Sticky Apple Bacon Pumpkin Biscuit Bake

OK so this isn't a cupcake but it is a delicious fall treat that the world should not be deprived of experiencing! and I can barely maintain 1 blog I am not about to start 2 for non cupcake things and who knows what this will evolve into once my year of cupcakes is over... Unfortunately I didn't think take a picture of these as a whole so I apologize for the subpar photo. This photo does not accurately convey there deliciousness. Yes I am aware that they look like a big pile of you know what; but don't all the best tasting things look like that?  These are pretty much perfect for everything. They would make a good breakfast or a good dessert with a whipped cream or ice cream. But i guess I should probably tell you what they even are...these are pumpkin drop biscuits with apple and cheddar with a bacon praline topping. These are the perfect blend of sweet and savory. The bacon and cheddar balances out the apple and sweet maple topping, and the pumpkin meets everything somewhere in the middle. While they are perfectly good cold they are best served warm!

This recipe fills 2 round foil casseroles tins. These worked well because the dough rises a decent amount. Spray whatever you use with nonstick spray

For the Sticky Topping:

• 1 pound of Bacon cut into small bits, cooked
• 2/3 cup of brown sugar
• 1/2 cup all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup maple syrup
•  4 Tbs of melted butter
• 1/2 cup of pecan pieces

1. Preheat oven to 475.
2. Mix your syrup ingredients together and spread over the bottom of the pans. 

For the Biscuits:

• 4 cups All-purpose Flour 
• 3 tsp Baking Powder 
• 1 tsp Salt 
• 1/2 cups brown sugar
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
• 1/2 cups Cold Butter Cubed 
• 1 1/3 cups Buttermilk 
• 1 can (15oz)  Pumpkin Puree 
• 1 large or 2 small apples--I used honey crisp 
• 1 cup cheddar cheese

1. In a large bowl whisk together your dry ingredients. Work butter into the mixture using a pastry blender until you get pea sized bits. Mix in buttermilk and pumpkin puree.
2. With a cookie/ice cream scoop drop mounds on top of the Syrup mixture.
3. Bake for 15-20 minutes until top is golden brown. Let cool for 5 minutes or so and then flip onto a plate and scoop whatever topping that stayed in the pan onto to top of the biscuits. 
4. Pull apart and eat them all!! or share...

Week 25, July 21st, 2014 ~ Bacon Pineapple Upside Down Cupcakes

So I kinda have this problem...I have a compulsive need to put bacon on EVERYTHING! Bacon just makes everything better! So last weekend when I was trying to figure out what to make (which is proving to be a much harder task when all I wanna do it go to the beach on the weekends) I was asked if I had ever made Pineapple Upside Down Cupcakes. I have had them and I love them but I had never made them and it was perfect because they don't need frosting so I could be a little lazy this week! I wanted to do something different with them though, put my own spin on it. It wasn't hard to come up with the obvious choice of bacon! It is probably one of my signature ingredients at this point. Though since I know not everyone is as adventurous as me I only put bacon on half of them. I did candy mine, I just think it works better in sweets. If I did anything different I would maybe have incorporated some of the bacon into the batter or added more on top. There should have been more bacon unfortunately I burned about 1/3rd of it... The bacon was such a good addition though! It added a little salty and smokiness to rather sweet cupcake. For the batter I used some brown sugar instead of white and I added crushed pineapple and pineapple juice so the flavor would carry through the whole cupcake. It did make for a VERY moist cupcake so I would recommend putting the cupcakes in liners after you flip them. For the actual baking portion you can either spray the cupcake tin for nonstick  spray or use liners and peel them off after you flip the cupcakes. I used liners because. I was trying to avoid a mess and I was out of nonstick spray... Whichever you want to of is fine, both ways work. Ok I have rambled enough, I'll just get on with it!

This recipe makes 24 cupcakes

For the cake:

• 2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 3 eggs
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1-8 ounce container sour cream
• 1/2 cup pineapple juice
• 1/2 cup (4 ounces of a 20 ounce can) crushed pineapple drained

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

1. Spray muffin pans with baking spray or line with cupcake liners.
2. In medium bowl combine dry ingredients: flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt, mix and set aside.
3. Beat butter and sugars on medium speed until fluffy.
4. Add eggs one at a time and beat until just combined.
5. Add vanilla and mix.
6. Add in half of the dry ingredients and mix, scraping sides of bowl.
7. Add in sour cream, pineapple juice and pineapple and mix until well combined.
8. Add in rest of the dry ingredients and mix until well combined.

Pineapple Mixture:

• 1/2 stick unsalted butter, melted
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 16 ounces (rest of the 20 ounce can) crushed pineapple, drained
• 12 maraschino cherries, cut in half
• 12+ pieces candied bacon go a little lighter on the peppers

1. In large bowl mix melted butter and brown sugar.
2. Add pineapple and bacon and mix well.

Assembling the cupcakes:

1. Place half of a maraschino cherry cut side up in the center of muffin pan.
2. Spoon about 2 tbsp pineapple mixture around the cherry.
3. Place a scoop of cake batter on top of the pineapple mixture.
4. Bake for 20-22 minutes until toothpick comes out clean.
5. Let cupcakes cool in pans for 10-15 minutes.
6. Place a wire rack on top of the muffin tin and flip over to release the cupcakes--you may have to shake a tin a little.

I must have really been loving pineapple last week because I also made homemade Dole Whips in my ice cream maker! Everyone knows I love Dole Whip! Now of course you can also make these without bacon...I won't judge you...

Week 20, June 16,2014~ Spicy Bacon Guinness Cupcakes with Nutella Buttercream

A sign that I have lost my mind is when I make a cupcake that doesn't sound like it would make any sense at all...and that us what happened this week...

I knew I wanted to make another bacon cupcake but it needed to be different....so instead of just candying the bacon on top of the cupcake I candied the bacon inside of the cupcake too but I did a sweet and spicy ( some would say very spicy) rub. In my opinion you haven't lived until you have tried candied bacon...I highly recommend adding it to chocolate chip cookies too. I also decided to make a chocolate Guinness cupcake instead of a regular chocolate cake because bacon and chocolate go well together and bacon and beer go together...right? Then somewhere in my crazy brain I decided that hazelnut and bacon go good together...and boy was I right...I think this might be one of my favorite cupcakes yet...definitely the most creative. Also the Nutella buttercream is definitely one of the best frostings I have made to date. It was so light and fluffy and hazelnutty! I talk about this cupcake all day but I think it's time to move on... 

This recipe made 12 cupcakes!

For the candied bacon:

• 10 slices of bacon --6 for the filling and 4 for garnish ( you are more than welcome to add more I kinda wish I did)
•  2 tablespoons brown sugar
•  2 teaspoons black pepper
• 2 teaspoons cayenne pepper (you can use less or use chili powder instead if you don't like it as spicy)

1. preheat oven to 325 and line a baking sheet with foil and layout bacon on sheet

2. Mix the sugar and peppers together in a small bowl and generously rub the mixture all over the bacon

3. Cook in the oven for 25-30 minutes-even if it doesn't seem crispy enough it will crisp up a bit after you take it out of the oven

4. Transfer to a platter lined with paper towels and once cool chop 6 of the slices into small pieces and 4 of the pieces into fourths for the garnish; set aside till ready to add to the cupcakes.

For the Guinness cupcakes:

• 3/4 cup Guinness
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
•  6 tbsp cup Dutch-process cocoa powder - I use Hershey's Special Dark
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1½ teaspoons baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1 egg
• 2/3 cup buttermilk
• 6 slices crumbled candied bacon

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Bring the Guinness and butter to a simmer in a heavy, medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the cocoa powder and whisk until the mixture is smooth. Cool slightly.
2. Whisk the flour, sugar, baking soda and salt in a large bowl to combine. Using an electric mixer, beat the eggs and sour cream on medium speed until combined.
3. Add the Guinness-chocolate mixture to the egg mixture and beat just to combine. Reduce the speed to low, add the flour mixture and beat briefly.
4.  Add the bacon and using a rubber spatula, fold the batter until completely combined. 
5. Divide the batter among the cupcake liners. Bake until a thin knife inserted into the center comes out clean, about 17 minutes. Cool the cupcakes on a rack.

For the Nutella Buttercream:

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 cup Nutella
• 3-4 cups powdered sugar
• 2 tbsp Frangelico or heavy cream

1. Beat the butter until smooth and creamy

2. Add the Nutella and beat until fully combined

3. Gradually add the powdered sugar and beat until fully incorporated

4. Add the liquor or heavy cream and beat for 2-3 minutes--if too thick add more liquid or more sugar if too thin.

5. Frost the cupcakes as you wish and top with a piece of candied bacon!

Happy Baking :)

May 16,2014~Tater Tot Goat Cheese Mac and Cheese

Now for a break from your regularly scheduled programming! I present what could be the greatest macaroni and cheese to ever exists! It combines all off my favorite foods! Mac and cheese, goat cheese, bacon, and tater tots! It was inspired by this post on buzzfeed, as soon as I saw it the wheels started turning!

Now you can use whatever tots you want but I would recommend the Alexa Potato Puffs. The filling has a hint of cream cheese and chive and they are seasoned with cracked black pepper and garlic so they add a lot of flavor on their own! Also for the cheese I use a mac and cheese blend from Stop & Shop that is sharp cheddar, american, and swiss cheeses...If you want to be real fancy I would use a sharp cheddar and gruyere or fontina but I didn't want to make a $20 mac and cheese!  Let's just get on with it...I could talk this up all day!

Serving: 3 as an entree 4 if it was a side dish 

1/2 pound cavatappi pasta --you can use whatever you want this is just what I prefer, I think it holds to the cheese better...but really anything with lines is good

1 tablespoons butter

1 tablespoons flour

1 cup milk--I usually use whole but whatever is fine

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1/4 teaspoon mustard powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon cracked black pepper

2 cups of shredded cheese; save 1/4 cup to sprinkle on top

4 ounces soft goat cheese

1/2 bag tater tots--how much you need depends on what you are making it in you want enough to cover the top

4 slices worth of crumbled bacon, or if you are lazy like I am you can use the precooked real bacon bits

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Bring a large pot of well-salted water to a boil and cook cavatappi and cook al dente. It should have a slight bite to it  Drain and set aside. While that is happening you want to par bake the tater tots. I cooked mine for about 20 minutes; you don't need to worry about them being cooked through or rotating them since they will finish cooking on the mac and cheese. 
2. Melt the butter in the large pot you cooked the pasta in. Add the flour and whisk until you have a paste.  Slowly add the milk while whisking until there are no more clumps.  Add seasonings and cheeses while still whisking; until the sauce is thick and all the cheese is melted.
3. Add the pasta to the cheese sauce and stir, and mix in about 3/4 of the bacon. Put the mac and cheese into a large casserole and then top with an even layer of the tots and a sprinkling of bacon and shredded cheese.
4. Bake for 30-40 minutes until the tots are a golden brown.
5. Experience the awesomeness! 

Week 2, February 2nd, 2014 ~ Maple Whiskey Chocolate Bacon Cupcakes

Look at that glorious bacon!

So this is the moment you find out that I am a little bit crazy. The idea for this came from someone asking me to make a whiskey buttercream. So I thought "Challenge Accepted!". We thought about it for a while and landed upon a maple whiskey buttercream. The real challenge was then decided what the vessel for this potentially glorious frosting would be. So then I thought what goes perfectly with maple? Well only one of my major food groups...BACON! Then I remembered that Vosges makes a bacon chocolate and I have made bacon chocolate chip cookies a couple times and I love those! I knew this idea was just weird enough that it may work. It also gave me the perfect excuse to make candied bacon! You have not lived till you have had candied bacon. Its sweet, salty, savory, and a bit spicy! I am no expert on whiskey so I went into the liquor store I didn't know what I was getting myself into. I ended up making a beeline for the nips since I knew I didn't want to spend $20 bucks on a bottle of whiskey I was only going to use a couple ounces of. Looking through all the options I found a maple whiskey so I went with that. Looking back I would have scaled back on the maple syrup or used a plain whiskey so that the frosting would have had a stronger whiskey flavor. So keep that in mind if you recreate this recipe! Other than that it was a everything I wanted it to be! 

Chocolate Bacon Cupcakes

ingredients:

For cake:
3/4 cup unsweetened Hershey's Special Dark (dutch-processed) cocoa powder
3/4 cup hot water
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/4 teaspoons coarse salt
1 1/2 cups unsalted butter
2 1/4 cups sugar
4 large eggs, room temperature
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup sour cream, room temperature
6 slices thick cut bacon, cooked and chopped - I just baked mine in the oven

directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line pans with paper liners. Whisk together cocoa and hot water until smooth. In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.

Melt butter with sugar in a saucepan over medium-low heat, stirring to combine. Remove from heat, and pour into a mixing bowl. With an electric mixer on medium-low speed, beat until mixture is cooled, 4 to 5 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until each is incorporated, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Add vanilla, then cocoa mixture, and beat until combined. Reduce speed to low. Add flour mixture in two batches, alternating with the sour cream, and beating until just combined after each. Remove from stand mixer and gently fold in bacon.

Divide batter evenly among lined cups, filling each three- quarters full. Bake, rotating tins halfway through, until a cake tester inserted in centers comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Transfer cupcakes to wire racks to cool. 

Maple Whiskey Buttercream

Ingredients:

1 cup butter, room temperature
2 tablespoons maple syrup or extract (room temp. if you use syrup)
1 Nip -about 2 ounces Jim Beam Maple Bourbon Whiskey 
4-6 cups confectioners’ sugar

Directions:

1. Combine butter, maple syrup, Whiskey and 2 cups confectioners sugar in a large bowl and beat at medium-high speed until smooth.
2. Add remaining sugar in gradually until frosting is thick enough to pipe. You might not have to use all the sugar or if you add extra liquid you might need to add more. If it gets too stiff just add a little milk. 

Candied Bacon Topping

6 slices thick cut bacon

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 tsp black pepper

1/2 tsp cayenne

depending on how much of a kick you want you can add more or less spice or all black and no cayenne

1. Preheat oven to 400 and line a rimmed backing sheet with foil. 

2. Mix the sugar and peppers in small dish and generously cover top of bacon with it

3. Bake for 20-25 minutes until bacon is caramelized and almost crisp.

4. Let cool and then chop each piece into 4's.

I really have no business teaching people how to pipe a cupcake but I typically use the Wilton 1M tip-which is a popular choice for cupcakes. This cupcake was the start of what I think will be a beautiful friendship between cupcakes, alcohol, and myself! The three best friends that anyone could have!