I came up with these manly little cakes for both my husband’s and dad’s birthdays, and they delivered for the testosterone dessert! Chocolate bacon cupcakes with maple butter-cream frosting and topped with candied bacon, yes PLEASE!
I used my favorite chocolate cake recipe, and crumbled bacon into the batter. I love to use coconut oil in this batter, it adds another layer of flavor, but you have to have everything at room temperature to keep it liquid. No biggie, and the extra effort is definitely worth it!
- 1½ cup flour
- 1⅓ cup sugar
- ⅓ cup cocoa powder (unsweetened)
- 1 tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp baking powder
- ¾ cup strongly brewed coffee
- ¾ cup buttermilk (or milk with a splash of lemon juice)
- ⅓ cup coconut oil, melted
- 2 eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 5 slices of cooked bacon, crumbled
- Preheat oven to 325F
- Sift all dry ingredients in a bowl
- In a separate bowl, combine all wet ingredients
- Mix wet and dry ingredients and stir until just combined
- Add bacon crumbles
- Pour into muffin pan with paper liners.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean.
- Cool
Candied Bacon
While the cupcakes are baking, candy the bacon.
3 slices of bacon cut into match-stick sized strips, cooked in a skillet with 3 Tbs of sugar. When cooked until crisp, set on waxed paper, they will stick to paper towels! Try to keep them separated, or they will all fuse together.
Maple Buttercream Frosting
Whip together in an electric mixer, start slow until combined, then on high until thick and creamy:
- 2 sticks of softened butter
- 3-4 cups of powdered sugar
- 1/4 cup maple syrup
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Pipe the frosting onto the cupcakes with an “open star” tip, place three sticks of candied bacon on top and drizzle with a little more maple syrup.
Manly cupcakes, at last!
