Who Cooked It Better? Bacon Cupcakes
Chalk up another win for the blogs over the MSM, as Sushi Day’s steak sushi rolls over Gourmet, 58 percent to 42 percent in last week’s Who Cooked It Better.
For this week’s contest, we’re going with a hot new trend that combines a possibly tired trend with a classic taste to make everything new and creative again. Confused? You’ll understand in a second.
As you know, cupcakes have been quite the ubiquitous presence over the past few years, to the extent where some are declaring them so over already. I liked them better myself in grade school, when they weren’t trendy and didn’t cost nine dollars, but I think we can all agree, overexposed or not, these little devils are delicious.
One thing that is definitely not over is bacon, so it was only a matter of time before bacon collided with cupcakes to create something God is kicking himself for not inventing. Bacon cupcakes are here indeed, and all of a sudden they seem to have taken over the food blogosphere. I browsed through said blogosphere to find the best of the best, and there are no half-assed bacon-topped cupcakes here, each of these three contenders mix actual bacon into their batter to present three tantalizing recipes.
On the left is one of the first known versions of the mythical bacon cupcake. From the Vanilla Garlic blog, this maple bacon cupcake is for “those who eat with no fear,” and it sure lives up to that claim. Diced bacon is mixed into the brown sugar-maple syrup cupcake, which is then topped with a maple syrup-butter frosting and finished off with a sweet and salty kick from turbinado sugar and kosher salt. (Note: This does not make the cupcake kosher in any way). Full recipe here.
Appearing in the middle, No One Puts Cupcake in a Corner throws a chocolate spin on the BC, dreaming up an amazing coffee-buttermilk-dark chocolate-bacon batter. While she doesn’t give us a chocolate frosting recipe, she more than makes up for it by sprinkling bonus bacon (crispy, of course) on top of the cupcake. Full recipe here.
A Good Appetite, on the left, also goes with the dark chocolate theme, whipping up a batch of Hershey’s dark cocoa batter, topped with some dark chocolate frosting and a sprinkling of fleur de sel for that extra salty (and artsy!) touch. Extra points for some creative black and white photography. Full recipe here.
Wow I am hungry after writing all that up. I, for one, will surely be trying one of these recipes soon – so which one?
Find more cupcake commentary in Endless Cupcakes
(Photos: Vanilla Garlic, No One Puts Cupcake in a Corner, and A Good Appetite)
For those looking for my chocolate frosting, sorry for the original omission on the blog:
Chocolate Ganache Frosting
1 stick unsalted butter
1 pint heavy whipping cream
1 tbs. vanilla
1 pound dark organic chocolate chunks
5 cups confectioners sugar
Slowly melt butter, cream and vanilla together. Do not bring to a boil. When fully melted and barely at a simmer, pour over chocolate. Stir aggressively until fully blended and dark and creamy and yummy. At this point you can use as a glaze. Or, allow to cool to room temperature. With an electric mixer, whip chocolate mixture with powdered sugar in 1 cup increments. Frosting will be loose at this point. Allow to chill for several hours or over night. Be sure to lay a sheet of plastic wrap over the top to avoid skin. Bring frosting back to room tempurature and them pipe on.
As an alternate – yet decadent – bacon topping, I have now started to bake my bacon in the oven with a heavy coating of brown sugar and sea salt to create a shiny carmelized treat to top it off the cuppy with!!!!!
Wow I will have to try a few of these out! I wrote about a place in Pittsburgh (Dozen’s) that sells a Bacon Topped Cupcake. Read about it here http://www.mrbaconpants.com/bacon-on-a-cupcake
Also the photos of the cupcakes are great… there making me hungray ;(
DAMN! They all sound so good. I am reading this guiltily as vegetarian Mr. Cakespy sits unsuspecting on the other side of the room. Ha ha ha!
I think I would definitely eat the bacon cupcake. I love bacon wrapped in pancakes with maple syrup drizzled on top. These are some creative cupcake combinations!
They all sound disgusting… but I understand the idea of the Vanilla-Garlic recipe. Seems a little like a denny’s breakfast in a cupcake. That makes sense to me, people eat pancakes and bacon together all the time. but can I just say: ew!
as a non meat eater, you may dismiss anything thing maidelitala has to say on this subject. although, i have to say, im kinda with her on this. maybe i just havent found my bacon soft spot yet.
as a non-bacon lover (i.e. heretic), you can dismiss anything gansie has to say on this subject.
This is disgusting.
see comment #6
I made mkecupcakequeen’s Dark Chocolate Bacon Cupcakes, and it was quite an adventure! The cupcakes were very good. You can read about my experience here: http://bravogabbo.livejournal.com/4499.html
Thanks for the shout out. I just thought I’d mention that my photo isn’t in black & white but color, that is actually how dark the cupcake turned out, crazy huh.
If you haven’t tried them and are still saying, “Ew..Disgusting”, it makes you look like a child.
I am always amazed by the unique flavors people come up with to create culinary cupcake concoctions. All three sound yummy to me!
Check out this one that was posted in the NY Times today!
Chocolate-Oatmeal Cupcakes With Maple-Bacon Butter Cream
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/18/dining/182drex.html?ref=dining
Wow…how interesting!