Bacon & Bourbon

Before I was an open-minded foodies, I never ate bacon. I thought the concept of eating essentially fat was gross, and I hated how salty it was. Growing up, I would order a BLT, and then scrape off all the bacon. My lettuce-tomato-mayo sandwich satisfied my needs and my dad ate my bacon. We were both happy.

One holiday weekend, my sister was home from college and we were food shopping for a Christmas breakfast. We got to the meat area and she was exclaimed “oh yeah we need bacon!” I rolled my eyes. No, no we didn’t need bacon. Who was going to eat it all? I sure wasn't. In the aisles I explained why I hated bacon and my sister basically told me to suck it up. Instead of purchasing the atypical kind, she chose Maple-Bacon, which obviously would taste sweeter.

When I said how I hated how hard bacon was, she told me she would make my pieces chewy. On Christmas morning after opening presents, my sister made a packet of bacon for my family. It was my time. I took a bite of the chewy maple mess, and basically then ate a whole packet the next day. I was a converted baconite. Suddenly I would crave it, Apple-wood smoked bacon, extra-thick bacon, bacon, bacon, BACON. I was becoming like the dog on the commercial. Eventually this addiction plateaued and I stopped eating so much bacon. I like to think my arteries thanked me.

Around the time I was divulging in my own bacon-obsession, so was the baking world. Baking and bacon became the hottest food trends and it seemed like you couldn't go anywhere without seeing a dessert that had some sort of bacon within it. I feel like this is still coming, if not heightening. I mean… I’m going to a bacon festival in Florida in a week.

Ultimately, last weekend I decided to bake cupcakes that had elements of bacon. This was apart of my “Sarah and Evan Series” aka the two most loyal customers I have. Since I started Gilly’s Sarah has placed an order for her anniversary with Evan. Every year the cravings they have are so awesome that I really enjoy having a surplus to eat everything too.

This year, one of the elements was bacon. This was also present in the Apple Pie with Bacon-Cheddar Crust. It was also present in these Maple-Bourbon Cupcakes.

Aside from my bacon craze, I like alcohol. I’m sure my mother will call me and tell me to delete that, but sorry Mom, I like my liquor! I’m a big fan of whiskeys, and gins, and really anything and these alcohols are awesome to bake with. Having the flavor of liquor within a chocolate cupcake is mind-exploding.

These cupcakes are the perfect combination of salty and sweet. They are topped with candied bacon and have overwhelming hints of a Knob Creek Bourbon (thanks Justin!) The frosting is made with a maple-agave syrup, and it’s lighter. To me, these cupcakes made me question why I wasn't have seven at once and why I didn't make more. I liked them a lot.

Plus, like a lot of the recipes I post, they’re easy. Believe it or not, I used to hate making cupcakes, until I decided that they didn't need to be all frilly. Yes, some people use cupcakes as a show-off for their decoration skills, I use mine for taste.

If you’re hesitant to use alcohol, you can substitute it or omit it.

This recipe comes from Christina's Baking Adventure and its awesome!

So to start, make the candied bacon. Note to bakers: DON’T put the candied bacon on a paper towel to dry. I don’t know WHY I thought this would be a good idea, but no, the towel will stick to the bacon. No one wants to taste Bounty in their cupcake.

While the candied bacon cools, make the cupcakes. I got 12 cupcakes out of the batter, but some cupcakes differed in size. I use a ¼ cup scoop to pour the batter, which helps ensure equal sizes.

So for the cupcakes, whisk the bourbon, butter and cocoa powder until it is smooth. Try to eliminate the lumps that the cocoa may form. Whisk in the Greek yogurt until there are no more lumps. Add the egg and whisk, then the sugar. Your mixture will be thicker and gritty.

With the dry ingredients, I sifted mine over the bowl. This ensures that the flour won’t be so clumpy and I won’t over mix. You don’t want to over mix this batter as your cupcakes will be dense. Pour into the liners until ¾ full and bake for 18 minutes. Allow to cool.

Once the cupcakes are completely cool, make the frosting. Like I mentioned, I used a maple-agave syrup from Trader Joe's, but maple extract or regular maple syrup will suffice. Cream the butter until it’s soft and then add the powdered sugar and heavy cream in increments. I also like to sift my sugar to get rid of lumps. If using a syrup, I started with ¼ cup and if the frosting needed anymore maple flavor, added by tablespoons. Add a pinch of salt. You don’t want this frosting to be too sweet. Lighter is better. I mix my frosting for at least 3 minutes to ensure its softness.

Using a piping bag, cut a ¾-1-inch line at the bottom. Pipe in a circle on top of the cupcakes. Take the chopped candied bacon and top. Voila! Now eat!

Chocolate Maple Bacon Bourbon Cupcakes
recipe from Christina’s Baking Adventure

Ingredients:

For the Candied Bacon:

• 6 slices of bacon, cut in half
• 1/2 cup light or dark sugar

For the Cupcakes:

• 1/2 cup bourbon (I used Knob Creek as it was in my pantry, Jim Beam works)
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
• 1/2 cup + 2 Tablespoons granulated sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1/3 cup Greek yogurt or sour cream
• 1/4 cup + 2 Tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda

For the Maple Frosting

• 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
• 3-4 cups powdered sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon maple extract; or ¼ cup maple syrup
• pinch of salt
• 1/4 cup heavy cream

Instructions:

For the Cupcakes

1. Preheat the oven to 350F degrees. Line a cupcake pan with 10 liners.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the bourbon, butter and cocoa powder until smooth and cream. Whisk in the Greek yogurt until no lumps remain. Add the egg and whisk until combined. Add in the sugar. Mixture will be gritty.
3. Add the flour, salt and baking soda and whisk together until *just* combined. Over mixing will give you a dense cupcake. Fill the cupcake liners 3/4 full. Bake for 18-20 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. My cupcakes took exactly 18 minutes. Allow to cool completely before frosting.

For the Bacon

1. Once the cupcakes are done, lower the oven temperature to 325F degrees. Line a baking sheet with foil, and place a wire rack overtop.
2. Place the bacon in a large bowl and add the brown sugar. Mix together. Make sure each piece of bacon is coated with brown sugar. Line the bacon on the rack. Bake for 25-35 minutes until bacon starts to crisp. Let cool on rack before handling. Top cupcakes with as much as you'd like.

For the Frosting

1. Using a hand or stand mixer on high, cream the butter until smooth. With the mixer on low, in 1/2 increments add the powdered sugar mixing well in between each addition. Add maple extract, heavy cream and mix well. Add a pinch of salt if too sweet.
2. If frosting is too thin, add a little more powdered sugar. If too thick, add a little more heavy cream.