Bacon Moustache Cakes! Also, chocolate.
As you may or may not know, November is also know as Movember. The month in which people grow moustaches to raise awareness and funding for prostate cancer. In the past I only ever peripherally paid attention to such things, because moustaches are hilarious, and in a world full of causes, I didn't really have any connection to prostate cancer. Unfortunately that has changed (connection, not the hilarity of moustaches). My Poppa (grandpa) was diagnosed with prostate cancer awhile back. Being that he is old, the doctors were all 'hey we'll send you for the radiation treatments, but don't expect much'. Luckily their not so optimistic viewpoint was not actually how events transpired. At his most recent doctor's appt he was given a clean bill of health! Aside from the being old thing, and a touch of osteoporosis in his shoulder, Poppa is the picture of health. What better way to celebrate than to take part in the C&C Cakery's First Annual Manly Cupcake Challenge! Raise some awareness! Eat delicious cupcakes!
Before we get to the delicious part of the program, if you have a couple extra bucks lying around, why not throw them over to Movember Canada? They will give your money a good home.
The process, the pictures, the BACON
Apologies for some of the shitty pictures... I didn't realise what setting the camera was on til later.
Click to embiggen photos!
The Recipes.
Cupcake recipe:
Dark Chocolate Bacon Cupcakes by mkecupcakequeen
Icing recipe:
Kate Aitken's Cook Book of which our copy is falling apart and held together by a rubber band. I think my Grandma gave it to my Mom when she moved out. IN 1974. It is now disintegrating.
1 T softened butter
1/4 c cocoa
2 t. boiling water
2 T all-purpose flour
1 c sifted icing sugar
calls for pinch of salt, but I didn't put it in, figuring that there was plenty of salt in the bacon already.
Also added more water than requested.
Blend together butter, cocoa and boiling water; mix together icing sugar and flour; gradually add to first mixture. Beat until smooth and creamy.... then add some more boiling water to get icing to a dippable consistency.
The Manly Cupcake Contest Prize Sponsor's Include:
Before we get to the delicious part of the program, if you have a couple extra bucks lying around, why not throw them over to Movember Canada? They will give your money a good home.
The process, the pictures, the BACON
Apologies for some of the shitty pictures... I didn't realise what setting the camera was on til later.
Click to embiggen photos!
- First things first. Gather ingredients! After a trip to the store, I am ready to bake. I have beverages and all the relevant components of bacon-chocolate cupcakes. The beer did not go into the batter, but rather straight into my belly.
- Recipe calls for cold coffee. I am not a coffee drinker. The only coffee maker is this crazy espresso contraption in the corner. I think I ended up with 1 long shot of espresso, topped up with hot water to the 1 c. mark.
/li>
- Bacon! Recipe tells me to cook it in a pan, but given ratio of available pans to amount of bacon, I decide to do it on cookie sheets, lined with parchment paper, in the oven.
- It is shortly after this I realise that I will need to drain some bacon grease in order to ensure the crispyness factor. What to drain into? No empty cans lying about... fortunately I find a can of water that I can drink to make available the bacon grease receptacle.
- It always surprises me how much bacon shrinks when cooked.
- De-greasing the bacon.
- I sampled a couple of the less crispy bacon strips...for science!
- The dry ingredients.
- The halfway completed product!
- 3/4 of the bacon is mixed into the batter. This papertowel used to be full of bacon bits.
- Into the time machine they go!
- Almost done
- Baked! THEY SMELL GOOD.
- A break for dinner. Salmon with onion, capers, lemon juice, and olive oil.
- I know what's missing! ICING.
- Modified icing recipe for dipping!
- Smoooooth chocolately goodness! Would have been smoother if I owned a sieve.
- The final product.
- Attempted bacon moustache garnish.
- OM NOM NOM NOM NOM.
The Recipes.
Cupcake recipe:
Dark Chocolate Bacon Cupcakes by mkecupcakequeen
- Used long shot of espresso topped up with water (this is close to coffee, right?).
- Did toothpick test after 15min. Half were done. So pays to check earlier than 20min.
- I didn't dust with cocoa.
- Used 1 pkg bacon rather than 12 specific slices.... which after sampling (for science!) was probably 12 pieces.
Icing recipe:
Kate Aitken's Cook Book of which our copy is falling apart and held together by a rubber band. I think my Grandma gave it to my Mom when she moved out. IN 1974. It is now disintegrating.
1 T softened butter
1/4 c cocoa
2 t. boiling water
2 T all-purpose flour
1 c sifted icing sugar
calls for pinch of salt, but I didn't put it in, figuring that there was plenty of salt in the bacon already.
Also added more water than requested.
Blend together butter, cocoa and boiling water; mix together icing sugar and flour; gradually add to first mixture. Beat until smooth and creamy.... then add some more boiling water to get icing to a dippable consistency.
The Manly Cupcake Contest Prize Sponsor's Include:
- Blush Printables- a $15 electronic gift card
- Hello Hanna - A pack of Sweet Stands (for every
finalist) - Elise Steven’s Illustration and Design - a hand-painted ornament featuring our mascot, Colonel Cupcake.
- Taraduff - a handmade bearded
beanie - Miss Kitty Creations - a special edition Tuxedo Cupcake Charm
- Bella Cupcake Couture - one pack of Cupcake Wrappers for each
finalist and one extra for our grand prize winner - Drama Llama - a handmade secret stuffie
- My Creative Side - Two dozen Mustaches on
sticks