Double Maple Cupcakes

When we talked about doing regional cuisine for our Cooking Light Virtual Supper Club - I thought to myself what could I do? What is the north country where I live well known for besides Cheese Curd & Crogan Bologna?? All I could come up with was Maple Syrup. Any recipe involving cheese curd or crogan bologna would not have been Cooking Light friendly! Cooking Light had a Double Maple Cupcake recipe that I had been looking at and it was the perfect dessert to bring to our table!

When I was a teen my dad took on the adventure of syrup making upon himself. He and a friend did just enough to give both families enough syrup. Then, when my boys were little, their dad and I took them on a weekend adventure where they were able to experience the syrup making process. One thing we tried that weekend was "wax on snow" - something I remember my Nanny talking about. "Wax on Snow" is where you pour the syrup that has boiled down (while it is hot) on top of snow. It creates a sticky gooey sweet waxy type substance that is way too yummy! Grumpy and I now buy our syrup from a cousin who produces the best light amber maple syrup. We always have this in our fridge for my many recipes I use it in such as Maple Walnut Banana Bread, Maple Walnut Biscotti, Pork with Ginger Maple Sauce, Bread and Granola just to name a few! One of the best ways I enjoyed maple syrup as a young girl was with my mom's fried cake doughnuts. We would dip the doughnut in the syrup to soak it up and devour them! I also remember my Nanny and Poppy would love the raised doughnuts with maple frosting. So, as you can see, maple syrup is widely used in my home!

Below is the type of dishes we made along with a link to each virtual supper club member's blot. Make sure you click on their names to visit their blog and see what they brought to the table.

Appetizer - Val: Bruschetta with Peaches and Brie
Salad - Helene: Spinach Salad with Maple-Dijon Vinaigrette
Entrée - Jamie: Pan-seared Shrimp Po-boys
Dessert - Aggie: Key Lime Pie
Dessert - Shelby: Double Maple Cupcakes

Double Maple Cupcakes
a Cooking Light Recipe

½ cup granulated sugar
5 tablespoons butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ teaspoon imitation maple flavoring
2 large eggs
1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
1 ¼ teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ cup 1% low-fat milk
¼ cup maple syrup

Preheat oven to 350°.

To prepare cupcakes, beat first 4 ingredients at medium speed of a mixer until well-blended (about 5 minutes). Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour, baking powder, and ¼ teaspoon salt in a bowl, stirring well with a whisk. Combine milk and ¼ cup maple syrup. Add flour mixture to sugar mixture alternately with milk mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture; mix after each addition.

Spoon batter into 12 muffin cups lined with paper liners. Bake at 350° for 20 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan 10 minutes on a wire rack; remove from pan. Cool completely on wire rack.

To prepare the frosting, beat 3 tablespoons maple syrup and next 4 ingredients (syrup through ⅛ teaspoon salt) at medium speed of a mixer 1 minute. Gradually add the powdered sugar, beating just until blended (do not overbeat). Spread the frosting over cupcakes.