Chocolate Cupcakes with Bacon-Maple Frosting

Yes, I caved to the bacon craze. I've been trying to plan out these cupcakes for a while now thanks to a not-so-helpful suggestion from my dear little brother. I asked him for a suggestion of what I could pair with chocolate besides caramel or fruit and his first response was "BACON!" Now I must admit that I have never been a huge fan of bacon (I prefer sausage) but I do like it, especially with syrup or on burgers. I can't really say I've ever thought of it with chocolate, but my brother is a weird kid and he will eat anything.

Anyway, he did get me thinking about this bacon and sweets idea. I have a killer maple butter cream recipe and bacon and maple are a fairly obvious combo. I've done caramel butter cream with chocolate, so I figured maple would work pretty darn well as a substitute. That lead me to the brilliant plan of adding bacon to the maple frosting and using a not-too-sweet chocolate cupcake as the base. I started making the cupcakes and kept thinking about how to add the bacon to the frosting. Then I remembered I still had maple sugar which would be perfect to sprinkle on bacon as it was cooling and excellent in the frosting. After cooking the bacon and beginning the frosting I had the brilliant idea to add the bacon to the frosting. Best plan! It added more texture than just sprinkling it on top and it allowed me to add more bacon to each cupcake and keep it on top. So here is my masterpiece:

Chocolate-Buttermilk Cupcakes *makes about 24 cupcakes:

-2 C flour
-1 C unsweetened cocoa
-1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
-pinch of salt
-1 ½ C buttermilk
-2 teaspoons vanilla extract
-1 ¾ C sugar
-1/2-3/4 C butter
-3 eggs

1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line cupcake pan with liners.

2.In a bowl, combine flour, cocoa, baking soda, and 3/4 teaspoon salt. In 2-cup liquid measuring cup, mix buttermilk and vanilla; set aside.

3. In another, large bowl, with mixer on low speed, beat sugar and butter until blended. Increase speed to high; beat 3 minutes or until creamy, occasionally scraping bowl with rubber spatula. Reduce speed to low; add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition.

4. Beat in flour mixture alternately with buttermilk mixture just until blended, beginning and ending with flour mixture, scraping bowl occasionally.

5. Pour batter into prepared tins. Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out clean.

Bacon-Maple Frosting:

- 1/2 c butter
- 3 1/2 c confectioners (powdered) sugar...or 1/4 c maple sugar, the rest powdered, if you have it (but it's still yummy if you don't)
-1/4 milk
-1/4 c or more of decent maple syrup (I like the darker ones because the flavor is more intense but really whatever you have on hand)
-about 5 slices of well-cooked bacon, sprinkled with maple sugar (if you have it) crumbled

1. Cook the bacon: heat a cast iron pan over medium heat and cook bacon until crispy. Pat with paper towels to drain, sprinkle with maple sugar (if using).

2. Make the butter cream: with an electric mixer, mix the butter and about 1/3 c sugar at a time, adding more sugar once it has been incorporated, adding milk as needed to thin the frosting out. *You may need more sugar to taste, so taste as you go

3. Drizzle maple syrup into the frosting and taste as you go so it doesn't get too sweet.

4. Crumble or tear the bacon into little, tiny pieces and mix into the butter cream with a big frosting knife or a spoon (you don't need the mixer here).

5. Frost liberally and serve immediately!

Bacon Cinnamon Rolls

YUUUUMMMMYYYY!
I made these first for my neighbor's birthday and then perfected them a few weeks later while home for thanksgiving.

Cinnamon Rolls (pretty much stolen from Smitten Kitchen)

Makes 18 buns...mine made less and were rather small, not that I'm complaining.

Dough
1 cup whole milk
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 1/2 cups (or more) unbleached all purpose flour, divided
1/2 cup sugar
1 large egg
2 1/4 teaspoons rapid-rise or instant yeast (from 1 envelope yeast)
1 teaspoon salt
Nonstick vegetable oil spray

Combine milk and butter in glass measuring cup. Microwave on high until butter melts and mixture is just warmed to 120°F to 130°F, about 30 to 45 seconds.

Pour into bowl of stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment. Add 1 cup flour, sugar, egg, yeast, and salt. Beat on low speed 3 minutes, stopping occasionally to scrape down sides of bowl. Add additional 2 1/2 cups flour.

Beat on low until flour is absorbed and dough is sticky, scraping down sides of bowl. If dough is very sticky, add more flour by tablespoonfuls until dough begins to form ball and pulls away from sides of bowl.

Turn dough out onto lightly floured work surface and knead until smooth and elastic, adding more flour if sticky, about 8 minutes. (You may also use a KitchenAid’s dough hook for this process.) Form into ball.

Lightly oil large bowl with nonstick spray. Transfer dough to bowl, turning to coat. Cover bowl with plastic wrap, then kitchen towel.

Let dough rise in warm draft-free area until doubled in volume, about 2 hours or overnight in a warm place.

Once dough has risen and you're ready to start baking them, preheat oven to 375°F.

Filling
3/4 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
Pinch of salt

Several pieces of bacon--make a bunch and it will get eaten...I think I made about 10 large strips?

Glaze
4 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

a nice long drizzle of maple syrup to taste

*OR add cream cheese to this maple buttercream frosting

For filling:

Begin cooking bacon right when you preheat the oven. Cook until a little under your prefered done-ness. I am not a huge bacon fan (I know, I know) but when I eat it, I prefer it not quite crispy.

Once cooked enough, drain and follow the next steps with the dough and filling.

Mix brown sugar, cinnamon and pinch of salt in medium bowl.

Press down dough. Transfer to floured work surface. Roll out to 15×11-inch rectangle.

Spread butter over dough, leaving 1/2-inch border.

Sprinkle cinnamon mixture evenly over butter.

Lay bacon in strips next to each other width-wise on the dough, leaving a little room on all sides.

Starting at the longer side, roll dough into log, pinching gently to keep it rolled up. With seam side down, cut remaining dough crosswise with thin sharp knife (a good serrated worked well here) into 18 equal slices (each about 1/2 to 3/4 inch wide...or the width of the bacon pieces).

Spray two 9-inch square glass baking dishes (an 8-inch square metal pan worked just fine, too) with nonstick spray. Divide rolls between baking dishes, arranging cut side up (there will be almost no space between rolls). ***

Position rack in center of oven and preheat to . Bake rolls until tops are golden, about 20 minutes. Remove from oven and invert immediately onto rack. Cool 10 minutes. Turn rolls right side up.

***[Cover baking dishes with plastic wrap, then kitchen towel. Let dough rise in warm draft-free area until almost doubled in volume, 40 to 45 minutes, though yours, like mine, may take longer. Don’t skimp on the double-rising time.] I didn't do this step, so the cinnamon rolls will be a little smaller, but they are definately completely delicious. If you follow this step, maybe skip the bacon...if you want bacon, you will have to settle for baby cinnamon rolls.

For glaze: Combine cream cheese, powdered sugar, butter, syrup, and vanilla in medium bowl. Using electric mixer, beat until smooth. Spread glaze on rolls. Serve warm or at room temperature.