Episode Three - Go Pantry or Go Home!

My peanut butter/Nutella cookie recipe was created out of necessity.  At the time, I was craving cookies THAT VERY MINUTE and had to bake them immediately, but I was too lazy to drive to the store (five minutes away) to buy ingredients.  So I decided if I wanted to make cookies, I could only use what was in the pantry - and if I didn’t find anything cookie-worthy, then forget it.  And, since I wasn’t going to get in the car (or walk), what other choice did I have? 

Unfortunately, digging through the pantry didn’t reveal any chocolate chips, dried fruit, or nuts.  However, I did find a half empty jar of peanut butter.  And as I dug further into the pantry’s deep, dark, depths (where men fear to tread – and, well, never go anyway), I incredulously found an unopened jar of Nutella.  Score!

I then logged on to foodtv.com and looked for a peanut butter cookie recipe with the highest rating and the least amount of ingredients.  After I found a recipe, I replaced half the peanut butter with Nutella.  I’m not a big peanut butter cookie fan, but it seemed "'duh, obvious" that the two flavors were complimentary.  The first time I made this recipe, I underbaked the cookies so they would be soft and tender, but they rebelled with a nice crunch.

When I was in high school, I always baked cookies less than recommended so they would be super moist.  I thought of this technique as my “signature” cookie baking method and it seemed so avant-garde to me at the time.  

I admit that sometimes my “signature” was a bit bold and the cookies were very close to raw (still moist!).  But crunchy cookies were not in my repertoire.  From what I knew at the time, cookies your teeth didn’t sink into were overcooked, store bought, or just not right.

I really love this recipe, but I couldn’t get away from the fact that the cookies were so crunchy (albeit awesome) – so I made the recipe again with some changes.  The end result is a much softer cookie, with the same great taste.

After my boyfriend (aka Grand Taste Tester) tried these cookies the first time, he said:  “I love these cookies!  They are definitely in my top five favorite cookies of all time!”  Hmmm…I noticed his sly way of saying they weren’t number one, but they’re still rockin’ good – soft OR crunchy.  

Peanut Butter/Nutella Cookies

·      1/2 cup granulated sugar, plus extra sugar for rolling cookies

·      1/2 cup dark brown sugar

·      1 stick butter, at room temperature

·      2 eggs

·      1/2 cup smooth peanut butter

·      1/2 cup Nutella

·      1/2 teaspoon salt

·      3/4 teaspoon baking powder

·      2 cups flour

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, cream together sugars and butter.  Add eggs and beat well. Mix in peanut butter and Nutella until smooth and creamy. 

Stir in salt, baking powder, and flour until just combined – don’t overmix.

Roll dough into 1-inch balls and then roll in sugar. Place on baking sheet and flatten with fork in both directions (ala traditional peanut butter cookies). 

Bake for 15-18 minutes.  Don’t overbake.

Episode Two - Revisiting the Bacon Cupcake

When I called my Mom and told her I was creating a blog called “Bacon Cupcake,” she sounded less than enthusiastic.  Her first comment was, “Well, you know your Dad didn’t like those.” 

I’m sure my mom naturally assumed that my blog would be dedicated to the first bacon cupcake recipe I ever made – that one my Dad didn’t like – and every other bacon cupcake recipe known to man. After all, bacon cupcake recipes are posted on blogs and recipe sites around the web world.  They’re presented on Cupcake Wars and ordered in trendy bakeries.

I can understand her concern.  

Mom, Bacon Cupcake will not be all things bacon cupcake.   

But today I do want to pay homage to that dark chocolate bacon cupcake recipe that started it all.   

One day at work – over a year ago now, my friend Leslianne found bacon cupcake recipes online and told me about them over our shared cube wall (she can find anything online in mere nanoseconds.  If there’s ever an Internet version of the Amazing Race, I want to be on her team.).  The whole notion sparked my immediate interest.  A fluffy cupcake studded with bacon bits sounded decadent, and yet…wrong – so wrong that it was somehow ultimately right. 

I had to rise to the challenge.  So I chose a dark chocolate recipe to bake that night and brought the cupcakes to work the next day.  We all know that co-workers make the best guinea pigs when it comes to baked goods.  I’ve been known to say that if you make a (fresh) dirt cake for co-workers to snack on, there’s no doubt some of them will grub.   

This time however, I passed the cupcakes out to specific taste testers with discriminating palates and didn’t tell them bacon was the star ingredient.  Some immediately guessed it was bacon, and some were shocked (in a good way) and surprised when they found out.  The positive response was overwhelming.  Thankfully, no bites were spit into napkins and no screams echoed off cube walls (that I know of).  

Fast forward over a year and I’m now revisiting that recipe my Dad didn’t like, with the goal to pump up its joie de vivre and take it to the next level.

I had questions.  How do I change the recipe?  How does it become any different from the myriad of cupcake recipes that already flood the Internet?  How do I make it enticing – something someone would want to try?

So I put on my best Barefoot Contessa thinking smock (love you, Barefoot!) and tried to imagine how she would approach this.  How would she add a twist?   

I first thought of the sweet flavors that bacon likes to play with.  Chocolate.  Duh.  Maple.  Check.  Apple.  Check.  Then I thought of dates.  Dates love bacon.  Check.  What about a date puree?  But when I found some fig jam at the store (already a puree!)  I knew I hit the jackpot.  (Who wants to make date puree anyway?)

So I added fig jam to both the cake and the frosting (and made a few more changes to make the recipe mine). 

Don’t be afraid of figs.  The jam is so mild that it doesn’t overwhelm the chocolate bacon flavor - it adds sweetness and a rich depth.

This time my boyfriend served as Grand Taste Tester.  I forced him nicely to experience a cupcake with and without the frosting.  He liked both versions and said they were REALLY good, almost like it was unbelievable. The cake is soft and silky with a delicate crumb – the bacon adds texture and a hit of saltiness that levels out the sweetness.

Please check out my new recipe below.  Dad, these are NOT the cupcakes you didn’t like.  

Bacon Chocolate Cupcakes with Fig Jam and Mascarpone Frosting

           

8-10 slices thick-cut bacon

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup good cocoa powder

1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt (not kosher)

1 cup unsalted butter at room temperature

3/4 cup fig jam

2 cups granulated white sugar

2 extra-large eggs at room temperature

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1 cup buttermilk at room temperature

1/2 cup mascarpone cheese at room temperature

2 tablespoons brewed coffee

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease 24 muffin cups or line with cupcake liners.

Chop bacon into 1/2 inch pieces and cook over medium heat in a non-stick skillet until bacon is brown and crispy (try not to burn into hard chips).  Drain bacon pieces on a paper towel and set aside.  

In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, good cocoa, baking soda, baking powder and salt.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar on high speed until light, approximately 5 minutes. Add the eggs, vanilla, fig jam, and mix well. Combine the buttermilk, mascarpone, and coffee. On low speed, add the flour mixture and the buttermilk mixture alternately in thirds, beginning with the buttermilk mixture and ending with the flour mixture. Mix the batter only until blended.  Fold in bacon pieces.

Fill muffin cups about 3/4 full.  Bake on the middle rack of the oven for 25 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Allow cupcakes to cool, frost with mascarpone cheese frosting (see recipe below).

Fig Jam and Mascarpone Frosting

1 1/2 packages mascarpone cheese (12 oz), room temperature

1 stick butter, room temperature

2 1/2 cups powdered sugar (or more)

1/4 cup fig jam

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Add all ingredients together and beat until fluffy. 

Note:  Use room temperature mascarpone or the frosting will be lumpy.      

Episode One.

Bacon Cupcake is me on a diet.  It’s our Dachshund and Lab sharing the couch.  It’s writing a book in haiku.  It’s “one of these things is not like the others,” BUT everything belongs.

I used to envision that my eventual life, that finally settled-on life, would have an aspect of Brady-esque sense to it.  House perfectly cleaned, me perfectly coiffed, pantry perfectly stocked, music perfectly keyed up for dinner parties. 

In my dust- and dog hair-free scenario, any impromptu guests who appear at the door are treated to my effortlessly created culinary delights, while I regale them with humorous anecdotes in a relaxed (expertly lighted) atmosphere.

Perhaps I will serve Ribolita or salmon tartines or some fancy lamb thing.  And I'll offer prosecco with dollops of fresh peach juice – a blessing day or night.

Sadly, the truth is that my pantry is full of a medley of flours I never use, old crackers that have been stationed in ripped cellophane for decades, and jars of spaghetti sauce with dusty lids.
Don’t even get me started on the coiffure, or lack thereof.

But my beloved cookbooks are dog-eared, some pages are even food-smeared.  I have finally conquered my fear of yeast bread and pie crust.  And I'm ready to try to make cream anglaise - again.

I’ve come to realize that my own real "esque-ness" is manifested in my love of cooking and baking (and drinking all kinds of prosecco with or without peach juice), and truly accepting that if the food doesn’t turn out, “we can always order pizza.”