Winning Men Over with Cake

There were a few years in my life that I didn’t eat meat. I happened to be living in a house of all vegetarians, and I grew to love family meals centered around homemade black bean burgers, soy products and veggies from our garden. And then … someone gave me duck breast. And then pork belly. And all bets were off. And so today, I find myself passing time by baking things like … bacon cupcakes.

Bacon cupcakes (Kristy McCarron/DC on Heels)

I’ve heard once or twice that the way to a man’s heart is through his belly. I think that’s true, and I also think that bacon helps that situation. So this week I’m sending my favorite maple bacon cupcakes to two very important groups:

• My brother’s bachelor party in West Virginia.
• Distad’s, the mechanic shop that saved my car and got me to Philly within 3.5 hours during Friday rush hour.

I actually can’t think of two more appropriate recipients for a slice of bacon heaven.

I’ve made a few renditions of maple bacon cupcakes before, everything from putting bacon in the actual cake to making a chocolate cake with bacon icing. I’ve found that bacon in the cake really, really dries it out, so unless you can finagle your way into a perfect moisture ratio, I would stay away from it. What I think works best is a maple cake (think French toast) topped with a maple bacon Icing.

I used this recipe for the cake from Baked Explorations, but also added a teaspoon each of cinnamon, nutmeg and vanilla. I think it makes the cake more french toast-y. These guys always come out beautifully. I’m not usually a big fan of vegetable shortening, but I’ve found Spectrum Organics makes a shortening that is really great for baking, and I don’t feel quite as guilty using it.

For the icing, I did a maple buttercream, with:

• 3/4 cup soft butter
• 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon maple syrup
• 2 cups confectioner’s sugar

Cream butter until soft, add maple syrup until combined and gradually add in sugar, 1/2 cup at a time.

I topped this with bacon salt and bits of bacon, and voila! the ultimate man cupcake.

Maple bacon Icing (Kristy McCarron/DC on Heels)

It just so happens that my best friend sent me bacon salt in the mail the same day I was making these (I’m a sucker for pork products, what can I say?), so I used that in place of regular salt. I also sprinkled a bit on the icing to really get the smokiness in the icing. Here is where she got the bacon salt — it seems to be a goldmine for spices!

Happy BACON eating, y’all.