Butter Pecan Cupcakes with Maple Swiss Meringue Buttercream

I made cupcakes for Thanksgiving for the first time this year - not that we really needed it, since there was going to be plenty of dessert!

But nevertheless, I hauled my mini cupcake pan and my Cuisinart Mixer up to Maryland - I bet TSA did a double take when scanning my luggage. 

Anywho - I love pecan pie, and I love butter pecan so I took those flavors as inspiration for this cupcake. A vanilla butter cake base with maple Swiss meringue buttercream, candied pecans, and maple butterscotch sauce. 

Buttery, caramel, pecan maple goodness going on here!

Vanilla Butter Cake - this recipe is *gasp* a doctored up cake mix recipe modified for my taste - you can find the original recipe by clicking here. This recipe is great when you are in a pinch, and it never fails.

This recipe can yield:

72-75 mini cupcakes

48-50 standard cupcakes

3 eight inch cake layers

1 box white cake mix (I used Betty Crocker brand)

1 cup all purpose unbleached flour - sifted (I use King Arthur brand)

3/4 cup sugar

3/4 tsp salt

1 1/3 cup water

4 egg whites ( or 3/4 cup pasteurized egg whites - much easier!)

1/2 stick melted butter

1/2 tsp LorAnn vanilla butter bakery emulsion (optional)

1 cup sour cream

1 Tbsp vanilla

Let's Bake!

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees, prep your cake pans or cupcake pans
2. Place all dry ingredients in a large bowl
3. Add water and egg whites and mix on medium speed until well combined. 
4. Add melted butter, vanilla and mix well. 
5. Mix in sour cream on low speed. 
6. Fill your mini cupcake pan 2/3 full
7. Bake cupcakes for 10-12 minutes or until comes out clean with toothpick check. 
8. Remove from oven, and remove cupcakes from tin and and let cool to room temp. 

Maple Brown Sugar Candied Pecans

1 cup chopped pecans

1/2 stick butter

2 tbsp brown sugar

2 tbsp pure maple syrup

1/2 tsp vanilla

Let's Cook!

1. In a sauce pan, melt butter on medium heat.
2. Add brown sugar and whisk until sugar is no longer grainy. 
3. Add in pecans and continue to stir frequently until the sugar mixture is bubbly and the pecans smell toasted. 
4. Remove from heat, stir in maple syrup and vanilla.
5. Allow to cool to room temp. This sugar will crystallize and make a delicious crunchy shell on the pecans. 

The maple Swiss meringue buttercream is vanilla buttercream with about 4 tbsp pure maple syrup added in - the buttercream recipe can be found by clicking here.

The maple butterscotch/buttery caramel sauce recipe can be found by clicking here, and then add in 2 tbsp pure maple syrup in the end after taken off the heat.

To assemble the cupcakes, pipe the buttercream, top with pecans, and drizzle with the butterscotch sauce. Enjoy!