Recipe of the Week: Piggylicious Bacon Cupcakes from Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival

This week saw the return of the Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival, one of the most beautiful times of the year to visit Walt Disney World. A few years ago Disney debuted food booths at the festival and one of the many foods they served was a Piggylicious Bacon Cupcake. I love bacon and cupcakes so this is a win for me. I recently found a recipe for the cupcakes so I thought I'd share with you all in this week's Recipe of the Week:

Piggylicious Bacon Cupcakes:

Ingrediants: 

Cupcakes-

One box yellow cake mix

Enough bacon fat to replace the canola oil (as called for on the box recipe)

Water (as called for on the box recipe)

Eggs (as called for on the box recipe)

6 oz. cooked crispy bacon

Maple Cream Cheese Icing-

8 oz. cream cheese

1/4 cup butter, softened

2 tsp. maple flavoring

16 oz. (about 4 cups) powdered sugar

1 small bag of pretzel twists

Instructions:
Cupcakes-
Put cake mix in a bowl.
Add bacon fat, water, and eggs.
Beat ingredients with a hand mixer according to the package directions.
Fold in the cooked bacon.
Add mixture to cupcake pan and bake according to package directions.

Maple Cream Cheese Icing-
In a mixing bowl with a paddle attachment, cream together the cream cheese and butter until light and fluffy, about 8 minutes.
Add maple flavor until combined.
Add powdered sugar until well mixed.

Frost each cupcake with the frosting, and garnish with crushed pretzel twists.

Source: Magical Recipes

Recipe of the Week: Crispy Onion Rings from Sci-Fi Dine-in Theater Restaurant

Our recipe of the week segment is back this week with Crispy Onion Rings from the Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater Restaurant. Here's a funny story I don't like onions but I do like onion rings its the only time I will actually eat onions. Here is the recipe:

Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater: Crispy Onion Rings

Ingredients:

1 large onion (or 2 small), cut into 1/4" rings

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 egg

1 cup milk

1 cup dry bread crumbs

cooking oil, for frying

salt, to taste

Directions:

In a large bowl, mix flour, baking powder and salt. Add in the separated onion rings and toss to coat. Remove the rings from the bowl and set aside on a plate. Now add the egg and milk to the flour mixture and whisk until well blended. In a second bowl, pour dry bread crumbs.

Heat 1-inch of oil in a deep skillet to 365 degrees or until a drop of batter begins to sizzle. When oil is ready, begin coating the onion rings. First dip them into the batter, shake to remove excess then place in bread crumbs to coat. Shake again then place into the hot oil for 2-3 minutes, until golden brown. Turn and brown other side. Remove from hot oil and place on paper towel-lined plate. Sprinkle with additional salt, to taste. Serve with ketchup or horseradish dipping sauce like at Sci-Fi.

Source: The Disney Diner

Recipe of the Week: Red Velvet Cheesecake Cupcake from Starring Rolls Cafe

It's the season of love and Valentine's Day is this Tuesday. I figured let's look for a recipe that will signify the perfect dessert for this holiday. What better than the Red Velvet Cheesecake Cupcake from the recently closed Starring Rolls Cafe at Disney's Hollywood Studios. Check out the recipe:

Recipe

Red Velvet Cupcake:

2 1/2 cups All-Purpose Flour

1 1/2 cups Sugar

2 tablespoons Cocoa Powder

1 pinch Salt

2 eggs

1/2 cup Oil

1 cup Butter Milk

2 ounces Red Food Coloring

1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract

Place all dry ingredients in bowl. 

Blend eggs and oil and add to dry ingredients. Mix until smooth. Add buttermilk. 

Pour into lined muffin pan and bake at 350*F. for 30 min or until done.

Cheesecake Frosting:

2 pounds cream cheese

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1/2 tablespoon vanilla extract

1/4 cup cornstarch

1 cup egg whites

Preheat oven to 320°F.

In a mixing bowl, add cream cheese, sugar, lemon juice, and vanilla extract. Add cornstarch, eggs, Cream together for 3 minutes.

Fill in molds or rings and bake in a water bath for 45 minutes or until firm.

To Finish:

Make cheesecake batter. After the cheesecake is baked and cooled add into mixing bowl and cream.

Pipe on to red velvet cup cakes and roll in Heath bar crunch. 

Source: Cooking with Mickey

Recipe of the Week: ESPN Wings from the ESPN Club

It's Super Bowl Sunday, so I figured I would find a recipe that would be fitting for today's game. That is why I picked the ESPN Wings from the ESPN Club. Who doesn't love chicken wings and it is the perfect recipe for today's game. Check it out below:

ESPN Club Chicken Wings:

ESPN WINGS SPICE 

1 ¼ oz celery salt

4 1/3 oz granulated garlic

4 ¾ oz white pepper

2 2/3 oz chili powder

ESPN WINGS SAUCE

1 1/3 oz Franks Hot Pepper Sauce (used to be Durkees Hot Sauce)

1 tsp. black pepper

10 flakes crushed red pepper

pinch ground white pepper

1 tbsp. Louisiana Gold Pepper Sauce

2 each chipolte pepper (smoked dried jalapeno)

1 ½ oz cayenne pepper

CITRUS MARINADE

(Makes 1 quart)

2 cups water

1 cup orange juice

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup salt

1/4 cup cracked black pepper

2 tbsp. basil

2 tbsp. oregano

1/4 cup onion powder

To prepare:

1. Use whole wing; soak overnight in citrus marinade

2. Drain; sprinkle ESPN SPICE generously covering entire wing.

3. On baking sheet, bake for 25 minutes at 375 degrees.

4. Remove from pan; drain fat.

5. Allow wings to cool completely.

6. Deep fry in canola oil at 360 degrees until very crisp.

7. Sprinkle wings with ESPN Sauce and toss in stainless steel or glass bowl. 

Recipe of the Week: Cheddar Cheese Soup from Le Cellier

While I am not a soup eater, this soup comes up during the MouseLife podcast almost every week. So this recipe is for them. This week's recipe of the week is the Cheddar Cheese Soup from Le Cellier.

Serves: 8

Ingredients: 

5 cups milk, warmed
½ pound bacon
10 tablespoons butter
1 cup celery
2 each red onions, finely chopped
1 ½ cups flour
1 quart chicken stock
1 pound cheddar cheese, shredded
To taste - kosher salt
To taste - freshly ground black pepper
1 ½ teaspoons Tabasco sauce
3 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
12 ounces slightly warm ale 

Method of Preparation:

1.  Slowly heat milk.
2. Brown the bacon first, then render until crisp.
3. Add the butter and melt.
4. Add celery and onions, cook until translucent.
5. Add flour and mix thoroughly to form a roux.
6. Add chicken stock and simmer for three minutes.
7. Add warm milk and stir vigorously to thicken.
8. Cook out roux until thickened (it should not have a starchy taste).
9. Reduce heat to low, add cheese, and stir until melted.
10. Season with kosher salt, pepper, Tabasco, and Worcestershire sauce.
11. Just prior to serving, add warm ale.
12. Garnish with cooked bacon and fresh chives. 

Cook's note: When re-heating soup, do not bring to a boil, as it will break down.

Source: AllEars.net

Recipe of the Week: Pop't Art from Pop Eats at the Epcot International Festival of the Arts

The very first Epcot International Festival of the Arts began last week with many amazing food's debuting at the new festival. Last week, I shared one of my favorite snacks in the croissant donut. Today, I bring to you a recipe for one of the eight food studios at the event in Pop Eats. The recipe is for the Pop't Art sugar cookie. This sugar cookie is filled with a hazelnut filling and topped with an artful design of a glazed icing. Here is the recipe:

Pop’t Art

Makes 6

SUGAR COOKIE

• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 cup butter
• 1 egg white
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, sifted
• 1/8 teaspoon salt

TOPPING

• 6 tablespoons chocolate-hazelnut spread

GLAZE

• 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
• 3-4 tablespoons milk
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• Food coloring

FOR SUGAR COOKIE:

1. Cream sugar and butter in bowl of an electric mixer fitted with
   a paddle attachment until fluffy. Add egg white and beat for 1 minute.
2. Slowly add sifted flour and salt and beat at medium speed until a soft
   dough forms.
3. Cover bowl and chill in refrigerator for 30 minutes.
4. Preheat oven to 300°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment or silicone
   baking mat.
5. Roll dough into a 1/4-inch thick rectangle on a lightly floured surface.
6. Cut into six, 3×5-inch rectangles.
7. Place cookies on prepared baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes, until
   golden brown.
8. Remove from oven and cool for 30 minutes.

FOR TOPPING:

1. Spread 1 tablespoon of chocolate-hazelnut spread on each cookie,
   leaving a border of about 1/8 inch around the edges of each cookie.
2. Set aside.

FOR GLAZE:

1. Whisk powdered sugar, 3 tablespoons of the milk, and the vanilla
   extract in a pie plate until smooth. Add additional milk if the glaze is
   too thick.
2. Set aside 2 tablespoons of glaze in a small bowl.
3. Dip each cookie, chocolate-hazelnut side down, in the glaze to cover
   the chocolate.
4. Set on a wire rack to dry.
5. Mix remaining glaze with desired color or colors of food coloring. Use a
   fork to drizzle colored glaze on top of the cookies.

Source: Disney Parks Blog