Thursday 11 June 2015

Bacon-chocolate cupcakes

Pete likes bacon.  It was Pete's birthday last week.  I made cupcakes.  They had bacon in them.

The recipe in its original format is here; because I'm in the UK and couldn't get hold of some of it (and because I use weights rather than cups), here is my version.

Approx 200g smoked, streaky bacon chopped up finely
225g unsalted butter
50g Bournville Cocoa
180ml water
500g caster sugar
2 large eggs
120ml well-shaken buttermilk
2 T vanilla
200g plain flour
1/2 t baking soda
1 t baking powder
1/4 t salt

Preheat oven to 350 F/170. 

Frazzle the bacon til it's crispy and then drain it well on some kitchen towel.  Pat as much off as possible.

The method cited is so easy - just melt the butter over a low heat, and whisk in the cocoa, before adding the water and mixing until it' smooth.

Take it off the heat and add all the other ingredients, finishing with the bacon.

Fill your cake cases about 2/3 full - they rise really well.

In my oven these take precisely 13 minutes per batch to cake - the original recipe explains that they are very moist (I can vouch for this) and they firm up as they cool.

Makes 36 fairy cake sized cakes.  These are rich so I made them in a smaller size - you can always go back for more!


Dark Chocolate Frosting

110g unsalted butter
70g Bournville Cocoa
300g icing sugar 
80ml milk
1 t vanilla extract

Melt the butter and stir in the cocoa, then take it off the heat and add the sifted icing sugar and milk a little at a time, mixing until it's a soft spreading consistency, before finishing with the vanilla.  It will dry out if you leave it to stand so do get to it straight away!