Canada Day Cupcakes

 On July 1^st we Canucks celebrate Canada Day—our national birthday!  We don red and white, wave our flags and take time to rejoice in “the true North strong and free” from coast to coast to coast. The biggest party in the country takes place in my hometown of Ottawa, Canada’s capital city. Hundreds of thousands of revelers descend on Parliament Hill to enjoy tasty street food, concerts, and of course, the fireworks display that light up the night’s sky with splendor. Good times!

This year, Canada turns the big 1-4-6! In honour of my “home and native land”, I whipped up a batch of Great Canadian Cupcakes to take to my sister’s backyard BBQ.

What makes these cupcakes special is the local, organic beer mixed into the batter. And the sweet, golden maple syrup incorporated into the buttercream icing.

One bite and these cupcakes will have you breaking out into spontaneous renditions of “O Canada”. No matter how you choose to celebrate, I hope you have Happy Canada Day!

Wishing you sweet satisfaction, eh.

Anita

Beer Batter Cupcakes

Ingredients:

1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup canola oil

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 cup Canadian Beer! (I used Beau’s Lug Tread Lager, a local beer.)

2 tsp vanilla

Directions:

1. Preheat oven at 350 degrees. Line cupcake tin. Set aside.

2. In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

3. In large bowl, combine oil and sugar. Mix until incorporated. Beat in one egg at a time. Whip for a minute or two to take advantage of the opportunity to incorporate lots of air. Add vanilla. Add beer.

4. Fold dry ingredients into wet ingredients, careful not to over mix.

5. Divide batter into cupcake tin, filling each about ¾ of the way.  Bake for 20-22 minutes. Let cool completely before decorating.

Maple Buttercream

Ingredients:

3/4 cup butter, room temperature

3-4 cups icing sugar

3 Tbsp maple syrup

2 tsp milk

      1.     Beat butter a few minutes.

      2.      Add icing sugar half a cup at a time.  Scrape down sides as needed.

      3.      After adding one cup of icing sugar, add one Tbsp maple syrup. Keep alternating and scraping down the sides of the bowl. After adding last cup of icing sugar, add milk.

      4.     To reach desired consistency, you can either add more icing sugar (e.g. if icing is runny; 1/4 cup at a time) or milk (e.g. if icing is stiff; 1 tsp at a time).

      5.     I decorated my cupcakes with some mini maple leafs and Canada flags I purchased at the Dollar Store.

      6.     Pop the iced cupcakes in the fridge for about 15 minutes to allow for the butter to set. Enjoy!