Civic Duty Bacon Bourbon Chocolate Bars

In case I’ve alarmed anyone with the amount of tofu, tempeh and veggie burger posts as of late, worry not: my love affair with bacon is still going strong.  In fact I cooked so much bacon Thursday night that the smoke alarm went off for thirty minutes. 

Best of all, said bacon was combined with a few of my other favorite things, dark chocolate and bourbon, to make one ridiculously indulgent dessert.

Trust me, this isn’t the type of dessert you want to make and have sitting around your house all week.  This is a dessert you want to share with friends.  Thanks to my dedication to civic duty, I had just the crew to share these with on Friday night.  As you likely recall, I had a five-week stint on the Grand Jury this spring.  Well, a number of us jurors bonded over heinous crime, street slang and the general degradation of society and have been getting together for drinks every so often.  So when Laura asked me to make a dessert for our rooftop reunion, I figured I’d make one that would remind us of all things good in the world: chocolate, bourbon and BACON.

Bourbon, Caramel, Marshmallow and Bacon Bark

From Diana Dishes

Ingredients:

for the bacon crumble:

• 16 oz. good bacon
• 1/4 C. sugar
• 4 Tbs. water
• 1 egg white
• 1/4 tsp. black pepper
• 1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper

for the caramel filling:

• 1 C. sugar
• 4 Tbs. butter
• 7 Tbs. heavy cream

for the marshmallow layer:

• 4 C. mini marshmallows
• 5 Tbs. whiskey

to assemble:

• 16 oz. semi-sweet chocolate

Directions:

Line an 8×8 inch baking dish with parchment paper.  Heat oven to 300 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

To make the bacon crumble: Cook the bacon until crispy, set aside to cool, and then crumble into small pieces.  *reserve the bacon grease* Put the sugar and water in a medium saucepan and heat until sugar dissolves.  Toss bacon in the sugar mixture to coat and drain excess using a mesh strainer.  Beat egg white until fluffy and foamy then stir in the black and cayenne pepper. Add the crumbled bacon and toss to coat completely.  Spread coated bacon on prepared baking sheet and bake for 30 minutes.  Remove from oven, cool, and crumble again.

Meanwhile, melt half of chocolate in a double boiler, or microwave.  Spread into bottom of prepared baking dish.  Put the dish in the freezer to set for five minutes.

Make the marshmallow layer by melting the marshmallows in a large saucepan over medium heat until web-like strands start to form.  Remove from heat and stir in the whiskey.  Pour marshmallow mixture over chocolate layer and spread evenly with a spatula that has been sprayed with cooking spray.

Make the caramel filling by heating sugar in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat. Stir until sugar dissolves.  Once sugar dissolves, increase heat to high. Swirl the pot using the handle to keep the mixture moving. The mixture will start to bubble after one minute. Combine cream with reserved bacon grease.  When the mixture turns a medium amber color, add the butter and bacon-cream to the pan.  The mixture will rapidly bubble, this will subside as the mixture cools. Set aside to cool completely, then spread over the marshmallow layer.

Finish the bark by melting the remaining half of chocolate. Spread over the marshmallow layer, then top with the crumbled bacon.  Refrigerate to set.

Johanna