Tag: salty/sweet

Sweet Savory Pear Dessert Pizza

This Sweet-Savory Pear Dessert Pizza features an unexpected ingredient combination that works deliciously.

Sweet Meets Savory Ingredient Combination

There’s cream cheese and brown sugar, as well as onion, bacon, and pecans, plus a mix of provolone and mozzarella cheese. The gorgonzola cheese is key. It is buttery and has a bite to it. Pair all that with the sweetness of fruit and honey, and you’ve got an amazing, unique, and award-winning dessert. In fact, this “best recipe” won 1st place at the Minnesota State Fair. It’s another all-time favorite from our archives.

Sweet Savory Pear Dessert Pizza Sliced

Recipe credit goes to Lynda Decker. She won the “best dessert pizza” that Fleischmann’s Yeast sponsored back in 2013. One of her tips is to try a flavored honey like raspberry honey, which she got at a Minnesota farmer’s market.

Delicious Crust, Creative Toppings

You start with an easy homemade pizza crust that you brush with butter and brown sugar. Make the dough ahead of time (two hours before baking or the day before). You par-bake the crust then add your toppings: a cream-cheese-brown-sugar layer, pear slices, onion, bacon, and two cheeses, including that slightly funky gorgonzola. You finish it with pecans and a drizzle of honey. Altogether it is a lot of ingredients, but wait until you taste it! Wow.

I was blown away when I first tasted this Sweet-Savory Pear Dessert Pizza. It is both creative and tantalizing to taste. This is a must make for any cheese lovers out there, as well as any foodies that like complex flavors, texture contrasts and surprising ingredient combinations.

Blue Ribbon Winning Recipe

At judging, long-time Minnesota State Fair Judge Mary Bartz shared her expert opinion about this pizza. (This pizza recipe has) a powerful combination…a savory and fruity sweet topping over a thin, tender, yet chewy crust…a dynamic result!

Be sure to bake this one up soon!

-Cyndi

Note: This is an edited repost from our former website, StateFairRecipes.com.

Double Chocolate Bacon Cake

For all the bacon lovers out there, this Double Chocolate Bacon Cake is for you. It is an easy cake to make that’s indulgent and ridiculously delicious. The batter is made chocolatey with cocoa powder, while the use of coconut oil and Greek yoghurt in place of butter gives the cake a texture that is tender, dense, and rich, all at the same time. It reminds me of pound cake, but without the butter. The frosting is just two ingredients: chocolate chips and heated whipping cream that you whip fast into fluffiness.

Easy Bake Cake

To make this Double Chocolate Bacon Cake, you first bake brown-sugar -coated-bacon to a crisp in the oven. You crumble the bacon and mix it into a thick luscious batter. You end up also putting bacon crumbles on top as a finishing step. You can whip up the batter in minutes, then split it among three 9-inch round layer cake pans, which bake in about 20 minutes. It is a deceivingly simple recipe.

This is also the recipe that confirmed I should keep oven-baking my bacon instead of frying it on the stovetop. The technique of folded aluminum foil “tented” underneath works great. The bacon comes out firm and crisp—just as it should—without losing any flavor.

This cake’s taste and texture make it a show-stopper. It is also a conversation starter. I’m guessing people will either love it or leave it be. Admittedly, this cake won’t be everyone’s cup of tea but if you’re curious, give it a try. It’s a delight! All my taste testers where ecstatic about it. With a creamy and intensely chocolate frosting, along with bacon bits on top, one look at this cake had everyone drooling. This is seriously one of the best cakes I have ever tasted. It’s up there with the chocolate/coconut cake we also previously baked/shared. And for those out there who don’t eat meat, this cake tastes great even without the bacon.

Double Chocolate Bacon Cake-Overhead

Inspiration

I can still remember the first time I had chocolate-dipped bacon. It was of course at my local fair, the Minnesota State Fair, where many fantastic food trends are always on display. Between that tasty treat—which was on a stick of course–and the “Showgirl” menu item menu at Glam Doll Donuts (in Minneapolis), I knew I would like this cake also. I didn’t expect to love it! Yay!

Acknowledgement goes to Kevin Clower for this recipe. His “Miss Piggy’s Surprise Chocolate Cake” which won at the San Diego County Fair 10 years ago (2011), was what inspired my Double Chocolate Bacon Cake. Kevin placed 2nd in a King Arthur Flour cake contest with his creative cake. The main change I made from Kevin’s recipe: I used coconut oil versus butter and added Greek yoghurt. I also changed up some methods and directions.

I hope you make this cake! It’s a winner!

-Cyndi