Happy early Father’s Day! If you’re still searching for a gift for the dad in your life, or want to add a little something extra to your gift, look no further. These cupcakes are a fun twist on a classic baked good, and not to mention delicious.

I know the idea of sweet mixed with beer and bacon may seem a little crazy, but I can assure you these cupcakes are anything but. Adding beer doesn’t mean the cupcakes will taste like a solid form of the drink (unless that’s what you want, in which case make them, and let them sit in the fridge for a few days). Instead, the beer adds a little “je ne sais quoi”. That in combination with the bacon and the maple makes for a winning combination. Even the pickiest of my friends liked these, and she refuses to drink beer.

So what are you waiting for? Give these a try and celebrate with your papa!

P.S. LiberTerre bacon is Canadian raised, antibiotic and hormone free. So you can feel good about where your food comes from.

LiberTerre B&B Cupcakes

Prep Time: 40 minutes
Cook Time: 40 minutes (combined bacon and cupcakes)
Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes (less if you can multitask)
Serves: 12 (if you can restrict yourself to one cupcake)

Ingredients

Candied Bacon
6 slices LiberTerre bacon
¼ brown sugar

Cupcakes
¾ c butter, slightly softened
1 ½ c sugar
2 ½ c flour
2 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
3 eggs, room temperature*
1 c beer (I used a lager)
¼ c milk
1 tsp vanilla extract

Icing
1 c butter, slightly softened
2 c icing sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
¼ c beer (the same as you used for the cupcake)
2 tbsp maple syrup

Directions

Preheat your oven to 325°F.

Cover a baking sheet with tin foil and toss your LiberTerre bacon slices in a bowl with the brown sugar. Lay the slices in a single layer on top of the baking sheet and use any leftover sugar from the bowl to put on top of the bacon. Put them in the oven and bake for about 20 minutes. You’ll know they’re done when they’re a nice golden brown and slightly crispy, leave them in for a bit longer if they’re not.

While your bacon is giving your home a yummy smoky aroma, it’s time to start on the cupcake batter. Spray or line muffin tins (I prefer lining because it makes less of a mess and I think it looks nicer). In a large bowl add your butter and cream with an electric mixer, I do this first to make sure it’s soft enough! Then add the sugar and cream until it’s nice and fluffy. Add the room temperature eggs*, beating after each addition. Next, mix in the vanilla and then set this bowl aside.

In another bowl, mix the flour, baking powder and salt together. Also set this bowl aside.

In yet another bowl, whisk the beer and the milk together.

(Whenever you bacon is done, set your oven to 375°F)

Now it’s time to use all of the bowls you had set aside. Alternate between adding the flour and beer mixture to the butter, starting and ending with the flour. Mix everything on low speed and try not to over beat! Spoon/ladle the batter into the muffin tin, filling everything about 1/2 to 2/3 of the way full.

Bake the cupcakes at 375°F for 18 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let them cool on a wire rack.

In the meantime, start on the icing. Cream the butter. Gradually add the sugar, and then mix in the vanilla, beer and maple syrup. Adding in the beer will give your butter/sugar mixture the consistency of icing, but if you want it more firm add in more sugar a little bit at a time (or vice versa with the beer).

When you’re done and the cupcakes have cooled it’s time to assemble! If you have a piping bag now’s the time to break it out. I used the widest tip I had and started at the outside and worked my way in and up. If you don’t have a piping bag, I take a large freezer bag, cut one of the corners off and go from there or I just spread the icing using a knife. I then broke up my candied bacon and stuck it on the top, but feel free to style how you/your father would like!

Store in the fridge, for no more than a few days.

*When you use cold eggs right out of the refrigerator, it could re-harden the other ingredients that have a high fat content. This makes the batter look lumpy or even curdled. If you’re like me and always forget to take eggs out of the fridge in advance, put them in a bowl of warm water while getting everything else ready.

Happy Father’s Day from all of us at LiberTerre!