Hello Bacon! Wait… What?

Let’s talk about bacon. For reasons that I cannot seem to grasp there have been lots of bacon trends this year. Let’s review.

1. Bacon Salt, which made the rounds in my office and flooded DC bachelor pads by the caseload. Intriguing, but not really a fixture in my kitchen, despite the variety of available flavors.

2. The Bacon Explosion. A New York Times article  bestowed this piece of finery on its readers just after 2009 kicked off. (Original idea credited here.) I actually participatd in a team effort to prepare and then EAT this (thanks jay!) as well. Here is a picture of our own net of bacon, wrapped around sausage, wrapped around chese. wrapped around more bacon. Just being in the kitchen with this guy sends you running for Lipitor and a bran muffin.

Cooking up a bacon explosion

3. Bacon Liquor. I made it as far as bacon bourbon, but apparently there is a whole underground movement of bacon whiskeys and other spirits as well. Curious. Definitely an ice breaker, but I’ll stick to an apple martini and other assorted girly drinks– like gin.

I will leave you to scout out locations in the metro area that serve bacon-infused cocktails. It’s not as hard as you think! But here is a DC Foodies guide to distilling on your own. Just in case you need it.

4. Bacon Chocolate turned the year a little sweeter. (I know you wondered WHERE I was going with this.) But Vosges is trustworthy. They make amazing chocolates. (The white chocolate with olives is a secret pleasure.)

5. Bacon Chocolate Chip Cookies were an easy jump from there. Here is the go-to recipe from Pete bakes!, who is also mastermind of bacon wrapped strawberries (or, berries in a blanket).

and now… drumroll please…

6. The Bacon Cupcake. Buzz bakery has been cooking these up as an August special, and it is gathering a special momentum. Today the DCist ran an article about it, complete with a recipe. The thing is, I don’t need two dozen bacon cupcakes to satiate my curiousity. So I headed to Buzz for one cupcake that could be shared among willing taste-test participants. The verdict? Amazingly delicious!

bacon cupcake

You will see in the picture that I also purchased a red velvet cupcake, in case the bacon didn’t work out. Unnecessary! At first pinch, the cake was a standard devil’s food cake. It was the icing that was extraordinary. The candied bacon was crushed into a seet peanutbutter base that was surprisingly compelling. All of us liked it. If you are in the DC area I recommend making a stop at Buzz during August while they are making these curious cakes.

 Seeing bacon in a new light? If you need one more push, click here: 

http://bacolicio.us/http://www.honeybeebakeshop.net

Enjoy.