After 2 years being absent, SF Cupcake Camp returned this year! I had a hard time deciding what to bake because I was eager to come up with something creative, unique, and most importantly, delicious! I brainstormed a few ideas including chocolate potato chip cupcakes, chinese 5 spice cupcakes, green tea and chai...and ultimately I decided on a Chicken & waffle cupcake. I had no idea how I would pull this off but I was ready to commit. After a week of researching recipes and prototyping, I came up with my Chicken & waffle game plan.
The cupcake itself was a pancake cupcake that I "seared" under a waffle iron to get the waffle marks. I then made a maple buttercream to fill, sweeten, and moisten the inside of the cupcake. After days of contemplation, I ultimately decided to use crispy chicken skin and stay away from the chicken meat. I bought some raw chicken, peeled the skin, and cut into small pieces to deep fry. Think of it as chicken cracklings...or pork rinds. After assembling the cupcake with the crispy skin garnish, I decided to add some cayenne pepper for color.
I was really happy with this cupcake and I got a lot of great feedback from people. I didn't win this year, but I had a lot of fun creating this cupcake. Sometimes I get so caught up in baking that I forget to really get involved in the creative process - which is sometimes the best part :)
Special thanks to Fred and Sarah for helping ideate and sous chef. Thanks to all my friends who joined at cupcake camp: Sarah, Vic, Ashleigh, Annaliese, Karen, Kim, Grace, and Dru.
