Maple syrup and bacon cupcakes
Ever wanted to have an epic pork feast? Here’s a recipe for the most epic pork feast ever:
Take several massive roasted pork hocks.
Combine with a couple of kilos of Chinese roast pork belly.
Add in a generous amount of American style ribs.
And place into the mix several slices of slow roasted pork belly. It’s all looking very brown at this stage, but persevere.
Here’s a bit of greenery – include some green beans fried with curry paste. And pork, of course.
As well as Chinese broccoli stir fried with oyster sauce and pork (natch). Amateurs would probably stop at this point, but to become an expert at pork feasting, you need to keep going.
Try adding bacon and egg ice cream.
And finally, top it all off with maple syrup and bacon cupcakes.
Wait wait. I know you’re thinking I’m firmly in Craaaazytown at this point, but take a breath. Relax. This is the way to pork enlightenment. Ever heard the phrase “bacon makes everything better”? This is how you test it out. Plus it wouldn’t be a complete pork feast if I hadn’t worked bacon into a dessert.
To make the cupcakes, I crumbled crispy bacon into a cupcake batter that had also been flavoured with maple syrup. They were then topped with a Swiss meringue buttercream (my new favourite frosting) to which I had also added maple syrup. I didn’t get quite enough maple syrup flavour from the buttercream, so I also drizzled some maple syrup over the frosted cupcakes and garnished them with leftover crispy bacon.
And did they work? Well, I am biased because I made them, but I think so. I would suggest drizzling more maple syrup over the top to get them sweeter, to counteract the meaty salty bacon. But apart from that, they were the perfect end to our epic pork feast.
(PS: please use real maple syrup. Don’t even bother with the fake stuff.)
Thanks to Thanh, April, I-Hua and Kat for their pork dishes. Vegetables next time??
Ingredients
- 6 slices of bacon
- 100g unsalted butter, softened
- 95g caster sugar
- 3 tablespoons pure maple syrup (use the real stuff)
- 2 eggs
- 210g plain flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 cup milk
Instructions
- Fry up the bacon until it’s crispy. Set aside to cool.
- Preheat oven to 170°C. Line two 12-hole muffin trays with liners.
- In an electric mixer, cream the butter on high for a couple of minutes until pale and fluffy. Add the caster sugar a third at a time, beating for several minutes before the next addition. Add the maple syrup and mix to combine.
- When the mixture is light and fluffy, add the eggs one at a time, beating on medium for a minute after each one.
- Add the flour and milk alternately to the butter mixture in several batches and beat on low speed until just combined. Take half of the bacon and crumble it up. Add it to the batter and mix until just combined.
- Spoon mixture into the cupcake liners and bake for about 15 minutes or until an inserted skewer comes out clean.
- Remove from the trays immediately and let cool completely on a wire rack before icing/frosting with Swiss meringue buttercream (or any buttercream of your choice) before topping with crispy bacon.
- Adapted from Martha Stewart
- 280g caster sugar
- 5 large egg whites
- 370g unsalted butter, at room temperature and cut into small pieces
- 3 tablespoons maple syrup
- Place the sugar and egg whites in the heat proof bowl of an electric mixer. Set the bowl over a saucepan of simmering water and whisk until the sugar has dissolved and the mixture comes up to 60°C on a thermometer. It should take 3-5 minutes.
- Transfer the bowl to the mixer stand. Using the whisk attachment, beat on high speed until the mixture is completely cool and has formed stiff and glossy peaks. This will take about 10 minutes. (Side note: you have meringue at this stage – you can eat it or top cakes/cupcakes with it if desired.)
- Switch to the flat paddle beater. On low speed, add cubes of butter one at a time until it’s all incorporated. If it curdles, just keep beating – it should become smooth again. When all the butter is added, add the vanilla and maple syrup and beat until just combined.
- Pipe on top of cupcakes. Add a drizzle of additional maple syrup and decorate with the rest of the crispy bacon.
- (Once piped, it’s best eaten on the same day. Unpiped, the frosting can be kept in an airtight container in the fridge for up to one week – when ready to use, let it come up to room temperature and rewhip in mixer for 5 minutes. It can also be frozen for 6-8 weeks. Let it thaw completely, then rewhip for 5 minutes in the mixer before using.)
leaf (the indolent cook)
March 7, 2012 @ 10:50 pm
Rah! Pork love! So intrigued by your cupcakes. I can imagine it working, for sure. Though, there goes that Paleo diet… 😉
Agnes
March 12, 2012 @ 9:48 pm
Hehee, well bacon is paleo…. 😉
Hannah
March 8, 2012 @ 5:57 pm
Do people still get surprised by bacon in desserts? I guess this is a sign of how embroiled I am in the food blogosphere, because it sounds old hat to me. But then again, I still meet people in daily life who are surprised by chilli and chocolate, so I guess some people are still shockable. 🙂
Anyway, I’d give it a go. After all, the Mo’s chocolate bar works 🙂
Agnes
March 12, 2012 @ 9:49 pm
Yes, some people still are surprised by bacon in desserts – weird, right??
EatPlayShop
March 8, 2012 @ 8:10 pm
Yay, thanks for posting the recipe! Have been thinking about trying to make these since I saw your pics on instagram!
Agnes
March 12, 2012 @ 9:50 pm
Yay! Good luck 😀
April
March 8, 2012 @ 9:45 pm
I cringed at the thought before trying them, but I was glad I did because they were ok! And I like the Swiss meringue buttercream.
Agnes
March 12, 2012 @ 9:51 pm
Hehee, the April seal of approval: “it was okay”
Win!
Libby
March 9, 2012 @ 9:24 am
I’m not usually one to go nuts over cupcakes but DAAAAAYEMM, these maple syrup and bacon cupcakes look insanely epic! Give me a dozen, please! 😀
Agnes
March 12, 2012 @ 9:54 pm
Everything is better with bacon, right? 😀
Daisy@Nevertoosweet
March 9, 2012 @ 10:09 pm
how did i miss this post!!! A pork feast DELICIOUS!! I’ve heard a lot of maple syrup and bacon desserts lately but have never thought of making them into cupcakes 🙂 They look so YUMMY!
Thanks for sharing! Have bookmarked it!!!
Agnes
March 12, 2012 @ 9:56 pm
It’s not a pork feast without working pork into the dessert 🙂
msihua
March 10, 2012 @ 1:17 pm
I think they worked, sort off… would have gone well with my ice-cream… hee hee hee
Agnes
March 12, 2012 @ 9:56 pm
SORT OF?!?! Dastardly, don’t make me break up with you.
Cara @ Gourmet Chick
March 11, 2012 @ 8:15 am
I’ve made maple syrup and bacon cupcakes before as well, slightly different recipe and love the piping on these. It is funny explaining to friends that you have made cupcakes not suitable for vegetarians!
Agnes
March 12, 2012 @ 10:14 pm
Did you like yours? I kind of wanted to work in a pancake / french toast angle but it all turned out too hard for me, so I just went with the bacon and maple syrup.
Thanh
March 11, 2012 @ 3:49 pm
It was porktastic. I think the cupcakes worked. More maple syrup would have made them even nicer.
Agnes
March 12, 2012 @ 10:08 pm
More maple syrup next time. If there’s a next time… I’m not sure you could survive another one :p
Yasmeen @ Wandering Spice
March 15, 2012 @ 4:12 pm
ohmyGOD! This menu is pretty much my entire bucket list on a plate.
Love the cupcakes and the drops of maple syrup on top. Also, love that crispy bacon is a requirement (well, at least it’s a suggestion). There’s just no other way to eat the stuff.
Agnes
March 18, 2012 @ 9:53 pm
Haha love the bucket list on a plate comment 😀
Miss Kimbers @ Fruit Salad and Mixed Veg
March 18, 2012 @ 7:09 pm
Haha funny, as yesterday I was thinking about bacon and sweets… So it works 😀 Need to try it out…I am thinking bacon custard…?
Agnes
March 18, 2012 @ 9:54 pm
Hmmm bacon custard, aye? Yes, bacon and sweets definitely works, but it does need to be relatively sweet to balance the salty meaty flavour. 🙂