The April 2011 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Evelyne of the blog Cheap Ethnic Eatz. Evelyne chose to challenge everyone to make a maple mousse in an edible container. Prizes are being awarded to the most creative edible container and filling, so vote on your favorite from April 27th to May 27th at The Daring Kitchen.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again; I LOVE the monthly challenges that are presented to the the daring bakers. Every month we are presented with a new and exciting challenge and a lot of them push me out of my comfort zone, but a lot of the challenges are things that I have wanted to make but haven’t gotten around to actually making. This month was one of those months that we were challenged to make something that I had actually had on my “to make” wish list for quite some time. I have wanted to make edible containers for quite some time. I have had a couple of desserts from restaurants that were presented in edible, mostly chocolate, conainers and they were not only pretty and jaw dropping but absolutely delicious. Having these desserts made me want to make edible containers/dishes that much more. I mean what’s better than being presented with a dish that looks and tastes amazing? Being presented with a dish that not only looks and tastes amazing but is also edible. You really can’t beat that, plus there are no dishes to clean after you are finished with your dessert!
This challenge was so much fun. Although we had the freedom to create a container out of anything I stayed close to the challenge for two reasons; I have been wanting to make a dessert including bacon and second, I LOVE the combination of maple and bacon! Not only was it fun making the mousse and bacon cups but it was even more fun eating them! I enjoyed this challenge so much and I can’t wait to attempt other edible containers; my mind is going non-stop thinking of other ideas!
Bacon Cups
Ingredients:
24 thin slices good quality bacon
Directions:
Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees.
Turn a muffin pan upside down and cover 6 muffin cups with aluminum foil.
Take 2 strips of bacon at a time crisscross the strips over the backs of the muffin cups and cut to size a tad longer than the bottom part of the cup. Use an additional 1 to 2 strips to cover the sides of the muffin cups in a weaving fashion. Weave the bacon tight because the bacon shrinks quite a bit when cooking.
Tuck the ends of the bacon strips inside otherwise they will curl while cooking. A good idea is to insert 4 toothpicks where the crisscrossed bacon meets in the weave.
Place muffin pan in a cookie tray to catch drippings.
Bake in oven for about 25 to 40 minutes, or until the bacon is golden and crisp but not burned.
Cool completely, about an hour, before carefully removing cups from the foil.
For smaller cups-use a shot glass with a square of bacon for the bottom and wrap 1 strip around the side.
Maple Mousse
Ingredients:
1 Cup pure maple syrup
4 Large egg yolks
1 Package unflavoured gelatine
1 1/2 Cups whipping cream
Directions:
Bring maple syrup to a boil then remove from heat.
In a large bowl, whisk egg yolks and pour a little bit of the maple syrup in while whisking (this is to temper your egg yolks so they don’t curdle).
Add warmed egg yolks to hot maple syrup until well mixed.
Measure 1/4 cup of whipping cream in a bowl and sprinkle it with the gelatine. Let it rest for 5 minutes. Place the bowl in a microwave for 45 seconds (microwave for 10 seconds at a time and check it in between) or place the bowl in a pan of barely simmering water, stir to ensure the gelatine has completely dissolved.
Whisk the gelatine-whipping cream mixture into the maple syrup mixture and set aside.
Whisk occasionally for approximately an hour or until the mixture has the consistency of an unbeaten raw egg white.
Whip the remaining cream until it forms peaks. Stir 1/4 of the whipped cream into the maple syrup mixture. Fold in the remaining cream and refrigerate for at least an hour.
Remove from the refrigerator and divide equally among the edible containers. Drizzle melted, semi-sweet chocolate over each cup.
Recipe Source:
Bacon cups inspired by not martha and 59 kilos
Maple mousse adapted from Jamie Oliver is not my boyfriend
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