Savory cupcakes, including bacon/peanut butter/chocolate!

Reminder: More Cupcakes opens in Chicago this Friday. They'll be offering up savory cupcakes like BLT & Bacon, Maple & Brown Sugar, Madras Curry, and BBQ Peach.

The cupcake/foodie world is abuzz about the new bacon cupcake from Chaos Theory Cakes (photo via Flickr) - and it's organic!

organic bacon peanut butter chocolate cupcake



from the Chicago Sun-Times:

Local bakers are taking the notion of melding sweet and savory to a new level in the battle to win the cupcake wars.

Think applewood smoked bacon, butterscotch and chocolate cake topped with a peanut butter frosting topped with a crispy sliver of the applewood bacon.

Or how about a fig, blue cheese and port cupcake?

The former is the creation of the month-old Chaos Theory Cakes in Lake View, while the latter will be among the offerings of the much-anticipated cupcake boutique More in the Gold Coast, opening Friday.

It shouldn't be a surprise that sweet-and-savory cupcakes are the new wave in the cupcake craze. Chocolatiers like Coco Rouge in Wicker Park dip in to the tellicherry pepper for a selection of its truffles while Vosges, in Lincoln Park and North Michigan Avenue, has been using ancho chili in a selection of its truffles.

Still, Patricia Rothman, owner of More at 1 E. Delaware, says her sweet-and-savory offerings -- something she came up with and others have copied since she announced her opening -- will put her in the pastry history books. Offering more than 50 varieties of cupcakes, with sweet offerings like Pink Grapefuit and Chocolate Mint, she's also kicking out things like a Peach Barbecue Cupcake, made with barbecue spices.

Comments

Anonymous said…
Don't get me wrong, I love cupcakes as much as the next gal. Maybe too much. But I tried the PB/Chocolate/Bacon cupcake and did not like it at all. I don't want to bash Chaos Theory, but we bought three cupcakes that day, and I was underwhelmed by all of them.
Anonymous said…
This was published in the Chicago Tribune today:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/lifestyle/explore/chi-new-restaurants-table-0911sep11,0,2072005.story

First bite: Chaos Theory Cakes

I sat down the onion and spinach cake with purple onion mousse and candied onions and apples. (No, I did not just make that up.) My colleagues, sensing free food, meandered over for a bite. I described the pastries: an avocado cake with whole peppercorns, balsamic vinegar ganache and avocado lime mousse; a curry tart with a chocolate crust and curry mousse; a green tea tart with green tea custard, chunks of fresh mango and green tea mousse.

They laughed, stared, took tastes and looked at the ceiling trying to figure out whether they liked them. And for the better part of an hour, we tasted and talked about these wackadoo pastries and whether we would ever buy any again. And so for that—for the conversation-piece factor—Chaos Theory Cakes (2961 N. Lincoln Ave.; 773-281-2353), an adorable new Technicolor bakery from the folks behind Bleeding Heart Bakery, are incredible. They get you talking. They are fun. They are totally bizarre. They even look bizarre (the cakes look like a graffiti artist tagged them). People will talk about that weird cake you brought to dinner for years. I guarantee it.

But how did they taste? Opinions were mixed. First, the successes. Nobody love, love, loved any of them. But most of us found the green tea mango tart, with its smooth mellowness broken up with sweet bursts of mango, to be enjoyable. Most of us didn't mind the avocado cake, which was sweeter than expected, and was inoffensive and fun except for the annoying whole peppercorns, which were kind of awful when they cracked open between your teeth. We understood the thinking (a surprise pop of heat amid the calm avocado) but in the end, no surprise is probably better than an unpleasant one.
Anonymous said…
Hmmm...I liked the cupcakes at Chaos Theory Cakes.

The chocolate ganache cupcake is reallly good !!

I was told by the girl behind the counter that the new seasonal flavors are coming out soon.

I wonder what they will be?
Anonymous said…
Well, this is just proof of how different people can think of things. I picked up a dozen cupcakes from Chaos Theory on Friday and absolutely loved the three i ended up tasting after handing the rest off to my co-workers. I had the bacon, the onion and the hazelnut. Each was completely distinctive, very well baked and amazing. The cupcakes seem to be just a way to introduce the flavors of their bigger and more radical cakes, as to give us a small bite of something greater. I love the concept, loved the customer service and moreover, loved my precious cupcakes. Thank you Chaos Theory, for giving me more than just sugar and hype.