maple cupcakes

This recipe calls for grade B maple syrup. My only other experience with grade B maple syrup was when my parents and I did a body cleanse, where you drink nothing but lemonade made from maple syrup, distilled water, and pure lemon juice for two days, and you drink Smooth Move (a laxative tea) to "cleanse" out your impurities. I apologize for you casual readers who may have just gotten more information about my family than you needed.

Just a warning: grade B maple syrup is not cheap. In fact, it may be the most expensive ingredient I have bought to date.

And Martha suggests you frost them with maple buttercream. I did not do that for two reasons:

1) I only bought enough maple syrup for the cupcakes.

2) After all the trouble mint buttercream caused me, I decided to ignore Martha and go with my gut, which said to make brown sugar cream cheese frosting instead because it was easier.

The recipe

Maple Cupcakes

2 3/4 c. all-purpose flour, sifted

1 Tbsp. baking powder

1 tsp. salt

1/2 c. unsalted butter, room temperature (This is actually really important in baking. It changes the consistency if the butter is too cold or melted).

2 c. pure maple syrup, preferably grade B

3 large eggs, room temperature

1 c. milk

1 tsp. vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350. Line muffin tins with paper liners. Sift together dry ingredients. Cream butter until smooth. Add maple syrup, and beat until combined. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until each is incorporated. Add flour mixture, and beat well to combine. Beat in milk and vanilla until combined. Fill each cup 3/4 full. Bake about 20 minutes.

Brown-sugar Cream-Cheese Frosting (makes 2 1/2 cups)

1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature

8 oz cream cheese, room temperature

1 c. packed light brown sugar

With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat butter, cream cheese, and brown sugar until smooth. Use immediately, or refrigerate up to 3 days in an airtight container. Before using, bring to room temperature and beat on low speed until smooth.

After frosting my cupcakes, I added this small, completely unnecessary detail: marzipan maple leaves.

I used a cookie cutter to cut out maple leaf shapes.

And here was the end result:

I realize that these cupcakes look a little odd, like the maple leaves don't really go with the snowman cupcake papers. It reminds me that you can't always tell, just by looking at something, whether it's going to work or not. Life is full of surprises.