Papas Can You Hear Me? Day 2 of Leftover Makeovers: Mashed Potato Latkes

Let me just start this off by saying I really hope this doesn't offend anyone of the Jewish faith. If anything, you should be flattered. The reason I'm saying this is because I have a confession. Although I was raised a Hispanic Catholic girl from the south, I have this unnatural obsession with being a Jewish New Yorker. I'm not sure where this obsession came from other than my upbringing where "Funny Girl" was shown alongside "Sesame Street" and "Don't Rain on My Parade" was just another lullaby. Once I grew up it became marathons of "The Nanny" and I was obsessed with the glamorous stereotype.In second grade one of the teachers was a lovely woman named Mrs. Weizmann  During the holidays she taught us all about Hanukkah  the traditions and the food. Three things happened that day. One, I begged my mother to become Jewish so I could have 8 Christmases (yeah, I know that's not quite right now). Two, I went home with my own dreidel and learned the dreidel song. Three, I tasted Potato Latkes for the first time and was hooked.

It's day two of Leftover Makeovers and dinner was one of my family's absolute favorites; breakfast for dinner buffet. The menu consisted of their choice of leftover ham, bacon, eggs, pancakes and Potato Latkes made of leftover mashed potatoes. It was heavenly. So heavenly in fact that I forgot to take a picture and by the time I remembered, they were all eaten up.

This is not my picture but it looks like it could be. That's all that matter's, right? Screw copyrights! I'm a Google rebel.

Mashed Potato Latkes

2 cups mashed potatoes 
1 large egg, beaten lightly 
6 tablespoons all-purpose flour 
3 TBS onion powder  
Salt and pepper 
Vegetable oil, for frying

Preheat oven to 250 degrees. 

In a bowl combine well the potatoes and the egg, stir in the flour thoroughly, and stir in the onion powder salt and pepper, to taste. 

In a large heavy skillet, heat 1/8-inch of the oil over moderately high heat until it is hot but not smoking. Fry heaping tablespoons of the potato mixture, flattening them slightly with the back of the spoon, for 1 minute on each side, or until they are golden brown. Transfer the pancakes as they are cooked to paper towels to drain and if desired, keep them warm on a rack set on a baking sheet in a preheated 250 degree oven. 

When Apologizing, It's Always Best to Use Bacon

I know, it seems like most of these blog posts have an apology for why I haven't been able to post lately. This time I'm not even going to explain it because it honestly just has to do with me being lazy.That's right. I'm lazy. How lazy? Well, I had this whole blog post written about a month ago and I just now got around to editing it. Yeah. That's pretty lazy. That's why I have a surprise. Not only am I posting my amazingly delicious Bacon Maple Cupcake recipe, but I'm also linking you to the most amazing Brown Butter Pumpkin Cupcakes with Caramel Cream Cheese frosting. They are the perfect addition to a Thanksgiving dessert buffet. I took these to work on Monday for our Thanksgiving potluck and they were a huge hit.

I'm just going to keep this short and sweet because I know why you're reading this, you probably want bacon and honestly I'd like to fit a nap in before "New Girl" because today was exhausting.
And now for my apology recipe; Maple Bacon Cupcakes. Trust me, it sounds odd, but it's not. Think outside of the Duncan Hines box. Relax, lay back, pour yourself some coffee and enjoy the breakfast explosion in your mouth (that's what he said). It's like bacon and pancakes with syrup (Also what he said. He lied.).

Maple Bacon Cupcakes with Candied Bacon

Butter Cake:

1 cup butter, softened

1 1/2 cups sugar

4 large eggs

3 cups all-purpose soft-wheat flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup milk

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Paper baking cups

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Beat butter and sugar at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating until blended after each addition. Combine flour, baking powder, and salt; add to butter mixture alternately with milk, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Beat at low speed until blended after each addition. Stir in vanilla.

Place paper baking cups in 2 (12-cup) muffin pans, and coat with cooking spray; spoon batter into cups, filling two-thirds full. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pans on wire racks 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks, and cool completely. While cupcakes are cooling make Candied Bacon.

Candied Bacon:

12 strips of raw bacon cut into quarters

1/2 C brown sugar

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place bacon and brown sugar in zipper sealed bag and shake until bacon is coated. Lay each piece on a baking sheet and bake for about seven minutes, flip bacon and then bake for five minutes more. Bacon should be crispy and sticky like toffee.

*Tip* The bacon grease and brown sugar forms an amazing sweet and salty toffee candy. It's an added bonus.

Maple Frosting:

1 cup butter

1 (16-oz.) package dark brown sugar

1/2 cup evaporated milk

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1 tablespoon light corn syrup

4 cups powdered sugar

2 teaspoons maple flavoring

To prepare frosting, melt butter in a heavy saucepan over medium heat. Add brown sugar; bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Stir in evaporated milk, baking soda, and light corn syrup; bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat, and let cool. Transfer caramel mixture to a large bowl. Gradually add powdered sugar to caramel mixture; beat at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy. Stir in maple flavoring. Beat at high speed 2 minutes or until creamy. Frost using a cupcake tip, or just dip the cupcakes into the frosting for a nice even coat. Top with the candied bacon and enjoy.