I put together this slideshow on Flickr to share with you…

It looks like a lot of fun, doesn’t it!

Now, earlier, I had made this Easter-themed chocolate mousse cake, but it was way too rich.  So rich, in fact, that I couldn’t even finish a slice of it.  It was very delicious, but basically inedible, in my opinion.

And then came Easter and we found ourselves up to our bunny ears with chocolate bunnies and chocolate eggs.  That’s why I haven’t updated here very much, because I haven’t been baking anything sweet as we still have a bowl full of leftover bunnies and eggs!

Therefore, I am not going to give you a sweet recipe today.  I am going to give you a delicious, savory one for a flavorful chicken dish.  It was one of the first recipes that really stuck out at me from Jamie Oliver’s new book 30 Minute Meals.  I’m not normally a fan of Jamie Oliver’s, but the concept of the book was neat enough to get me to buy it.  I’d take Jamie Oliver’s 30 minute meals over Rachel Ray’s 30 minute meals any day!

So what exactly is this flavorful chicken dish that I speak of so highly?  Let me show you.

Okay, so yes, it has that messy Jamie-Oliver rustic look to it, but this mingling of flavors is a lovely one.  First, the raw chicken is rubbed in a mixture of olive oil, salt, pepper, dried oregano and sweet paprika (Jamie doesn’t give exact amounts for the spices, but in the recipe below, I tried to give you an estimated idea as to the amounts I used).  The chicken is then fried until golden.  It is then added to a roasting tray with a quartered lemon, tomatoes, rosemary and bacon, then the whole thing is placed under a grill until the chicken is cooked through.

In Jamie’s book, he serves this chicken with spinach and potatoes, but I served it with buttered and salted peas.

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My second entry is a chocolate cupcake with chocolate chips and finely chopped crispy bacon baked inside.  It is frosted with peanut butter frosting, sprinkled with finely chopped toffee and topped off with a square of crispy bacon.

They were so yummy!  People laughed at me when I told them of my plan to make these cupcakes, but I’m going to laugh right back at them when I tell them how good these are!

Bacon has been a controversial, yet popular, ingredient in cupcakes these days, and I understand why.  Despite the fact that bacon combined with sweets is a little odd, it does make a great pairing of flavors.  Check out my dark chocolate bacon cupcakes, too.

If you’re interested in these cupcakes, but would like to skip on the bacon, I have a perfect solution.  Omit all the bacon and just roll the tops of the frosted cupcakes in crushed toffee!

Equally yummy!

The only problem I see with this particular cupcake recipe is that the batter is very runny, meaning that a lot of the bacon and chocolate chips will sink to the bottom.  If you make these, I might suggest picking a chocolate cupcake recipe that produces a thicker batter so the mix-ins won’t sink as easily.

Double Chocolate Bacon cupcakes
Adapted from My Sweet And Saucy
Makes 12-14 cupcakes

Ingredients
Approximately 10 strips of bacon
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (I used Dutch-processed)
1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup granulated sugar
1 extra large egg
1/2 cup whole milk
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 tablespoon espresso powder dissolved in 1/2 cup boiling water
(I used 1 packet of Starbucks VIA Italian Roast)
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Method
Prepare bacon via your preferred method until crispy.  I baked my bacon in the oven at 375F for about 14 minutes.  Place bacon on paper towels to drain the fat and pat dry.  Finely chop the bacon, but reserve 1-2 strips to cut into 1-inch or so squares to top cupcakes.

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Line cupcake pans with 24 cupcake liners.

Sift flour, cocoa powder, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and sugar together into a medium bowl.

Combine the egg, milk, oil, vanilla, and dissolved espresso powder in a medium bowl and whisk by hand until well mixed. Pour wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and whisk to combine.  Fold in finely chopped bacon and chocolate chips.

Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups, filling them about 3/4 full.

Bake for about 15-20 minutes, until the cupcakes are puffed and feel springy. Let cool completely in the pan on a wire rack.

Peanut Butter Buttercream
Adapted from Shazam In The Kitchen
Makes enough to generously frost 12 cupcakes (plus some leftover)

Ingredients
1 toffee candy bar (I used Heath)
1/4 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup peanut butter
3 cups powdered sugar
2-4 tablespoons milk
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla

Method
Finely chop or crush toffee and set aside.  In large bowl, combine butter, peanut butter, sugar, salt, vanilla, and 2 tablespoons milk. Mix well, adding more milk as needed to make a fluffy spreadable frosting.  Frost cupcakes and sprinkle or roll in chopped/crushed toffee.  Top with a square of bacon if desired.

You either love it or you hate it – the dark chocolate bacon cupcake.  When I first heard about this cupcake over at No One Puts Cupcake In A Corner I was instantly disgusted.  I understand it’s that sweet and salty combination that you find in chocolate-covered peanuts or chocolate-covered pretzels.  But bacon in a dark chocolate cupcake?  I certainly don’t think so!

Months and months went by, and for some reason I kept seeing this chocolate bacon cupcake pop up at other baking blogs and even professional cupcake bakeries.  Recently, a new chocolate and bacon combination (well, it was new to me, anyway) was being sold at a local festival – chocolate-covered bacon.

I wondered if I could even be paid to eat a piece of chocolate-covered bacon!  But curiosity finally won over, and last week, as we had a package of bacon in the refrigerator, I decided to melt a little bit of my chocolate and dip a piece of bacon in it.

It felt like I was doing something bad, and I was even appalled that I was letting myself attempt this flavor combination.  I reluctantly took that first bite, and a second, and I thought that it wasn’t as bad as I had expected.  I couldn’t even have explained the taste that I was experiencing.  However, the fact that I had chocolate and pig meat in my mouth at the same time overwhelmed me and I couldn’t continue eating that piece of chocolate-covered bacon!

Well, a few days went by, and I decided that I’d actually try out those dark chocolate cupcakes that apparently everyone was raving about.

I used my own favorite dark chocolate cake recipe, from Hershey’s Kitchens, and is the exact same recipe you’ll find on a tub of Hershey’s Special Dark Cocoa.  The batter for this cake is thin and watery and I decided to add my crispy, chopped up bacon on top of the batter after I had poured the batter into the cupcake liners.  I didn’t mix the bacon into the batter because I was worried the bacon would sink to the bottom.

The dark chocolate frosting is from Hershey’s as well, and is the same recipe that is on the back of the Hershey’s Special Dark Cocoa tub.  I sprinkled leftover crispy bacon on top of each cupcake.  It’s best to sprinkle the bacon on immediately after frosting each cupcake to ensure that the bacon will stick to the frosting (otherwise the frosting might set up and the bacon will just fall off).

I had to try one of these cupcakes as soon as I frosted and bacon-sprinkled the very first one.  I admit, I was nervous.  But it wasn’t quite as bad as I had expected.  What I definitely didn’t like was that even though the bacon in the batter was crispy when I added it, it turned softer and chewy in the baked cupcake.  The crispy bacon on top was a nice crunchy touch, and gave the cupcake it’s main taste of bacon.

In the end, I decided that I didn’t like these cupcakes and put the rest of them in the refrigerator.  But guess what happened on the next day?  I tried one straight from the refrigerator and it tasted better!  My husband never got brave enough to try a dark chocolate bacon cupcake; my 4-year-old daughter only likes frosting, so she never tried one either, except a spoon of frosting; my 2-year-old son ate these cupcakes up like there was no tomorrow.

I can definitely say I would never make a dark chocolate bacon cupcake again.  However, I am still interested in trying some of the other bacon cupcakes out there, like French toast and bacon cupcakes, or caramel bacon cupcakes.

Find the Milwaukee Cupcake Queen’s original dark chocolate bacon cupcake recipe at No One Puts Cupcake In A Corner.

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