Yesterday would've been Elvis Presley's 76th birthday and I decided what better time for me to conquer my fear of baking with bacon and make The Elvis.
The Elvis cupcake is based on a sandwich which was a favourite of his, the peanut butter, banana and bacon.
It's a pretty simple cupcake to make; a moist banana cupcake base, covered in lots of crunchy peanut butter frosting, with a chunk of streaky bacon to decorate. When I went to Ginger Pig to buy a couple of rashers of streaky they were suspicious of me till I told them it was to decorate cupcakes.
The base recipe if from the Love Bakery cookbook, and while it's very nice it makes rather massive cupcakes. Mine overflowed slightly leading to a bit of an uneven topping to frost onto. The frosting is some vanilla frosting with peanut butter added to taste - quite a lot of peanut butter. It was rather thick and the first attempt at frosting was a disaster, so I had to thin it out slightly with some milk. It still wouldn't go through my favourite nozzle, the 1M, so I had to use the biggest one I have which I'm not so keen on and it didn't make a pretty topping, so in the end, after contemplating, What Would Elvis Do?, we decided just to slap it on, or if you prefer, rustically apply the frosting to the cupcake Elvis style! Not the prettiest cupcakes, but how did they taste?
I let Manny taste the first one, incase it was as disgusting as my previous taste of bacon cupcakes at Batch in New York, and I have to agree with his verdict, bacon goes much better with peanut butter than it does with chocolate. I actually managed to swallow, something I didn't with the bacon/chocolate combo. While it tasted okay I don't really think it added much to the cupcake and ate the rest without bacon, Manny however scoffed two, with extra bacon. Oink.
If you want to make some other Elvis inspired recipes check out Fit for a King, The Elvis Presley Cookbook.
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14 comments:
Sounds gross - from a vegetarian :) but banana and peanut butter alone sounds delish.
Ellie - believe me it's not something I'd do every day but I fancied making something with peanut butter and the opportunity of Elvis' birthday was a good excuse to tackle my fear! I won't be baking with bacon again!
You could do it with streaky strips - I loved those when I was a veggie!
Yum! I think the bacon would taste good with peanut butter frosting.
There is a line which my taste buds refuse to cross and that is sweet and savoury together! Banana and peanut butter sounds good though :)
I have to say that I've always avoided bacon in my baking - it just seems unecessary in the same way that I don't put buttercream on my roast beef.
Well done for conquering your fears - the cupcakes look awesome but, like you, I think I'd pick the bacon off first!
Love it - although I fear bacon and buttercream together will be as addictive as crack...
@Kelly -Manny really liked it, and as I said it wasn't that gross but I just couldn't get over the fact I was eating bacon with cake
@Ice Maiden - it honestly wasn't as bad as bacon chocolate - that made me gag! The banana cupcakes tasted even better today I have to say -more flavoursome
@Samantha - I know what you mean. I kept seeing Elvis cupcakes and as a lover of the 3 main ingredients just had to try them once. Once was enough!
@Sarah - I think if I'd let Manny cook more bacon he'd have had more on the cakes!
It must be the saltiness in the peanut butter that worked with the bacon. I agree that bacon with sweet stuff like chocolate is yukky! Also the banana flavour wasn't too strong yesterday, it came out much more today, together with the peanut butter frosting it was lovely, and that's coming from someone who NEVER used to like anything banana flavoured :)
I can kind of understand how the flavours might work together but I'm afraid it doesn't appeal to me. You never know without trying though.
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Ooh - inspiring! I am a big fan of a peanut butter and banana toastie but will give this a whirl too methinks.
Manny - glad you liked them. I can't believe you ate all the bacon with them also!
The banana cakes were much better the next day I agree
@Katie - it's not really my thing either but something I wanted to try in the name of cupcake research. I won't be making them again, unless someone requests them
thanks - will check it tomorrow :)
@Domestic Goddess Wannabe - thanks for your comment. Let me know if you make them, love to hear what others bake :)
Sounds interesting, I'd be happy to taste them. I remember trying a bacon and banana cupcake at Iron cupcake once and quite enjoyed it. Love bakery is now my favourite book :)
The bacon was not part of his sandwich it was a fried peanutbutter and banana sandwich.
Dear anonymous. Thanks for taking two years to find my blog solely to make this comment, however Elvis' mother stated he often ate it WITH bacon so ill go with her version thanks. Unless you can confirm you are Priscilla or his chef. Also, as funding for my cupcake time travel machine has run out unfortunately I cannot go back in time to remake these sans bacon just to please you.
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