Recipe for Brownies with Bacon

There seems to be an increasing use of bacon in sweet dessert items like chocolate brownies. The combination of smokey, salty bacon with sweet, rich chocolate is better than it may sound at first.

So, we thought it would be fun to try this pairing as part of our in room dinner . Pretty easy to make, loosely following a recipe I found on a "Bacon Today" Posting by Micheal Kirsch. I used a prepared brownie mix from the box and added our thick-cut bacon, After trying it this way, I think it would be even easier if you cut the bacon up into small peices and throw them into the batter. I think substituting the oil with rendered bacon fat is also a good idea. So, next time. Doing it this way is much more photogenic, though.

Does this look like something you would like to have for dessert?

Ingredients:

Fixings for one batch of your favorite brownies

6-8 slices bacon (cut into small pieces if you like)

Procedure:

1) Heat the bacon slowly over low heat until partially rendered. Bacon should be slightly browned but still rather soft. Place on paper towels to aborb excess fat.

2) Meanwhile, mix your brownie batter and preheat the oven according to the recipe

3) Spread about half the batter into your baking pan

4) Layer the bacon (I used nine slices-sort of overkill. Eight would be plenty and six will still give you the a good flavor combination.)

5) Top with the remaining batter

6) Bake according to brownie recipe

7) Enjoy!

-Herb

Castle in the Country Inn

Recipe for Cream Scones

Most traditional scone recipes use both butter and milk or half&half. Here we skip the butter and a few of the mixing steps by using only heavy cream. This simplifies and shortens the preparation process, and the end result yields a crispy, more glazed crust with a moist interior. Any dried fruit such as cherries, apricots, raisins, etc. will work, also chocolate chips. The almond extract is optional but goes well with cherry and apricot. The two-temperature baking process is necessary. The initial high heat activates the baking powder faster and yields a higher rise, but if left to bake at that temp the bottoms will burn while the interior remains undone.

Ingredients
2C All purpose flour
1/2 C Brown sugar
2t Baking powder
1/2 t salt
1/2 C dried fruit, diced into 1/2 inch cubes if needed
1C heavy cream
1/2 t Almond extract (optional)
1/2 t Vanilla extract
1 egg, beaten for glaze
1T granulated white sugar to sprinkle

Procedure

Preheat oven to 425 F. Combine flour, brown sugar, baking powder, and salt and mix thoroughly. Add diced fruit. Combine almond extract and vanilla with the heavy cream and add to flour mixture. Stir with a spatula until there are large clumps. Using a squeezing motion with clean hands, press the dough into a ball until all the flour has been absorbed. (The photo shows the flour partially absorbed.)






Place the dough onto a large cutting board and press into a disc approximately one inch thick and 10 inches in diameter. Cut into 6-8 wedges and move to a baking sheet.










With a pastry brush, coat scones with egg mixture and sprinkle with sugar.




Bake at 425 for 10 minutes, reduce heat to 375 and rotate pan, bake for 10 minutes more, until done. There should be a crispy crust and a moist, light interior. Allow to cool on a baking rack for at least 15 minutes.