, Dennis and I had a beer pairing night. I fondly remembered it as a nicely moist chocolate cake, but I also knew there were ways in which it could be improved. At the beer pairing, we matched it with Saint Arnold's Pumpkinator, and it formed a spectacular union with the heavily spiced brew. As a result, I decided to add some cinnamon to this batch, which really ended up adding a whole new dimension of deliciousness. Additionally, the Guinness served as a far better beer than Left Hand Milk Stout and truly emphasized the chocolate. But I wanted to ratchet up that chocolate, which is where our alcoholic filling came in.

Bailey's and Jameson's Chocolate Filling
From We Are Not Martha
Servings: Enough for 30 cupcakes
Time: 10 minutes

8 oz bittersweet chocolate (shoot for 60-65% cacao)
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup Bailey's Irish Cream
2 tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature
2 tbsp Jameson's Irish Whiskey

Alcohol and chocolate, you are my friends.

1. Cut the chocolate into small chunks.
2. Scald the cream in a saucepan. This means take it to the point where it's steaming and the sides are bubbling but it's not boiling.
3. Pour the cream over the chocolate and let it sit for a minute. Stir until melted. If it doesn't melt, you can make a double boiler to finish it off.
4. Mix in the Bailey's, butter and Jameson's until smooth. 

It's like a shot in the middle of the cupcake.

Before getting to the taste, I want to point out that the filling smelled amazing. And our mouths only confirmed what our noses were telling us. This definitely isn't a kid friendly cupcake as the Bailey's and Jameson's really pack a punch, but it all is in perfect harmony with the lovely chocolate and the holiday spirit. It reminded me of a very alcoholic version of filling you'd find in a Valentine's Day box of chocolates (one of the good ones that you'd eat after poking the bottom with your thumb).

Bailey's Cream Cheese Frosting

Servings: Enough to frost 30 cupcakes

Time: 5 minutes

1 cup butter, softened

16 oz cream cheese, softened

5-6 cups powdered sugar, sifted

1 tbsp vanilla extract

3-4 tbsp Bailey's Irish Cream

Green food coloring

You can never go wrong with cream cheese.

1. Cream the butter using a stand mixer with the paddle attachment on medium-low speed then add the cream cheese and cream again until light and fluffy.
2. Add the powdered sugar one cup at a time and mix at low speed (to avoid the crazy cloud of powdered sugar) until fully incorporated. Be sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl.
3. Mix in the vanilla extract, food coloring and Bailey's then ramp up the speed to medium.
4. Ruin at least 5 cupcakes trying to figure out how to decorate them then finally hit your stride just in time to save the batch.

After ruining 5, I finally got a design down. I miss Alexis' frosting gun.

I previously made a Bailey's buttercream that was tasty but a little too thick (and may have broken Alexis' first frosting gun). It only seemed right to convert it to a smooth cream cheese frosting, and this proved to be the smart call. The Bailey's really got to shine as it almost didn't taste like a cream cheese frosting (which somehow wasn't a bad thing). It's a good thing it tasted so incredible because our decorating abilities needed some serious work thanks to our lack of skills with piping bags (and my hands overheating the frosting waaaayyyy too much). Luckily, we had some fondant at the ready to cover up our early missteps.

The greaser cupcake was by far my favorite. Excellent work, Nancy.

Almond Fondant

Adapted from AllRecipes.com

Servings: Enough to decorate 24 cupcakes

Time: 10 minutes

1 cup light corn syrup

1 cup shortening

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp almond extract

2 lbs powdered sugar, sifted

Green food coloring

The 2 lbs of powdered sugar brought my total for the day to 3 lbs (sadly not a record).

1. Stir together the corn syrup and shortening using the dough hook attachment on a stand mixer.
2. Mix in the salt and almond extract then slowly add the powdered sugar.
3. Add food coloring until you reach the desired green.
4. Roll out on a flat surface until it's 1/8 inch thick or thinner then cut or roll into the desired shapes (or just edible amorphous blobs).

The hat looks kind of like a ninja turtle. I'll take it! (They weren't all this bad, but they weren't good enough to warrant a second pic).

Let's be honest. Fondant is not the tastiest thing in the world. It's pretty much purely for decorative purposes. I managed to make it slightly better than bland by adding almond extract instead of vanilla. The fondant was easy to work with but almost a little too malleable, so I would recommend refrigerating it first to make it a little harder.

Dennis tries to fit the entire cupcake in his mouth.

We had three outstanding components, but did they all synch together to form a cupcake worthy of the most bastardized holiday this side of Cinco de Mayo? The early consensus in our townhouse was a resounding "yes" muffled by cupcake being devoured.

But would drunk people approve?!?

The true test was still ahead of us, though. I ended up bring some to brewer roommate Dennis' Saint Arnold's St. Patrick's Day party. If drunk people enjoyed them then surely they could be called a success. Much to my relief, the partygoers had nothing but rave reviews, with several calling them their favorite cupcake ever (and one person mistaking the filling for uncooked cupcake). The cupcakes even managed to garner a hugely positive response from Nancy's far rowdier reading group. Despite being in my top three cupcakes, these still didn't steal the show for me. That lofty distinction fell on the soon to be posted Irish Tacos.

Coming soon: Find out how potato tortillas (read: pancakes), kale, whiskey marinated rib eye, whiskey sauce and Irish cheddar come together to form the Irish Taco.

French Toast Fantasia: Nancy and the Créme Brûlée French Toast

Editor's Note: And now a word from Nancy:


As you may have read from Terry’s earlier post on French Toast Cupcakes, I am taking control of the my-mess-their-kitchen ship for a brief while to present to you our other baking project of the weekend: crème brûlée French toast!  I have had this recipe in my email for a while, just waiting for the right day.  Terry’s mad kitchen skillz (yes, this deserves a “z”, folks) and a free Sunday morning convinced me it was time we give it a shot. 

We knew an egg with a double yolk was an auspicious start to our day of baking.

Crème Brûlée French toast

Adapted from Smitten Kitchen

Servings: 8 – 12 

Toasts
1 medium-sized loaf white bread, thickly sliced
1 1/3 cups whole milk
2/3 cup heavy cream
4 large eggs
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons Amaretto
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Caramel Topping
2/3 cup granulated sugar

1. Cut the bread into one-inch thick slices.
2. To make the creamy liquid custard, whisk together milk, cream, eggs, sugar, salt, Amaretto and vanilla extract.
3. Arrange slice of bread on baking sheets with rims.
4. Preheat the oven to 325 F.
5. Pour custard over the bread slices and let it sit for about 30 minutes, flipping the slices mid-way to allow for maximum absorption on both sides.
6. Line baking sheets with parchment paper, and transfer the custard-soaked slices of bread onto the newly prepared sheets. Be sure to leave a bit of room between the slices so they don't bake together.
7. Bake the French toast slices for 30-35 minutes, flipping at the halfway point. If you insert a small knife into the center of a slice and, after twisting it slightly no liquid is released, then the toasts are ready.
8. To caramelize the tops, leave the toasts on the baking sheet and have a spatula handy. Melt the remaining 2/3 cups sugar in a small, heavy saucepan over moderate heat. Stir with a small spoon until it is fully melted and turns the color of honey. Immediately spoon one tablespoon or so of caramel over the first slice of bread, spreading it evenly and thinly* over the top with the spatula. Working quickly, repeat with the remaining bread slices.

Caution: the melted sugar is super hot and will burn skin upon contact. Keep arms and fingers clear of the drips! Indeed, after our day of baking, Terry was sporting two new battle scars. The sugar was so hot it actually cut his finger not to mention the burn he got from an inadvertent sugar splash.

*Upon eating our French toast, we discovered that if there was too much caramel topping it was too hard to cut into and eat. Therefore, be sure to spoon only enough to thinly cover the top of the toast.

Note: Hot water will dissolve any remaining caramel in the saucepan. It might take a few hot water rinses, but it will eventually come off.

Serve with berries and a sprinkle of powdered sugar.

Ultimately this baking project was a delicious way to spend the morning.  The Amaretto really stood out and was a nice counter to the creamy crème brûlée taste.  We found that though maple syrup was not necessary, we were missing that cinnamon-y taste that accompanies traditional French toast.   It would be worth experimenting and adding some cinnamon to the custard the next time around.

And for those of you who are wondering, yes, Terry does indeed make a mess when he’s cooking:

French Toast Fantasia: French Toast Cupcakes with Bacon

Quite fortuitously, baking buddy Nancy and I had drinks last night. Naturally drinks evolved into talk of what I was making for my weekly Sunday Brunch, which quickly turned into what we were making for Sunday Brunch. She had a fantastic looking créme brûlée French toast recipe she wanted to try, and I had recently seen a few French toast cupcakes that I desperately wanted to fill my stomach with. So we reached a compromise. We would make both (See, this is how you do a win-win compromise. Maybe I should consider a profession as a mediator.). As I sit here typing with a headache having crashed from all the sugar, I know that it was totally worth it. Now on to part one of the single greatest brunch of all-time (with a cupcake involving bacon was there any doubt it would be).


French Toast Cupcakes
Adapted from Bakingdom.com
Servings: 24 cupcakes
Time: 40 minutes

Streusel

Streusel
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1 tbsp granulated sugar
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
5 tbsp cold unsalted butter, cut pea-sized


Cupcakes
3 cups all-purpose flour

Batter (with minor butter chunks)

2 cups sugar
1 tbsp baking powder
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sour cream
4 eggs, room temperature
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 tsp bourbon 
Maple Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting (recipe follows)
Sugar Decorations (recipe follows)
Bacon, pan-fried to crispy and cut 

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F.
2. Make the streusel by mixing all the ingredients in a large bowl then mashing the butter pieces in by hand. Chill in the freezer until the batter is ready.
3. Whisk the flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon and nutmeg together in a large bowl and set aside.
4. Cream the butter using a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment at medium speed.
5. Add the sour cream, eggs, vanilla and bourbon and mix well.
6. Pour the dry ingredients in over three intervals at low speed. Scrape down the sides of the bowl in between rounds. Be careful not to overmix.
7. Use an ice cream scooper to fill lined cupcake tins 2/3 of the way with batter. 
8. Sprinkle the tops with streusel.
9. Bake for 18-22 minutes or until the toothpick test comes back clean.
10. Pipe on the cream cheese frosting and garnish with sugar decorations and bacon.

Crispy streusel topping gives a great crunch.

The cupcake itself was already a nice breakfasty treat. As soon as I tasted the batter, I knew this was going to be amazing (although I was unnecessarily concerned with how dense it was). The cinnamon and nutmeg really came through in the cupcake to give an authentic French toast taste. The streusel on top also added a nice level of sugary crispness to add texture to the moist cake. But the fun (and deliciousness) was only just beginning.

Maple Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting

Adapted from My Maker's Mark Cupcakes

Servings: Enough for 30 cupcakes

Time: 5 minutes

16 oz cream cheese, softened

1 cup butter, softened

2 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tbsp vanilla extract

1 1/2 tbsp maple syrup

6 cups powdered sugar, sifted

The world's most perfect frosting

1. Cream the butter in a stand mixer until soft (this will help melt it and prevent lumps) then beat in the cream cheese, cinnamon, vanilla and maple syrup.
2. Add the powdered sugar about a cup at a time and mix at medium speed.

I have used various iterations of this frosting for Maker's Mark Cupcakes and Bananas Foster Cupcakes, so I knew it was a winner. I really wanted to bring the cinnamon flavor across since our créme brûlée was sadly lacking in it (more on that to come in a future post). This was jam packed with all that cinnamon our hearts desired without being overpowering. There was also a nice sweetness added by the maple syrup that would be key to the interaction with the bacon. To top it all off, this also may have been the best I've ever made this frosting as it had the perfect cupcake topping consistency.

Sit down. We're nowhere near done.

Sugar Decorations

From Bakingdom.com

Originally Seen in Chocolate Caramel Cupcakes

Time: 15 minutes plus cooling

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup water

1 tbsp light corn syrup

1. Stir the sugar, water and corn syrup together in a saucepan.
2. Bring to a boil swirling occasionally until it turns amber colored then quickly remove from heat (it will rapidly burn if you let it keep going).
3. Drip onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper to make fun shapes. Also, you can wrap a rolling pin in parchment paper for cool curved shapes.
4. Let harden.

The parchment rolling method

The goal of the sugar decorations was to mimic the syrup drip on your standard French toast (and to play with scolding hot sugar for yet another culinary Rorscharch test). I think the end result provided a fun and playful garnish to help these somewhat color deprived cupcakes stand out. Just be sure you make your decorations thin so your teeth don't become coated in hard sugar (it's like the exact opposite of a filling).

The results up until this point definitely gave that French toast sensation in one sweet package, which is where the bacon comes into play. In order to cut some of that sugar (and further establish a complete brunch), we added the salty bacon. At first, we were both a little hesitant, but by the end we found ourselves crushing up more bacon to put on our cupcakes. It might seem a little unorthodox, but it plays a vital role to one well-rounded brunch dessert.

The sugar crown. One day I will rule the cupcake throne!

When all the flavors came together in our finished cupcake, I couldn't help but get weak in the knees and unleash uncontrollable mmm noises. I think I'll have to thank the four hour Cupcake Wars marathon I watched yesterday for its inspiration leading to what is perhaps my favorite cupcake yet (that shockingly didn't have a filling). Stay tuned for part two of our ode to French Toast as Nancy will present a special guest post on the Créme Brûlée French Toast. For now, enjoy some more of our sugar artwork (Nancy does work at an art gallery, so it should come as no surprise that she was a natural).

In the game of cupcakes, you win or you die(t).

I'm pretty sure there's a swan in there.

And Nancy shows how to make the cupcakes even more adorable and awesome.