I think neither.. but they do look delicious :) Fantastic idea! What do you think?

I’m giving the making of “man cakes” another shot, especially for Valentine’s Day. I know so many girls who want to do something special for their man but are not quite sure what. My opinion, just celebrate being in love! AND I truly believe the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach. So, bake these little beauties and tell him you love him. Done and done.

Now, I realize I took the idea of a “man cake” very literally when I was brainstorming a cupcake recipe for this special day of love. But I had to think, “What do guys like?” and that’s where beer, bacon and chocolate stout frosting came in to seal the deal.

To be honest, the cupcakes were a hit and miss with my cupcake tasters. Some people had about 5 cupcakes, while others gave me that disappointed look like, “really, bacon on a cupcake?” The restaurant manager at April’s work gave rave reviews and asked if I was available to bake for events. I’m going to need a bigger kitchen by the way, wouldn’t be a bad side gig.

My overall review: absolutely love these! They are way better than the previous Maple & Bacon man cakes I made. If you know your man loves beer, bacon and chocolate, you cannot go wrong here.

• 3 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
• ½ + 1/8 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 ¾ baking powder
• 1 ¼ teaspoons salt
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
• 1 ¼ teaspoons ground nutmeg
• 1 ¼ cup vegetable oil
• 1 ½ cups unsulfured molasses
• ½ cup +1 tablespoon packed light-brown sugar
• 2 large whole eggs + 1 large egg yolk
• 1 tablespoon freshly grated orange zest
• 1 ¼ cups Guinness beer

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350* F. Line mini cupcake tin with gold foil liners. Whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg.

2. With an electric mixer on medium-low speed, beat oil, molasses, brown sugar, whole eggs, yolk, orange zest and Guinness until combined. Reduce speed to low. Gradually add flour mixture, beating until just combined.

3. Divide batter evenly among lined cups, filling each about ¾ full. Bake until a wooden toothpick inserted comes out clean, about 10 minutes.

4. To finish, frost a swirl of chocolate stout frosting and top with a freshly cooked piece of bacon.

Chocolate Stout Frosting

• 1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
• 1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon boiling Guinness beer
• 2 1/4 cups (4 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature 
• 3/4 cup confectioners' sugar, sifted 
• 1/4 teaspoon salt 
• 1 1/2 pounds best-quality semi-sweet chocolate, melted and cooled

1. Combine cocoa and boiling Guinness, stirring until cocoa has dissolved.

2. With electric mixer on medium-high, beat butter, confectioners' sugar, and salt until pale and fluffy. Reduce speed to low.

3. Melt chocolate over a double boiler and let cool. Add melted and cooled chocolate, beating until combined and scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Beat in the cocoa mixture. 

4. Frosting can be refrigerated up to 5 days, or frozen up to 1 month in an air tight container. Before using, bring to room temperature and beat on low speed until smooth again.

Top with Bacon!

I cooked an entire package of applewood smoked bacon and cut them into small pieces to top each mini cupcake.

I just entered the POM Wonderful Valentine's Cupcake Contest. Check out all of the great cupcake ideas and make sure to vote for your favorite, even if it's not mine. Voting period begins February 14th.

I love that POM donates $1 for every baker who enters the contest to the American Heart Association. So far they've raised $40, so get to baking and enter the contest! Entry deadline is February 13th. Good luck!

If you would like to use this recipe for Valentine's Day, I just added it to theCupcakediary.

Cupcake Challenge hosted by @drinkeatplay was another fabulous cupcake event in Hollywood. It was held at theRenaissance Hotel in the Hollywood & Highland Center this past Saturday night. I was so excited for the chance to taste all of the MINI cupcakes (my favorite) from about 20 different cupcake bakers.

The competing bakers brought in 2 different flavors each.. 20 X 2 = 40 cupcakes.. and yes I had free roam to taste all of them. BUT to be completely honest, I was only a little over halfway through the room before I hit my cupcake intake limit. I didn’t know I had a limit.. now I know.

The cupcakes I DID taste were pretty fun and fantastic. Every baker had an adorable table set up with display , descriptions, and mini plates & napkins. FYI for next cupcake challenge: bring your own cupcake tray! Fail on my part, but lessons have been learned and life could be worse, right?

I want to share some of my favorite cupcakes and a few photos, so first I will start with this AMAZING jacket. Dressed to impressed and in it to win it! Great work Dylan, and congrats to Hollicakesfor having such an awesome boyfriend to support your work. I’m a fan of your “Cactus Cooler” cupcakes, great flavor and super moist.

I just HAD to taste how fried chicken on a cupcake would taste. The only way I can really describe it is to admit that I felt a little dirty after eating cold chicken off of a cupcake. That being said, I didn’t dislike it.. I just wouldn’t put myself through it again. Although, I do think it was a bold move that will hopefully pay off for them once the Cupcake Challenge ballots are tallied.

Overall I had a fabulous time and tasted some truly unique and tasty cupcakes. I also ran into the one and only Dessert Darling. Here’s Jenny (@dessertdarling) and Taryn Southern(@TarynSouthern) putting in work. We discussed the best and the worst of the selections, and I stand strongly behind my favorite baker of the night, Justin from Jus-Mini Cupcakes.

Jewelry & Cupcakes - what more could a girl ask for?

This past weekend my good friend Carmel (@glamorEYEZ) threw a jewelry party with Stella & Dot to premiere their Spring line.

This jewelry line is fun, stylish and POPS!

The jewelry inspired me to bake something just as fun that would stand out in the middle of a room, infused with stylish elements like pearlized candy balls and a sprinkle of sweetened coconut shreds.

I modified the coconut cupcake recipe I had made previously and added my favorite Vanilla Bean Frosting. Of course, I tinted the frosting to match the Stella & Dot signature color and I think they turned out almost too cute! 

Check out more photos from the jewelry party below: