Bacon Cupcakes

Bacon Cupcakes

Maple Bacon Cupcakes

Take some bacon and you put it in a cupcake

Bacon Cupcakes

That's what I'm going to make

Bacon Cupcaaaaakes!

That is, of course, put to the Bacon Pancake tune from Adventure Time!

art by Matt Reedy

Now, this is a catchy tune on it's own, but it gets even catchier when Feast of Fiction sings it.

Ok, ok, so I'm not actually making pancakes, but when I got this song stuck in my head for over a month (your welcome) it started to involve into other things, and bacon cupcakes was one of them.

For Christmas I made my friend John some Maple Bacon Cupcakes by Bacon Today and sang this song through the whole process. Also, I was so caught up in singing and baking that I forgot to take process shots. Sorry :( 

But his recipe is too good not to pass on!

Bacon Maple Cupcakes

(makes about 6 cupcakes so you might want to double or triple the recipe)

 4 1/2 tablespoons butter, room temperature

 1/2 tablespoon bacon drippings (left in the fridge to become solid)

1 egg

5 tablespoons brown sugar 

4 tablespoons maple syrup

1 1/4 cups self rising flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

tiny tiny pinch kosher salt

1/4 cup milk

1/4 cup of minced (maple) bacon, cooked and drained

Cook some bacon in a fry pan (about 6 thick strips). Reserve the drippings and place in the fridge to solidify. Mince 1/4 a cup of the bacon. 

The chef should eat whatever is left to assure that the bacon is tasty. 

Beat the crud out of the butter and solidified bacon fat ’till light and creamy. 

Add the brown sugar and maple syrup and beat well until combined. 

Add the egg and beat until incorporated. 

Sift the flour, salt, baking soda and powder together.

Add some of the flour and mix, then some of the milk, then continue to alternate the dry and wet ingredients, ending with the dry. Mix until just combined. 

Fold in the bacon. 

Taste and add more maple syrup, flour, or milk if needed for desired taste. Keep in mind the maple frosting is very sweet, and to add in very small increments for alterations as maple syrup in large amounts can break a cake batter.

Scoop into cupcake papers and bake at 350 F for 18-22 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Be sure to rotate the pan after the first 15 minutes for even baking. 

Maple Syrup Frosting

(Again, this doesn't make much, so you'll want to make extra)

4 tablespoons of butter.

2 tablespoons of maple syrup.

1 cup of powdered sugar.

turbinado sugar (optional, but recommended).

coarse grain sea salt (optional, but recommended).

Combine the syrup and butter until combined. 

Add the sugar, a bit at a time, and whip at high speeds until combined. 

Pipe or spread onto cupcakes. 

Sprinkle on sea salt and turbinado sugar for decoration and a lot of added flavor.

(add some crumbled BACON TOO!)

I didn't add any of the extra bits, since it already looked so good. 

The cupcakes themselves look a little dark, but that's the added maple to the batter.

They were really quite good, which surprised me. I was worried that they would be strange.

These make the perfect gift or a really great pot-luck dessert that will keep people talking.

If you decide to try these, let me know how it goes!

Saturday Morning Cartoon Birthday Treats

My very awesome boyfriend just turned 30 the other week.

Him and his friends are always throwing theme parties and his birthday was to be no exception to that rule.

But what kind of party to throw?

A Saturday Morning Cartoon Party, of course.

Art by Suppa-Rider

Everyone wore graphic t-shirts of their favorite cartoons, we threw on netflix and watched all sorts of 80's and 90's cartoons; Transformers, She-ra, Power Rangers, G.I. Joe, Sonic The Hedgehog and Jem. It was fantastic.

But what's a theme party without themed food?

We went with a breakfast theme, of course. But what do you make for a breakfast themed birthday cake? I scoured the internet for breakfast cupcakes and came across this amazing recipe from one of my favorite baking blogs; Confessions of A Cookbook Queen

 

picture by Confessions of a Cookbook Queen

Captain Crunch Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Marshmallow Frosting

1 box Duncan Hines Classic Yellow cake mix 1 cup buttermilk 4 large eggs 1/3 cup oil 4 cups Cap’n Crunch cereal, plus more for garnish
Preheat oven to 350. Line 24 muffin tins with baking cups and set aside. Using a food processor or a large Ziploc bag and rolling pin, crush 2 cups of the cereal very finely (to a cornmeal consistency). 

If you don't have a food processor or a rolling pin, an empty wine bottle works just as well. Who knew?

In the bowl of a mixer, add the cake mix, crushed cereal, buttermilk, eggs, and oil. 

Beat on low speed about one minute, stopping to scrape down sides of the bowl. Increase speed to medium and beat 2 minutes more. 

 
Fold other 2 cups on uncrushed cereal into the batter.

Fill liners 2/3 full and bake for 12-15 minutes or until tops spring back when lightly touched. Allow to cool on cooling racks.

 

To Make Frosting:

2 sticks butter, at room temperature (I used salted) 1 cup peanut butter 1 teaspoon vanilla 1/4 cup milk 4 cups powdered sugar 7 oz jar marshmallow creme

In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the 2 sticks of butter, peanut butter, milk, and vanilla on medium low speed until well blended. 

Slowly add powdered sugar and beat on low until just barely blended. Increase speed until medium and beat for about 2 minutes, until light and fluffy. 

 

Fold in Marshmallow Creme, not fully combining to allow for a swirl of marshmallow throughout.

Frost cupcakes generously and add a sprinkle of cereal to the top.

Note the Spiderman foils. Perfect for a Saturday Morning Cartoon Party.

I'll be honest, I was worried about this recipe. First off, I'm not one to use a box mix. I like making things from scratch, but I couldn't figure out what I needed to change by doing it from scratch, so I went with the box mix. Second, I wasn't sure how good putting cereal into cupcakes would be. But for both accounts, I was wrong. The cereal in them seemed to almost caramelize. Yum!

These cupcakes were AMAZING!!! 

Everyone loved them. 

The other new recipe I tried was bacon related from The Food Network

Candied Bacon

 

12 slices bacon, about 1/4-inch thick
Finely ground black pepper
1/3 cup light brown sugar
Equipment: 2 baking sheets, preferably the same size


Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.

Put bacon slices in a bowl, season them with pepper and toss with the brown sugar. 

 

 

Cover a baking sheet with parchment or foil and arrange the bacon in a single layer on top. Sprinkle any sugar left in the bowl over the bacon. 

 

 

Top with another layer of parchment or foil and top it, squarely, with another baking sheet. The baking sheet will flatten the bacon as it cooks. 

 

Place the tray in the center of the oven and bake for 20 minutes. Check the bacon by lifting the top tray and parchment. If it is not golden brown and fairly crispy, resist the temptation to turn up the oven temperature, and cook it for 10 to 15 minutes longer. Check it again. Keep in mind that when you remove the tray and transfer the bacon to a serving platter or individual plates, the bacon will "crisp" up a little more. Be patient!

My first batch got a little burnt, so I turned it back a bit for the other batches. (sorry, I only got a picture of the burnt batch)

It was really, really good. But by the third batch, the smell of it was getting to me and I didn't end up having more than a few pieces. Of course, there was none left over for me to try again the next day.

Other party foods that we served were mini bagels, berries, pancakes, hash-browns and nutella and peanut butter sandwiches. Sooooooo gooood!!!