We went through the normal ups and downs of planning Mog's 11th birthday extravaganza, and she eventually settled on wanting cupcakes. More specifically, she wanted bacon cupcakes with maple syrup frosting.

Yuck.

This is neither tea, a cup, or mine.

Don't get me wrong, I like bacon. I love cupcakes. Ok, so I'm kinda indifferent to syrup, but we're not keeping score here, are we? We are? Crap. Anyway, the combination sounded vaguely unpleasant to me, despite the rave reviews I'd been hearing. After all, sweet and savory is a combination that appeals to many, many people. Unfortunately, I'm not one of those people.

What does a bacon cupcake taste like, you ask?  Think of a dense pancake with bacon pieces (no bacon bits up in this) and baked with bacon drippings in place of some of the fluids.  Then top it off with a super thick, sticky buttercream that tastes just like real maple syrup.  Get that fake maple flavored kind out of your head.  We don't roll that way here.  Also the frosting is swirled like a pile of novelty dog-doo on top, and there's a piece of crisp bacon jauntily perched on top.

I really think the frosting was what broke it for me.  It was just too much.  It was thick, sticky, and achingly sweet.  It was the absolute WORST buttercream I've ever tried to pipe with.  I couldn't get it to thin out at all.  It just sat there in the bowl and mocked me.  When I stuck it in the bag, it just sat in there and mocked me some more.

However, almost everyone that ate them absolutely loved them.  In fact, several people wanted the recipe (which I've since "accidentally" lost) so they could recreate them.  There were no bacon cupcakes left to take home; the kids (and men) sucked them down like vacuum cleaners.

Do I think I'll make these again?  I don't know.  Maybe, depending on how much Mog begs.  I don't think the cake would be so bad on their own, but I know I won't be re-creating that exact same buttercream ever again.