This week's cupcake was inspired by last weekends major event as well as by a chip dip that a friend of mine first shared with me a couple years ago. To say the least, I've had the idea for quite some time and occasional web browsing was satisfying in that it didn't appear to have been done...until last week, there was an apparent explosion of creative individuals deciding to produce the same concept. However, I am pleased to announce that the components of my cupcake differ from these thunder stealers and presents itself as follows. The Buffalonian is a honey cornbread base containing buffalo marinated chicken chunks crowned with a dollop of blue and cream cheese frosting and finally, a detail that completes the buffalo chicken concept, some threads of carrot and celery. They are on the sweet side, much as you would expect from a corn muffin, but I would classify them more as an appetizer than a dessert.
Buffalo Chicken
1/4 cup Louisiana style hot sauce
1/2 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp salt
dash of black pepper
dash of garlic powder
~1lbs chicken, diced
Combine all sauce ingredients into a bowl. Add chicken and stir to coat. Cover the bowl and place it in the fridge overnight to allow the chicken to marinate. Next day, heat oven to 375oF. Spread the chicken over an aluminum lined/greased baking sheet and bake uncovered for about 15 minutes, until bits are cooked through. Allow chicken to cool.
Buffalo Chicken Honey Cornbread
1 1/2 cups corn meal
1 1/2 cups flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp salt
1/3 cup honey
1 1/2 cups milk
3/4 stick butter, melted
3 eggs, room temperature
2 cups buffalo chicken from above
Preheat oven to 350oF and grease pan(s). In a large bowl sift together all dry ingredients. In a medium bowl whisk together the wet ingredients. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and stir until just combined. Fold in diced buffalo chicken. Pour batter into pan(s) and bake approximately 15 minutes or until golden.
Blue Cheese Cream Cheese Frosting
8 oz cream cheese
3tbsp heavy whipping cream
1/2 stick (1/4 cup) butter, room temperature
3 sups icing/confectioners sugar
Cream together the cream cheese, whipping cream and butter until uniform. Mix in sugar until well combined.
Once the cakes had cooled I topped each with a couple drops of the Louisiana style hot sauce used to marinate the chicken. I then topped each with a dollop of the blue cheese cream cheese frosting and some strips of carrot and celery.
1 1/2 cups corn meal
1 1/2 cups flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp salt
1/3 cup honey
1 1/2 cups milk
3/4 stick butter, melted
3 eggs, room temperature
2 cups buffalo chicken from above
Preheat oven to 350oF and grease pan(s). In a large bowl sift together all dry ingredients. In a medium bowl whisk together the wet ingredients. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and stir until just combined. Fold in diced buffalo chicken. Pour batter into pan(s) and bake approximately 15 minutes or until golden.
Blue Cheese Cream Cheese Frosting
8 oz cream cheese
3tbsp heavy whipping cream
1/2 stick (1/4 cup) butter, room temperature
3 sups icing/confectioners sugar
Cream together the cream cheese, whipping cream and butter until uniform. Mix in sugar until well combined.
Once the cakes had cooled I topped each with a couple drops of the Louisiana style hot sauce used to marinate the chicken. I then topped each with a dollop of the blue cheese cream cheese frosting and some strips of carrot and celery.
The Panel:
Another cupcake concept that caused quite a stir. The majority of judges found that the balance of flavors worked really well, though Sugar Princess found the essences to be too heterogeneous. A few comments were made that there may have been a bit too much blue cheese. Remarks also addressed the dryness of the cake, likely attributed to the corn bread base that was appreciated in this savoury twist, and slight toughness of the chicken provoked suggestions to incorporate pulled chicken instead. JRock proposed serving a warm cake with the frosting as a dip in and agreed with Crazy Cakes in that a visible hot sauce drizzle would have put the presentation over the top. Colours and presentation were positively noted.
CathyP: "Chicken in the cake! Crazy! Totally worked!"
Peanut: "Def in my top 5 :)"
Fathom's Chef: "I really like the 'frosting' I could eat that with a bowl and spoon."
Crazy Cakes: "Enter this one into a contest!"
My comments:
Overall I was quite please with the final result of this unique recipe with regards to both taste and presentation. The initial aroma was reminiscent of the waft that comes with a restaurant order of wings. Honey as the sweetener in this recipe was a perfect match to the Buffalo bite which was complimented nicely by the blue cheese frosting. The veggies added a nice crunchy texture to the cakes and the chicken seemed evenly distributed. Future attempts at this recipe would require curtailing the blue cheese and incorporating a moister chicken component. They could also afford to be baked for a couple less minutes.
Another cupcake concept that caused quite a stir. The majority of judges found that the balance of flavors worked really well, though Sugar Princess found the essences to be too heterogeneous. A few comments were made that there may have been a bit too much blue cheese. Remarks also addressed the dryness of the cake, likely attributed to the corn bread base that was appreciated in this savoury twist, and slight toughness of the chicken provoked suggestions to incorporate pulled chicken instead. JRock proposed serving a warm cake with the frosting as a dip in and agreed with Crazy Cakes in that a visible hot sauce drizzle would have put the presentation over the top. Colours and presentation were positively noted.
CathyP: "Chicken in the cake! Crazy! Totally worked!"
Peanut: "Def in my top 5 :)"
Fathom's Chef: "I really like the 'frosting' I could eat that with a bowl and spoon."
Crazy Cakes: "Enter this one into a contest!"
My comments:
Overall I was quite please with the final result of this unique recipe with regards to both taste and presentation. The initial aroma was reminiscent of the waft that comes with a restaurant order of wings. Honey as the sweetener in this recipe was a perfect match to the Buffalo bite which was complimented nicely by the blue cheese frosting. The veggies added a nice crunchy texture to the cakes and the chicken seemed evenly distributed. Future attempts at this recipe would require curtailing the blue cheese and incorporating a moister chicken component. They could also afford to be baked for a couple less minutes.