This girl challenged me to make bacon cupcakes. Yes, you read that right. Bacon Cupcakes. Not just any bacon cupcake, I make Chocolate Peanut Butter Bacon Cupcakes.
So here is a step-by-vomit-inducing-step picture diary of my culinary adventure.
The cupcake recipe: A chocolate cupcake recipe taken from here.
Ingredients
- 2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (preferably Dutch process)
- 5 1/3 ounces (10 2/3 tablespoons) sweet butter (I had no idea there were different types of butter.)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
- 3 eggs
- 1 cup milk
Heat the oven to 350 degrees and line muffin tins with cupcake liners. Sift together the flour, soda, salt, and cocoa powder and set aside. (I don’t have a sifter, so I just dry whisked the ingredients together.)
Use a standing mixer or hand-mixer to cream the butter. Add the sugar and vanilla and mix to combine. Add the eggs one at a time, beating after each one until smooth. (I don’t have an electric mixer either. What kind of caveman kitchen am I running? I used my whisk again, and whipped the crap out that mixture. I now suffer from tennis elbow.) On the lowest speed, alternately add the dry ingredients in three additions and the milk in two. Beat only until smooth and fully combined, you don’t want to overwork the batter.
(At this point in the recipe, I realized if I followed the recipe exactly, there would only be bacon in the frosting. If anyone wasn’t willing to try these cupcakes, they could wimp out , scrape off the frosting, and enjoy a chocolate cupcake! I wasn’t willing to give those cowards the option. So I added six chopped up pieces of bacon to the batter.)
Scoop the batter into the prepared pans filling each about two-thirds full (don’t bother to smooth the tops--the batter will level itself as it cooks). Bake the cupcakes for about 25 minutes, or until the tops are puffed and spring back when lightly pressed. Be careful not to over bake the cakes, but know that if you take them out too early they may sink a bit. Cool the cakes in the muffin tins for about 5 minutes and then remove them to a rack and let cool completely. (I only had to cook mine for 15 minutes.)
The frosting recipe: A peanut butter bacon mousse topping recipe taken from here.
Ingredients
- 4 oz cream cheese at room temp (about half a standard package)
- 4 oz peanut butter
- ½ cup heavy cream
- ½ ounce butter, melted (about one tablespoon)
- ½ cup confectioners sugar, sifted
- Applewood smoked bacon (or other high quality, thick cut bacon) to taste
Melt butter; set aside Cook bacon to the point of crisp but not burnt. Thoroughly drain the fat and then pat bacon with paper towels, trying to remove as much of the grease as possible. Allow to cool, then chop into pieces. (Did you know you can cook bacon in the microwave? Clean up afterwards is so much easier.)
Whip cream to soft peaks; set aside. Using a mixer, blend together cream cheese, peanut butter, butter and sugar until well combined. Fold in whipped cream by hand. (Is that not the most disgusting thing you’ve ever seen?)
Peanut butter mixture will seem too stiff before the cream, but once the cream is thoroughly incorporated, the mousse should be a smooth, homogeneous texture. Then fold in the bacon, leaving out any pieces for cupcake toppers.
Ice cupcakes immediately and top with bacon garnish. Inhale. Horde from others. Or share, if you’re nice
To anyone worried about my health, I used reduced fat peanut butter. That made these healthy, right?
Mr. J tastes the first cupcake
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