"A girl, she really got to eat, and a girl she should eat right…"

by Katie Gomez on October 20, 2008

in Uncategorized

Footloose I could have done without, but Flatliners was killer. Sleepers, Mystic River, The Woodsman? Phenomenal. Wild Things, Hollow Man? Not so hot. But what I found myself playing this weekend was a game so close, and yet so far from one we’ve come to know and love—it was Six Degrees of…..well……plain ol’ Bacon. And this is how innocently it started:
1.    Son is in a mood for chocolate cupcakes
2.    I relent, but don’t want boring, dull, uninspired chocolate cupcakes
3.    In a moment of reliving youth, I birth a brainchild I decide to call Fluffernutter Cupcakes, and smile
4.    Not quite fulfilled with the decision, I wonder what more I can do to the idea
5.    Roaming the fridge, I stumble upon some Boar’s Head smoked bacon and smile, more widely this time
6.    An hour later, Wench Frankenstein has her latest creation: Chocolate Fluffernutter Cupcakes topped with bacon that has been caramelized in brown sugar and chocolate stout

For those of you wackos that have no idea what a Fluffernutter is, culinary history would tell you that it’s a sandwich made with Fluff (jarred marshmallow) and peanut butter. The salty/sweet combination is ethereal, and harkens back to carefree childhood afternoons when your mom would still cut the crusts off the bread for you (mine never did, but that’s what a therapist is for). In a futile attempt to recreate youth—not mine, mind you, as I was raised by a Cuban family that was clueless about the allure of Fluff and often shoved an empanada in my face instead—I set out to build a better cupcake. Bacon has been a bit overplayed lately if you ask me, and has worked its way into everything, kinda like sundried tomatoes in the 80s. And for people like me who have been saving their rendered bacon fat for decades, despite the fact that people looked at me like I was the antichrist, bacon is not news.

Nonetheless, there I stood, in my kitchen at 9 at night…a woman with an idea and 24 freshly baked chocolate cupcakes. So I frosted half with a basic dark chocolate frosting and gilded the lily with chocolate sprinkles. My obligations as mom being done, I was free to play. Using a basic pastry bag and wide tip, I filled it with Fluff and squirted some up the bottom of each remaining cupcake. I then made a basic peanut butter frosting and topped each one. Then, the fun began. This time of year, two beers you’ll often find in my house are chocolate stout and cherry wheat because they make an ass-kicking black & tan. So I fried up some bacon, drained it and chopped it. I then put some chocolate stout and brown sugar in a sauté pan and let it bubble away. When it had reduced, thickened and caramelized, I tossed the bacon pieces back in and coated them. Holy crap was this stuff good! Given the shape of our economy, it might as well serve as currency if you ask me. (I apologize for the not-so-great photos, but the good digital camera was out of commission.)

My apologies for not being able to produce a recipe for this, but sometimes when inspiration takes hold, you’re kinda being guided by something outside of you that isn’t aware of the fact that you’re supposed to be taking notes for the general public. I guess my subconscious is basically telling you to piss off and figure it out for yourself. By all means, please do. But to placate those that are now salivating, I offer up my recipe for pig candy and José Andres’ recipe for caramelized pork rinds—don’t ask, just do. Thank me later.

{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }

1 Linsey October 20, 2008

whats chocolate stout?

rest of it sounds delicious though!

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2 Linsey October 20, 2008

sorry i sounded pretty thick just then – i know what stout is – never heard of chocolate sort though…

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3 Katie Pizzuto October 20, 2008

You’re too funny! The name “chocolate stout” is usually given because the beers have a noticeable dark chocolate flavor through the use of a darker, more aromatic malt… particularly chocolate malt. In the case of the one I used, Young’s Double Chocolate Stout, it’s also brewed with a small amount of real chocolate.

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4 Linsey October 20, 2008

orders the chocolate stout without the stout – just give me the dark chocolate lol

really though – u should try and work out the recipe to that cup cake – my mouth was drooling reading about it and we actually have fluff here too – so could recreate it

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5 Coupe 60 October 21, 2008

Holy Crap Katie…are those approved for Diabetics? Oh and for what to call them…I think they need to have Homer Simpson somewhere in the name..Beer, Bacon, chocolate and Fluff…

Holy crap…Holy Crap…

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6 Katie Pizzuto October 21, 2008

@Linsey I’ll give the recipe an attempt this weekend and see what I can pull out of my arse!!

@Coupe I have diabetics in the family…I usually give them carrots and get back to my fiendish creations.

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7 Katie Pizzuto October 22, 2008

Wanted to include a recipe sent in by reader, Beth, who makes a cookie that uses bacon fat instead of butter!!

Swedish Ginger Cookies

(Adapted from Nelle Branson in the “Trinity Episcopal Church Recipe Book,” 1982 Edition.)

3/4 cup bacon fat, cooled (from 1.5 – 2 lbs. bacon)
1 cup sugar, plus 1/4 cup for dusting cookies
4 tablespoons dark molasses
1 large egg
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1. In food processor fitted with metal blade, combine all ingredients. Spin until dough forms.
2. Chill the dough in refrigerator for a few hours.
3. Preheat oven 350 degrees. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.
4. Drop the dough in 1-tablespoon lumps, form into balls, roll in sugar, space 2 inches apart and press flat with fingers. Bake in oven 10-12 minutes until dark brown. Let cool on baking sheet for a few minutes, transfer to baking rack to finish cooling.

c’est tout! and bon appetit!

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8 Jeff November 18, 2008

Bacon + chocolate… Woah. My mind has been blown.

Mutineer Magazine is requesting immediate samples of Chocolate Fluffernutter Cupcakes. 🙂

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9 Katie Pizzuto November 18, 2008

I haven’t made them since, Jeff…too dangerous to have around the house. I’ll ship you some samples if you’re willing to swap! For what, exactly, I don’t know!

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