French Toast Cupcakes
makes 12 cupcakes.French Toast Cupcakes, with cranberries and orange, is a twist on the classic French toast, baked in a muffin tin and topped with frosting.
Ingredients
- 20 oz brioche bread, or other kind like sourdough, cut into 1’’ cubes and preferably stale and dried out
- 6 eggs
- 1 c whole milk
- 1 c heavy cream
- 1 Tbsp vanilla extract
- ¼ brown sugar
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 1 large orange, zested (about 1 1/2-2 tsp zest) and 1/4 c orange juice juiced, divided
- ½ heaping c dried sweetened cranberries
- Powdered sugar for dusting, optional
Orange Cream Cheese Frosting;
- 8 oz whipped cream cheese, about room temperature (or 6 oz regular cream cheese, softened)
- ½ tsp orange zest, optional
- 2 Tbsp orange juice
- ⅓ c powdered sugar
- Maple syrup for serving, optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease a 12 cup muffin tin with butter or nonstick spray.
- Cut bread slices into 1’’ thick cubes and place in a large bowl.
- In a medium bowl whisk together eggs, milk, heavy cream, vanilla, brown sugar, cinnamon, salt, remaining orange zest, and 2 Tbsp orange juice. Pour the bread cubes into the custard, gently stir to coat all the cubes, then gently mix in the cranberries and let sit 5-10 minutes to absorb.
- Bring a kettle of water to a boil (for the water bath or "bain-marie").
- Using a spoon, fill the muffin tins. Transfer to a rimmed baking sheet and place on the center rack of the oven. Carefully pour in the boiling water to create a water bath. Bake for 20-30 minutes until firm and golden on top.
- As the cupcakes bake, make the cream cheese frosting. Whip together the cream cheese, 1/2 tsp orange zest, 2 tsp orange juice, and powdered sugar, until smooth and thickened. Transfer to a small zip top bag or piping bag and set aside. Alternatively, if you don’t want to drizzle the frosting on, leave it in the bowl and simply spread on the tops with a spatula.
- Let cupcakes cool 15 minutes or so before transferring to a cooling rack, dusting with powdered sugar (optional), and frosting (also optional).
- You can also serve them warm with a drizzle of maple syrup if frosting isn’t your favorite.