A word on cupcakes...

Yum! 

But seriously, I know it's tres fashionable nowadays to love cupcakes.  Maybe I am just following a trend.  However, I love the fun things that are being done with cupcakes now, and I love women like the Brown Eyed Baker who are finding recipes, compiling them, and sharing all of the fun things that you (yes, YOU) can do with baking/cooking on a daily basis.  For example, just a few weeks ago, I made these... 

The ones with the raspberries on top are Limoncello cupcakes.  While the Brown Eyed Baker posted a recipe for these, it was lifted by another foodie I love to follow, arugulove, who modified the recipe in her own ways and made them gorgeously delicious.  Alternately, the chocolate based cupcakes are Irish Car Bomb cupcakes.  AMAZING, to say the least.  I don't care much for frosting and being decorative...it was a stretch to get those raspberries on top, but I can put the frosting in a bag with a tip-less tip and enjoy the love.  This may be the only reason I like cupcakes - the frosting can be fun without a lot of work.  Could you put in the work?  Sure, but when you just spent over and hour perfecting the cupcake, is that really where you want to spend your time?  Maybe you, my friends, but not me.

Regardless, on to this weekend.  Thomas and I are celebrating mother's day and my father-in-law's birthday AND the arrival of our best man from Germany tomorrow with a big family brunch.  We're in charge, which means with Thomas' mad fat kitchen skills, it's going to be awesome.  However, I rock a mean breakfast (thanks to my mother's awesome recipes) so I'll be holding my own in the kitchen over the next 24 hours, too.  Yes, there will be Pampered Chef recipes on the table tomorrow (made with PC products), but today is about the dessert.  THE CUPCAKES.  mmmm....

If I had to pick my favorite things about breakfast, they'd be french toast (if we're eating at home), pancakes (if we're at IHOP), and bacon (because seriously, who can resist really good bacon?).  While prepping for tomorrow, I whipped up some incredible looking cupcakes that combine some of the best parts of breakfast.  So, without further ado...

Pancake Cupcakes with Maple Bacon Buttercream Frosting!   Yeah, that's right...  That's me using my high-rent "slap chop" to mince the bacon for my frosting...

And, as if bacon inside the frosting wasn't enough, I garnished with some even finer dices on top!

Well, I have to finish prepping th French Toast Strata, so happy drooling!