Chocolate Bacon Cupcakes with Caramel Frosting
Chocolate? Check. Caramel? Check. Bacon? Check. Delicious? Definitely.
I have had these cupcakes bookmarked FOREVER. Literally, they’ve had a star in my Google Reader for a very long time. I even included them in my Top Ten list back in June of 2009. It took me forever to make them and I’m very glad I did.
I made these for our friend’s annual Pirate Party. The bacon provided a salty and smokiness to the cupcakes that balanced the sweetness nicely. And this caramel frosting is my new favorite. It’s awesome. Hubby thoroughly enjoyed licking the beaters and bowl after I made the frosting.
This chocolate cupcakes recipe wasn’t my favorite. I overfilled mine a little bit and the top of the cupcakes looked almost like meringue after they baked. It was also a little flaky and crispy similar to a meringue. I think not overfilling these would have helped that issue, but if I made these again, I might just use a different chocolate cupcake recipe and add bacon to it.
One Year Ago: Pretzel Chocolate Chip Cookies and Overnight French Toast
Two Years Ago: Raspberry Meringue Cookies
Chocolate Bacon Cupcakes with Caramel Swiss Meringue Buttercream
Yield: 24
Ingredients:
For the Chocolate Bacon Cupcakes
200 grams of dark chocolate, chopped
3 sticks butter (340 g), at room temperature
2-1/4 cups sugar (250 g)
8 eggs
1-1/4 cup flour (165 g)
1/4 cup cocoa powder, unsweetened (23 g)
1-1/2 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
1/2 pound uncooked bacon
For the Caramel Swiss Meringue Buttercream
1 1/4 cups sugar (250 g), separated in half (1/2 c + 2 Tbsp per half, or 125 g)
1/4 cup water
1/3 cup heavy cream
6 large egg whites or enough powdered egg whites and water
Pinch of salt
1 pound (4 sticks) unsalted butter, softened and cut into tablespoon-sized pieces
1 tsp vanilla
Directions:
For the Chocolate Bacon Cupcakes
Preheat oven to 350° Fahrenheit.
Cook the bacon until crispy. Chop the bacon into very small pieces and set aside.
Place chocolate and butter in a metal bowl and put the bowl over a saucepan of simmering water. Stir until everything is melted.
Remove the bowl from the water and stir in the sugar. Let the mixture cool for 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt; set aside.
When the chocolate mixture is cool, beat with an electric mixer or your stand mixer for 3 minutes. The mixture will get just a tad thicker.
Add the eggs one at a time, beating for 30 seconds between each one. After two or three eggs, the mixture will start to get thicker and shinier.
Once all the eggs are incorporated, add the dry ingredients. Mix on a low speed until the dry ingredients are just incorporated.
Add the bacon and fold it in with a spatula.
Scoop the batter into cupcake cups until 1/2 to 2/3 full.
Bake at 350° Fahrenheit for 20-25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Let cool for a few minutes in the pan before removing to a cooling rack.
For the Caramel Swiss Meringue Buttercream
Make the caramel
Place half of the sugar and the water in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Stir until the sugar is dissolved and the mixture is clear. Let the syrup come to a boil, washing down the sides with a wet pastry brush if necessary to prevent crystals from forming.
Boil the syrup, swirling occasionally, until it changes color to dark amber (~340° on a candy thermometer).
Immediately remove from the heat (the sugar will burn if it gets to 350°). Carefully add the cream, standing away from the pan since the mixture will bubble a lot. Stir the caramel until smooth and transfer to a heatproof bowl to cool. (I actually put the bowl into an ice bath, stirring occasionally, to help it cool faster.)
While the caramel cools, place the rest of the sugar, the egg whites and the salt in the metal bowl of a standing mixer. Place the bowl over a pan of boiling water. Whisk continuously until the sugar is dissolved and the mixture reaches 140° Fahrenheit.
Fit the standing mixer with the whisk attachment and put the bowl in place. Beat the mixture on medium-high speed until it is stiff.
Reduce the mixer speed to medium-low and begin adding the butter, a tablespoon or two at a time. Beat until the butter is no longer visible, and add in more, until it is all added. At some point it will look curdled and broken, but just keep on beating and beating until it gets smooth again. This could take a few minutes.
Switch to the paddle attachment and add the caramel and vanilla extract. Beat on low until combined and smooth, 3 to 5 minutes.
At this point you can frost your cupcakes, or you can refrigerate the buttercream for up to 2 days. When you want to use it, take it out of the fridge and bring to room temperature, about an hour. Rebeat in a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment.
Recipe as seen on Scrumptious Photography, cupcakes originally from Chockylit, frosting originally from Martha Stewart
I am Jen the Beantown Baker. Engineer by day and baking maven by night. Hubby serves as my #1 fan and official taste tester. We got hitched back in 2006. Barefoot. In the sand. With the waves crashing behind us. It was one of the best decisions we’ve ever made. 
I really like cuban sandwiches, and in mini form, I would like them even better!
beantownbaker — January 28th, 2013 @ 12:48 pm
Especially if that sandwich was soaked in butter for 24 hours 😉
I am a huge fan of the ham and cheese sliders so I can only imagine how delicious these are!
beantownbaker — January 28th, 2013 @ 12:49 pm
Seriously, I had to put them away so we wouldn’t eat all of them in one sitting this weekend…
I love that you and Fiona made all the food for the party — So much fun!! And I can see why these sandwiches would be a hit!
beantownbaker — January 28th, 2013 @ 12:50 pm
We were definitely on cloud 9 with the prospect of planning all the food for the party.
love that you guys did the menu planning! these must’ve been a hit, they look fantastically amazing 🙂 i’m coming around to pickles… but i dunno about putting them on a sandwich. perhaps better there- they’re surrounded by more delicious things!
beantownbaker — January 28th, 2013 @ 4:34 pm
Glad to hear I’m not the only one. I actually ate one of these little guys that had pickles on it, but Hubby picked them out for me. It wasn’t horrible. I usually can’t even come close to things that have touched pickles.
That photo makes so much sense now. I love pickles and think these sliders would definitely be the hit of any Super Bowl party.
I love pickles! That’s funny you have such an aversion to them 🙂 I’ve never had a cuban sandwich, but these look very tasty!
beantownbaker — January 29th, 2013 @ 9:41 am
Ew. I’m not sure we can be friends. I kid… I definitely don’t let Hubby eat pickles because I can’t even handle it. It’s honestly the one food that I can’t stand…
These look really good, but I have cardiac issues, and 2 sticks of butter is a big no-no for me. Could that amount be cut back or substituted with something else?
Thanks.
beantownbaker — January 29th, 2013 @ 12:40 pm
You could definitely cut back on the amount of butter in these if you wanted to. I would just cut the sauce in half and just pour it over the top instead of on the top and bottom of the sandwiches.
We make iterations of this one all the time…..this is making me hungry for Sunday! We should make Katie buy the ingredients!
beantownbaker — January 30th, 2013 @ 5:32 pm
Definitely a good idea!! 🙂
I just made these for the Super Bowl & they were amazing! Our guests loved them & they were so easy to make! Yum!
beantownbaker — February 4th, 2013 @ 4:45 pm
So glad you enjoyed them!!
AWESOME. I have a Cuban friend who would LOVE these. Going to give this a shot soon! I really love the combination of ingredients.
beantownbaker — February 5th, 2013 @ 10:14 am
Hubby is Cuban and he definitely enjoyed them 🙂 Hope you and your friend do too!
I made a double batch of these for our Christmas party last week. Total hit! and the most requested recipe from the party. I served them in indiv. muffin top wrappers to make them accessible and less messy. I think wrapping them indiv in that waxy sandwich papers would work as well. Love the night before set up. The only edits I made were to use some jalapeno-dill pickles and I found some Kings Hawaiin dinner rolls. Regrettably there were not enough leftovers for lunch the next day for both hubbie and me.
beantownbaker — December 26th, 2013 @ 11:03 am
Glad to hear this recipe was a hit for you! Your edits sound great. Hubby has requested these for our New Years Eve party next week.
My family devoured these. They are so good they want them for Christmas Eve dinner.
beantownbaker — December 26th, 2013 @ 11:03 am
So glad you guys liked these!
Probably a really silly question, but…..
Grated dried onions? What is that exactly?
Any substitute suggestions?
beantownbaker — January 2nd, 2014 @ 1:34 pm
They’re also called minced onions I believe. You can find them in the spice aisle at your grocery store.
Use a little Sweet Pickle Relish instead of Pickles.
beantownbaker — January 5th, 2014 @ 7:05 pm
Great suggestion! I’ll have to try that next time. I’m not a huge fan of relish either, but it’s much better than pickles in my mind.
Oh I could just eat these up in one bite! Yum! I’m thinking of adding a slice of jalepeño in there too…..
beantownbaker — February 3rd, 2014 @ 4:52 pm
Oh jalepeno would be a great addition!
Made these for Superbowl 2014…total hit! So easy and nice you can prepare them the night before! Leftovers 2 days later are just as good! This recipe is definitely a keeper, thank you!
beantownbaker — February 5th, 2014 @ 9:53 am
So glad you enjoyed the recipe!
What size baking dish should be used ? “Place another baking sheet on top…” suggests these are prepared on a baking sheet, but baking dish and baking sheet aren’t the same really. If the baking sheet is used on top, is it weighted to press down on the sandwiches? Sorry, but I never made anything like this and I would love to – they sound delicious!!!
beantownbaker — September 2nd, 2014 @ 7:10 pm
Not sure if you ended up trying these. The baking sheet on top is to help press the sandwiches similar to a classic Cuban sandwich. I would use a pan the same size as what you’re using for the sandwiches. I always double the recipe and use a jelly roll pan for the sandwiches.
A little confused about cutting at the bun seams to cut through the meat? Making these for Fathers Day this weekend! Looking forward to trying these!
beantownbaker — September 2nd, 2014 @ 7:11 pm
Hope these worked out for you. Since you layer the meat on all sandwiches at once, you want to cut through the meat so they pull apart after they’re baked.
these are the best ever! every time I make them folks go wild! I’m not a fan of poppy seeds since they get stuck in my teeth lol so I subbed Lipton onion soup mix for the seeds & dried onion. Weird, but it works. thanks for sharing the recipe !
Interesting substitution. Glad you were able to find something that works for you!
Uhhhhhmazing!!!!! I made for the 2015 Superbowl and it was a huge hit!!! Such a hit I’m already expected to bring to the next get togethers.
Only thing I did different was no poppy seeds and I made my own honey mustard and skipped mustard at the end when you state to put spread some on top. I’m not a huge mustard fan so I eliminated that step and figured the sauce was enough and I was very happy with that decision, it was solo yummy! Thanks for sharing!
Made this for Superbowl 15 and they were a huge hit – SO GOOD! I used Trader Joe’s store bought pulled pork and substituted bread and butter (sweet) pickles for dill. Everyone loved them and the only problem is we can’t stop eating them. These sandwiched plus the Pats victory made for a perfect night for us New Englanders! Thanks!!
Do the buns not get soggy overnight?
I made these and they were pretty rich with the butter. I would decrease it as you suggested, Jen. I think in lieu of pickles, mild pepper rings would work well.
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