Momma Told Me: Chocolate Maple Bacon Cake, Upcycled Cake Stand, + The Perfect Finish

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Chocolate Maple Bacon Cake, Upcycled Cake Stand, + The Perfect Finish

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Create Upcycled Cake And Cupcake Displays With Thrift Store Plates And Candleholders! #SparklySavings #Shop #cbias
Momma Told Me: The more I create the more I have to clean!

The problem with creating is the cleanup.

When I was a young girl Momma was quite the crafter- she rented space at the local Penny Saver boutique, hosted a booth at the annual Fall Harvest Festival, and insisted on making nearly every family gift our family gave out straight through my elementary years. But we lived in a small space and, between cooking and creating, there was no room for lingering mess. When one project was put on hold or completed, it was promptly cleaned up. And so I quickly began associating the natural balance of things; bake a cake; spend time scrubbing bundt pans, paint ceramics, spend time scrubbing paint stains out of brushes and water cups. And boy did Momma ever spent mountains of time hunting for the best dishwasher detergent to help clean it all.
Visit your local thrift store for platters, plates, and candle-holders to repaint and compose cake stands! #SparklySavings #Shop #cbias
These days I don't have as much time on my hands to craft as much as I'd like to. Gone are the hours spent researching and pinning cool projects, and in are the lazy light bulb idea texts to myself half awake at 2 am. I have a list of things I'd one day 'like' to do, and no time to do it. Why? because the doing takes less time than the planning and cleaning! Recently I decided to tackle a rather simple up-cycling concept; turning old candle holders, plates, and platters, into colorful cake stands. Unwilling to part with any of my fine dinnerware I visited the local thrift shop where I took home some promising pieces in need of a little love.
Repaint thrift store candle holders, platters, and plates to apoxy for colorful cake and cupcake stands! #SparklySavings #Shop #cbias
There were harsh scribbles of black crayon (the thrift store's pricing system) across every piece, old glue from forgotten price stickers, baked in grease on decorate pans and platters, and even wax pools to remove. Cleaning and preparing my pieces for painting and assembly could have easily taken me longer than the project itself; but I had a secret weapon in my arsenal- Finish dishwasher detergent in the form of Quantum™ Power & Free™ packs. With it's unique 3 chamber capsule, infused with Hydrogen Peroxide action, Quantum™ Power & Free™ is quick dissolving, great with hard water, and can break up even old dried on food.
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And that's precisely why I stopped into my local Walmart on the way home from the thrift store, to stack amazing #SparklySavings printable coupons with the current Rollback pricing on my favorite Finish detergent and dishwasher cleaner. When I got home I places all of my elements in the dishwasher and placed my settings on 'high temperature wash,' what little residue remained from wax or crayon easily wiped away after the steam and cleansing of a single wash. In fact, that stubborn or wax just popped right off my secondhand candle holders! All that was left was to spray a few key plates and holders, cover with a food safe clear coat, and epoxy the finished pieces together for a colorful display of upcycled cake holders that only lacked one thing- something delicious to display!
Take the 'finish' out of fabulous ideas; let Finish dishwasher detergent clean up! #SparklySavings #Shop #cbias
Now, you may think life's too clean up after bacon, and in my house the greasy clean up is definitely one of the biggest reasons we don't candy bacon more often. But I was feeling so empowered by my extra time and fabulous cake stands, I decided to bake 2 packages of bacon and fold them into a dark chocolate cake with maple frosting. Naturally, all of this was from scratch; and as I threw my dish scrubbing caution to the wind I decided I would be even bolder- Today the dishwasher would handle cleaning the dishes, I had better things to do! In went the grease streaked baking pans, the muddy mixer blades, the sticky frosting bowls, measuring cups, mixing spoons and more. And with a single 'plop' of that little red dot tablet, I closed the door and let the dishwasher Finish.
Dark Chocolate Maple Bacon Cake Recipe #SparklySavings #Shop #cbias
As I pulled the last layer of sinfully rich cake out of the oven, my washer clicked over and my dishes were done. My fresh manicure which I'd happened to have had time for while I was not scrubbing grease coated pans, smiled back at me as I placed my oven mitts on the counter and I almost forgot what all the fuss about 'cleaning' was to begin with. In fact, the hardest thing I did that day was wait patiently for my layers to cool so I could frost my Dark Chocolate Maple Bacon Cake and cut free one perfect slice of maple bacon perfection.
With Finish Dishwasher Detergent You Won't Need To Lick Your Spoon...But You'll Want To! #SparklySavings #Shop #cbias
With a generous amount of maple in the frosting, and the sweet but chewy pieces of toffeed bacon on top, the savory dark cocoa cake with baked bacon inside is an epicurean treat everyone should try. It is surprisingly decadent in flavor, not sugar, and the sweet salty undertones of the creamy maple frosting remain the most classical cake element in this recipe. So, armed with the knowledge I could tackle any mess, I reached for the one thing that could make this cake better and poured a river of amber syrup across my room temperature slice. There was organic maple syrup on my fingertips, fork, and fine china by the time I was through-but I didn't sweat the 'hard part' at all- clean up is a thing of the past. If it fits, it's going in the dishwasher, folks!
 Make upcycled cake displays with old candle holders and plates. Finish helps remove old stuck on grease, grime, and even melted wax! #SparklySavings #Shop #cbias
You're not living if life doesn't get a little messy now and then- so it's important not to let the clean up stop you from creating messes. Momma taught me that creating requires cleaning; unless it's your hopes to provide an avant-garde installment at the Metropolitan, your masterpiece will require work on both ends from concept to completion. Cut the frustration in and out of the kitchen with smart cleaning choices that help bring your ideas to life a little quicker, without all the extra fuss.

What's one example of a creative recipe or project you love to do that makes a big mess?

What Daughter Says: Cleaning is a chore, but creating doesn't have to be- find smart solutions to cut cleaning and keep creating!

Dark Chocolate Maple Bacon Cake Recipe #SparklySavings #Shop #cbias
Dark Chocolate Maple Bacon Cake
**Click here for printable Maple Bacon Cake recipe.
Ingredients:

Cake:

3/4 C Dark Chocolate Cocoa (Dutch Processed)
3/4 C Hot Water, or Black Coffee
3 C All Purpose Flour
1 TSP Baking Soda
1 TSP Baking Powder
1 1/2 TSP Himalayan Salt (Ground)
3 Sticks Unsalted Sweet Cream Butter
1 1/2 C Baker's Sugar
3/4 C Golden Brown Sugar
4 Large Eggs, Room Temperature
1 TBS + 1 TSP Mexican Vanilla Extract
1 C Sour Cream Room Temperature
3/4 C Baked Bacon, Chopped

Frosting:

2 Sticks Unsalted Sweet Cream Butter, Room Temperature
2 TSP Mexican Vanilla Extract
1 LB Powdered Sugar
1/3 C Pure Organic Maple Syrup, More For Drizzle
1 TSP Himalayan Pink Salt, Ground

Directions:
Preheat Oven To 350F 

1. Prepare and flour 2 9" Springform pans. Whisk together cocoa and hot water/coffee until even in consistency. In a separate bowl combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.

2. Melt butter with sugars in a saucepan over medium-low heat, stirring to combine. Remove from heat and pour into a mixing bowl. Using an electric mixer beat until mixture is cooled, 4-5 minutes.

3. Add eggs, one at a time, beating in between to ensure evenly combined. Add vanilla, then cocoa mixture, and beat until just combined. Reduce speed to low and add flour mixture in parts, alternating with sour cream.

4. When mixture is evenly combined remove from mixer and gently fold in chopped bacon. 

5. Bake about 25-30 minutes at 350F, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool layers entirely prior to frosting.

6. To prepare frosting; cream the butter in a bowl of a stand mixer. Once butter has reached a fluffy cream consistency add salt, maple syrup, and vanilla extract. Combine well. Begin adding powdered sugar until all is combined. Taste and add additional maple syrup or salt as desired.

7. Frost both layers and assemble, topping with crumbled bacon (***candied bacon preferred.) Serve room temperature with a splash of maple syrup.

**To candy bacon cook brown sugar coated bacon strips on a lined baking sheet (with minimum 1/2" depth to catch grease) for 15-18MINS.

28 comments:

  1. Look at you. You are clearly a domestic goddess. I love your recipe AND the cupcake stand!!

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  2. Love the recipe! It looks delicious and creative cake stands ;)

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  3. I love how you recycled things to make the cake stands. Such a great idea. The cake looks fantastic. I can not wait to make this delicious recipe.

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  4. Adorable stands and that recipe looks AMAZING! Love the bacon thrown in there!

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  5. Cute ideas and the recipe sounds amazing!

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  6. I love the cake stands. Putting bacon in anything makes it instantly better.

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  7. I'm a general disaster in my kitchen given that I live in it. I've always got some manner of mess going on. My dishwasher sometimes runs three times a day!

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  8. Oh, yummm! And I love when washing the dishes is easy - so not my favorite thing (never was and never will)

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  9. Super cute DIY cake stands and super yummy recipe.

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  10. Great idea, I haven't been able to find one I really like so I might have to try and make my own!

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  11. The stand is super cute. I absolutely love it. The recipe... oh my gosh... give me some! Delicious.

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  12. Wow, a DIY upcycle project and a killer cake! I'm so jealous LOL

    I have a few pie dessert recipes or my green tea tiramisu that make an utter mess. I try to keep the dishwasher empty so I can load as I go, but that can get tough sometimes.

    I'm going to have to try not only the dishwasher soap but the project as well. Thanks for the post!!

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  13. That cake looks so good yet so bad but I so want some.

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  14. That cake looks CRAZY GOOD! I'm going to have to make it soon!

    Thanks for the recommendation: I love to refashion thrift pieces, but sometimes the gunk makes it seem so not worth the trouble.

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  15. I am drooling over this recipe! The bacon and the sweetness together sounds amazing!

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  16. I am going crazy over those cute cake plates!!! I cant wait to make them :) I also need to get rid of the spots on all my glasses in the dishwasher!

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  17. This is a absolutely fabulous looking cake. I can not wait to try it. If it has bacon i am sure it will be awesome. The cake stands are really cute. Great job making them.

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  18. I tend to do my messiest projects outside to contain the mess. They usually include paint! Love how the cake and cake stands came out!

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  19. I love your adorable cake stands!! I love upcycle projects like this.

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  20. I liked how you addressed the balance of cooking and cleaning. I also love you maple bacon cake recipe. It looks scrumptious.

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  21. I love Finish dishwashing projects. They are the best! We love to make nachos as a family for movie night and I HATE cleaning those pans!

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  22. I have been a fan of Finish for many years, such a great product. The stand idea looks really cool, and of course the cake looks delicious!

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  23. Oh. My. Freaking. YUM.

    Seriously - this looks and sounds amazing!

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  24. Beautiful cake photos! I am going to totally try that recipe that looks great

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  25. Beautiful and so much fun. Love those cake stands!!!!

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  26. Is the 1/3 Pure Organic Maple Syrup supposed to be 1/3 C? Can't wait to try the recipe :)

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  27. Oh my heavens! That cake looks so delicious. I'd like a slice, or two for lunch.

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