TASTY TREAT TUESDAY #13 - 👑Ultimate DUCKadence Cupcakes🥓

in #food6 years ago

Some of you might remember a few days ago, in my FOODIE FRIDAY #13 post, I had mentioned that I've been on a bit of a roll lately, needing to outdo myself. My ideas are getting more decadent, and more ridiculous. I've always been that person. You know, the one who has to push things as far as they can, and maybe even a step too far? Yup, that's me. So, when I asked hubby to put his smoker skillz to work, and make me some duck bacon, all it took was one taste to land this idea in my head.

Vegans, look away!

cupcake

Did you see my smoked duck caramels post a while back? Well, I used to do a batch of salted caramel sauce now and then, and I knew I wanted to combine the two. I've also made "maple bacon cupcakes" a few times, and they became a bit notorious with our friends and family. So, when I tasted that duck bacon, I knew I wanted to do a reboot of those babies. And that is how these ridiculous beauties came to be.

They are most definitely decadent. I wouldn't recommend making these a regular part of anyone's diet. (I made sure to give a bunch away, to save us from ourselves.) The cake uses duck fat, in place of the oil. The caramel sauce uses BBQ duck fat, in place of the butter. And then, of course, there's the crowning glory of candied duck bacon on top! So, not only are they decadent (or as we've been saying, DUCKadent), they are also very involved. There are so many steps required to achieving so many layers, that I honestly would be amazed to see anyone replicate them. 😅 Hubs and I were even discussing that if we were to ever run a food business, we would have no idea how to go about pricing them. lol Good thing it's a labor of love!

So, let me show you how they came to be!

Please note: being that there are so many steps involved, this post is IMAGE HEAVY!




First things first, the caramel sauce. I made this the day before, because it's a bit involved, and needs time to cool. (Of course, you could make this using butter, rather than duck fat, and make a regular old salted caramel sauce, and it will be really delicious.)

Start with some water and sugar in a large saucepan. I like to use the water to help the sugar to dissolve.

sugarwater

Set it over med-hi heat, and let it boil. Don't stir it. Just let the sugar dissolve, and the water boil off. Give it a little swirl now and then, but do not stir it!

swirl

If you notice some crystals forming on the sides of the pot, you have 2 options: You can try to dissolve them, by brushing the sides of the pot with some water, or you can just ignore them. I got rid of some with the water brush method, but eventually decided to leave it.

Let the mixture boil, swirling now and then, until it turns a golden amber color.

amber

You need to watch it closely, because it really doesn't take much time to go from this to dark brown. And do you know what dark brown sugar tastes like? Burnt. Ick. So, please, when you're doing any sort of candy-making, do not walk away, do not leave the stove to answer the phone, or help your kid with their homework, or even go pee. Seriously. As soon as it reaches this color, remove it from the heat and whisk in your fat/butter.

whisk

And when that's all together, it's time to pour in the cream. No, I didn't get any good photos of this. Because you need to whisk it while you slowly pour it in. It will bubble like crazy, and you don't want it to bubble over. I did that back in the smoked duck caramel post, so go have a look there if you want to see the insane bubbling. Give it a good, thorough whisk, and then pour it into a jar.

mixed

jar

Allow it to cool to room temp, then pop it into the fridge.


Now it's time for the cupcakes. These are pretty simple. I melted the duck fat in my measuring cup, and measured in the rest of my liquid ingredients, and put the dry ingredients into a bowl.

wetndry

Pour the wet into the dry, and give it a good mix.

thick

Then pour in the water, and mix it thoroughly, so there are no lumps.

runny

Scoop the batter into the cupcake wrappers, about 3/4 full, and pop them into a 350°F oven for 15-18 min.

scooped

You'll know they're done if you give them a gentle press with your finger and they bounce back, and/or a toothpick inserted in the center will come out clean.

done

While those are cooling, it's time to start on the frosting. I wanted to try something a little different this time, and rather than doing a regular american buttercream, just tossing together some butter and powdered sugar, I decided to try out this "cooked" frosting recipe. I'm glad I did, because it is gloriously fluffy and smooth, and not cloyingly sweet. This recipe uses only 1 1/2 c of brown sugar, as opposed to the 3-4 c of powdered sugar typically used in the "american-style" frosting.

The first thing we need to do is the "cooked" part. Pour your milk and flour into a small saucepan, and whisk it constantly over medium heat, until it thickens into a paste. Then allow it to cool.

paste

While it's cooling, beat together your butter, brown sugar, and salt. Scrape down the bowl now and then, and continue whipping until it is fluffy and fairly smooth. (Approx 3-5 min.) You want your butter to be softened, but not soft. Not so soft that it's melting, or that when you press on it, it slumps. Basically, if you poke it, it dents, but doesn't lose its shape. This is important! If your butter is too warm/soft, the frosting will not set properly.

butternsugar
I used a mix of dark brown and golden sugar, because I didn't want the flavor to be too strong, or too subtle.

whipped

While that's whipping, it's time to cook off the DUCK BACON. My favorite method is to set it on a sheet pan and pop it into a 350°F oven for 20 min. Perfect bacon every time!

bacon

Now that your paste is totally cooled (if you're using a heavy-bottom pot like I did, you may need to set it in the fridge for a minute or 2), stir in the vanilla.

vanilla

Stir it into the whipped butter/sugar mixture.

mixing

Whip it on med-high for about 5 min, until it is fluffy puffy, like whipped cream, and silky smooth. If you can still feel/taste sugar granules, keep whipping.

fluffypuffy

fluff

The bacon is probably almost done by now, so you can take it out, and give it a good chop. Dice it into small squares, and then sprinkle the whole lot with some brown sugar, and pop it back into the oven.

sprinkled

I checked on the bacon, gave it a stir, and decided it needed more candy, so I sprinkled on a little more brown sugar, and popped it back in for a few more min. It came out as almost a "bacon brittle". lol

baconbrittle

Now your cupcakes should be nice and cool, and you can pipe on a pile of gloriously fluffy frosting.

piped

Scoop some of that caramel sauce into a piping bag, fitted with a small round tip, and drizzle it over the frosting.

drizzle

drippy

And then, the pièce de résistance: sprinkle on that candied duck bacon!

sprinkles

If you are a fan of salty/sweet or savoury/sweet, like I am, these are absolute heaven. The cake is super fluffy and moist, with a hint of je ne sais quoi that comes from the duck fat liquid gold. The frosting is fluffy and silky, with a slight caramel flavor, thanks to the brown sugar, and of course it's sweet, but not overly so. Then there's the savoury/salty/sweet smoked duck caramel sauce, which sort of speaks for itself. (I had thought about going totally nuts and filling the cupcakes with it, but a little really goes a long way.) And of course, we can't forget the sprinkles. They, too, are salty/savoury/sweet, crunchy, and a little chewy. (They were definitely best the same day, as by the next day the moisture from the sauce and frosting ended up softening them a bit, and making them a bit too chewy for my tastes.)

bitten

These things are seriously dangerous.

Wee man couldn't shove it in his face fast enough. 😂

weeman

They truly are the ultimate DUCKadence.

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For things we used to eat here this is totally crazy combination @offbeatbroad. What admire the most is your cook skill. While watching your process and how it looks beautiful at the end I thought, she should have her candy store :) I think you would make huge success with your ''sweet''skills.

Thank you! Part of me would love to have a sweets shop, but I also think I would get tired of doing things that other people want... I like to do things when the mood strikes me.

Hahaha! Yes, I can imagine. It's a pretty strange combination for most people around here, too. A few years ago there was a big "bacon" craze, and there were all sorts of maple bacon cupcakes, or doughnuts, and I even found bacon-flavored lollipops - YUCK! I love the salty-sweet combination though, so I thought, if I liked maple bacon cupcakes, duck bacon would be even better! (Because I have a duck obsession. hahaha)

Well, I am bit sweet - sourly type more, but it's always interesting reading your food post, I never know what will i see :)
And considering strange affections, I bet you would be surprised how much meat we eat here and on what ways we are preparing it and using it, especially pig meat..Pig is goddess here hahahaha @offbeatbroad.

Wow, these look insane! I would never have thought to use duck fat in baking but they sure look yummy! Thanks @offbeatbroad for such an informative recipe post - love being able to see what each stage is supposed to look like :)

Thank you! I'm glad you appreciate all the photos. I've definitely found it much easier to branch out and try new things when I have an idea of what things are supposed to look like. Otherwise, it can be a bit frightening, and I end up second-guessing myself.

Hahaha Yeah, I've got a bit of an unhealthy obsession with duck fat. It makes everything taste 1000x better.

Yeah I totally agree. Sometimes written-only recipes can but misinterpreted, so it's good to have it visually. Like you say, you feel more confident!
Haha yeah I bet, might have to up my daily step count when I give it a try though! ;)

Oh geez this looks soooo good! I am a huge fan of bacon in all of its incarnations. Never had the pleasure of duck bacon but I want it!

lol We are definite bacon fans here. And since hubby crafted his barrel smoker, we love making our own. It's sooo much better than the store-bought stuff. And YES, if you ever get a chance to try duck bacon, DO IT! Sooooooo good! (I'm obviously a duck fanatic, but I have friends who aren't super fond of it, and they loved the duck bacon as well.)

Incredible appetizing photos 😋 😍
I will definitely try to cook this delicious recipe!
Thank you for the wonderful post and photo of the cooking process! :)
(I have new drawings. I hope you look at them)

Thank you! I'm glad you like the pictures. I hope the process photos are helpful. If you do try making any of it, I'd love to know how it goes!

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I enjoyed reading your post, and those pictures make me hungry. Very well done !

Thanks very much! I'm glad the pictures are appreciated. haha


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