Tag Archives: Bacon

Smokin’ Pig Licker Brownies

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Happy World Chocolate Day! Yes the food calendar which so often celebrates obscure treats and foods has of course a day designated to everyone’s favorite sweet treat. In whatever form- be it dark, milk, white, ruby or golden, nearly everyone I know has a soft spot for the timeless treat that is chocolate. In fact so much so in my case I ended up competing on a reality baking show about it. But I won’t bore you with those details.

It only seemed fitting given the day that it is that I highlight one of the keystones of my baking journey thus far- my Smokin’ Pig Licker Brownies. Bear with me and see past the name- by know you know I do like to create a talking point! Originally conceived from an idea combining two stalwart (yet polar opposite) favorites in the food world – chocolate (sweet) and bacon (savory) I will forever be indebted to these tasty morsels for earning me the “award winning” in my press kit bio title.

Wanting to pair chocolate and bacon led me to research whether this combination was a historic one, steeped in the recipes of olde, or a more recent affair. It proved to be a little of both. I mean think of the “mole sauces” of Mexican cuisine- pairing sweet and savory was indeed nothing new. But how about actual bacon? It was through this that I stumbled upon “Pig Lickers” and what they involved. A treat hailing from Southern US state fairs, Pig Lickers as such are “treats made by coating cooked bacon in chocolate, and then garnishing with chunks of sea salt”. Are we feeling it yet? The name alone had me hooked let alone that fact that it combined my two holy grail ingredients.

But I wanted to push it a little further. State fairs to me always bring that cliched image of candy floss, hot dogs, and chilli dogs. Wait! Chilli dogs?…chilli? Chilli and chocolate! There you have it! My end result- these brownies would be a classic combination of chilli and chocolate, with a thumbing of the culinary nose addition of bacon- in not one but two forms! The smoky, heat of the decadent brownies would be studded with crispy, sweet bacon pieces and then topped off with the aforementioned Pig Licker- a sliver of crispy bacon enrobed in chocolate, sprinkled with shards of sea-salt. Bet you’re on board NOW?

Before I depart to smother my bacon (!) a couple of words of advice. Don’t be tempted to use thick cut, or peameal, bacon here. The fat-to-meat ration is off and doesn’t work. Instead of crispy morsels of Umami goodness playing with luxurious chocolate, you get chunks of meat which just doesn’t sit right- taste or texture wise. Also don’t stress about tempering the chocolate. I mean you can if you want to go for the whole professional “snap” (*triggered*) finish if that’s your jam but at the end of the day these are rustic, wholesome, come-as-you are treats. Which I hope you enjoy!

Makes 12

Ingredients

  • 1 cup bacon, finely chopped
  • 2 teaspoons maple syrup
  • ¾ cup unsalted butter, cubed
  • 6oz semi-sweet chocolate, broken into pieces
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 cup sugar
  • ¾ cup plain flour
  • ½ cup cocoa powder
  • 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
  • ½ teaspoon mild chilli powder
  • 2oz dark chocolate chunks

To decorate

  • 3 full pieces of bacon 3 rashers, each cut into 4
  • 4oz semi-sweet chocolate, melted
  • Sea salt flakes

Method

  1. Set your oven to 350°F and line a deep 12″x9″ baking tray with baking parchment leaving an overhang each side
  2. Fry the bacon in a pan until just starting to crisp. Add the maple syrup and fry until a shade browner and crisper. Remove from the heat and leave to cool on a plate
  3. Melt the butter and chocolate in a bowl over a saucepan of simmering water (or bain-marie), stirring occasionally. Once melted, remove from the heat, and allow to cool
  4. In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the eggs and sugar until the mixture is thickened and fluffy, then, in a separate bowl, combine the flour, cocoa powder, smoked paprika and chilli powder.
  5. Fold the cooled chocolate mixture into the egg mixture. Sieve in the dry ingredients, and fold together until uniform in color
  6. Fold in the chocolate chunks and bacon pieces. You may need to break up the bacon pieces as they may have stuck together while cooling
  7. Pour your mixture into the lined tray and gently spread to level the surface. Place in the oven for 20-25 minutes, then leave to cool completely in the tin before cutting into squares
  8. To decorate, place the larger bacon pieces in the frying pan and cook until crisp. Remove and leave to cool. Melt the remaining in a bowl over a saucepan of simmering water (or bain-marie), or in a microwave on short bursts, until fully melted
  9. Coat the bacon pieces one at a time in the melted chocolate. Place a bacon piece on top of each brownie and sprinkle with sea salt
  10. Leave to set, serve and enjoy!
Image credit Romas Foord

Elvis Banana Bread

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Elvis. The very name conjures up images of sweaty excess, sexy rhythms and snake-hipped gyrations. I have to admit to not being a fan of the man himself but there’s one thing that I can’t deny and that’s his impact on the world.

Aside from his groundbreaking impact on the world of music and movies, Elvis’s impact even stretched as far as the food world. Yes it may not be fancy but the grassroots ingredients of peanut and banana have become synonymous with the Graceland god. Google “The Elvis” and you will find a plethora of entries on the unnervingly mouth-watering combination of peanut butter, banana and bacon- usually in sandwich form. Is this actually a combination so off the wall it works? The answer is actually- yes. The unctuous smoothness of the peanut butter and banana spiked by the salty bites of bacon crispiness stopping it becoming overwhelming and bland.

It was within a week of watching cookery competition shows and Netflix culinary food-show binging that I noticed a bizarrely serendipitous trend- the theme of PB&J and Elvis appeared to crop up rather a lot. We’re talking epiphany-like levels folks. The universe was speaking to me and it was saying, “Elvis”. But how to incorporate this make-up into something unexpected? The answer was literally right under my nose- I pondered the question whilst munching on a slice of last week’s banana loaf.

Now whilst I love banana bread, a certain Covid-quarantine ennui had settled on my taste buds in regards to it. I had become a lockdown Lancelot in a quest to revamp the moist. rich loaf- as my recipe for Buttermilk & Cardamom Banana Bread bares testament to. And this Memphis-kissed combination provided another excuse for kitchen experimentation.

The peanut/ banana combination was an obvious treatment for the loaf itself, and pockets of flavored jelly would of course provide surprising nuggets of sweet, sticky joy in the dough. But where to work in the final signature ingredient of the King? I didn’t want anything as obvious as just a couple of bacon slices on top. My other concern was that mixing bacon pieces into the batter would cause them to become chewy and soft gribene-esque morsels in the batter. So how better to avoid them becoming gummy crumbs than to put them outside the batter…on top…in a topping…a STREUSEL topping!

Et viola! Elvis Banana Bread…enjoy!

Ingredients

  • 3 large bananas
  • 4 Tbspn Peanut butter (smooth or crunchy to you taste)
  • 1/2 cup Canola oil
  • 1/3 cup milk
  • 1 tspn Vanilla extract
  • 2 1/3 cup AP flour
  • 3/4 cup Dark brown sugar
  • 2 tspn Baking powder
  • 1 tspn cinnamon
  • 1/4 tspn Kosher salt
  • 1/3 cup Grape jelly (feel free to sub with whatever flavour you like)

Streusel Topping

  • 5 slices bacon, cooked and crispy
  • 1/4 cup Dark brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup fine sugar
  • 1/4 cup AP flour
  • 1/2 tspn cinnamon
  • 2 Tbspn Butter, cold and diced
  • Pinch Kosher salt

Method

To make the streusel topping

  1. In a bowl combine both the sugars, flour, cinnamon, salt and butter pieces. Rub the mixture together with your fingertips until a pea-sized sand texture is achieved and a crumble is formed. Crumble in the crispy bacon slices, mix through and set aside until needed later. *This makes more than enough streusel topping with plenty left over for additional uses. It’ll keep in the fridge for up to 3 days in an airtight jar

To make the banana bread

  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease a 9″ x 5″ loaf pan and line the bottom & with parchment paper (this will help to lift the baked loaf out)
  2. In a large bowl, mash the bananas. Add the peanut butter, oil, milk and vanilla, whisk well to combine and set aside. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon and salt
  3. Pour the banana mixture into the dry ingredients and fold together until just combined and there are no spots of dry floury residue
  4. Pour 1 /2 of the batter into the loaf pan. Using a piping bag or spoon, place dollops of the jelly along the top of the loaf batter leavings about 1 inch border around. Once you’ve got the jelly piped in how you’d like,  pour the remaining loaf  batter over to cover the jelly and roughly level the top. Generously sprinkle over the streusel topping to an amount of your liking
  5. Bake for 50 to 60 minutes, or until well risen and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean
  6. Remove the baked loaf from the oven, allow to cool for 5 minutes in the loaf pan before lifting out using the parchment paper, and leave to cool completely on a rack before slicing