Thursday, February 10, 2011

Blog review & the weirdest cupcakes I've ever made

As the title suggests, this blog post is about another blog that I absolutely love. I don't really have time to follow other blogs. I barely have time for my own! But if you are interested in cupcakes or cakes or anything baking, you have to check out Cupcake Project. Stef is so creative and funny. She's pretty much my blogger idol. She has the most unique and tasty recipes and great stories to go with them.

On that note, let me say I've only tried a couple of her recipes because some of them are a little too fancy for me. Not that I don't love the idea of something new and interesting. But I live in Ohio, where McDonalds is a food group and organic means you're a hippie. If I tried to make balsamic vinegar frosting, I would probably be forced to eat it all myself because most people would be afraid. I know this from experience, I had some pretty lukewarm reactions to brownies with sea salt and vegan cupcakes because they were too different.

So, I found the perfect solution! Stef's recipe for Beer Cheese Cupcakes with Bacon Cheddar Cream Cheese Frosting!! It sounded so weird, I was instantly intrigued. I read the comments first and they were all positive. I couldn't believe that people thought they were good, but apparently they did.  I saw this as a challenge so I got my ingredients ready. Luckily, this is the kind of thing I have on hand!



I wanted to use a very sharp cheese to try to get more cheesy flavor. In the cupcakes you really couldn't taste it. You can definitely get the beer flavor. As with other cupcakes I've made with beer, you get a flavor that I would describe as yeasty. Almost like a sweet bread. They were super moist and could work with lots of different frostings.


The frosting was freaking amazing. I feel like I would love to use it on something like a crisp cookie or biscotti where it would shine on it's own. I actually wish I would have used more bacon because I love the salty bits mixed in the sweet. It doesn't look as nice as most frostings, but the taste makes up for it.


It was not always easy to get people to try these. I tried not to tell anyone what it was but I had to put a "contains bacon" disclaimer which prevented some people from trying. I got some hilarious responses - "It actually tastes like a cupcake!" "These should be called mancakes!!" - but all the reviews were good. Well one person said it sure was "different" but if that's the worst response you get, I think it's pretty good. Personally, this is one I will be returning to later. Maybe using different beers and cheeses.