For starters you may be asking yourself: “What is pig candy?” let alone Pig Candy 2.0. That’s a fair question…
Pig Candy 1.0
Pig candy is one of those things that it seems everyone in the barbecue world knows about, but it rarely makes it outside those circles, other than the lucky few that know those barbecue people that know about pig candy. The ingredients are simple and few, yet combine to make something so much more than the sum of their parts!
The ingredients are numbered three, and three shall be the number of ingredients… for Pig Candy 1.0.
Bacon strips for Pig Candy 1.0
The ingredients for Pig candy 1.0 are:
- Bacon
- Brown Sugar
- Cayenne pepper
The technique for making Pig Candy 1.0 is as easy as the ingredients are few:
- Spray a cooling rack with cooking spray and place it in a cookie sheet.
- Lay bacon strips on the cooling rack
- Cover the bacon strips with about 1/4″ of brown sugar
- Sprinkle cayenne on the strips of bacon to your personal level of tolerance (a little spice is nice, too much heat detracts, I think)
- For cooking outside, place the cookie sheet in a 350 degree F cooker, and turn every 4-5 minutes, until the bacon is dark brown and crispy
- For oven cooking, place the cookie sheet in a cold oven, turn it on to 350 degrees F, and, once the oven is up to temperature, turn every 4-5 minutes until the bacon is dark brown and crispy
- Promptly remove the bacon, with a form, from the cookie sheet to cool. The fork allows you to get the pieces off the cooling rack more easily
That’s all there is to Pig Candy 1.0.
The ingredients are numbered three, and three shall be the number of ingredients... for pig candy 1.0. The technique is as easy as the ingredients are few.
Ingredients
- Bacon
- Brown Sugar
- Cayenne pepper
Instructions
- Spray a cooling rack with cooking spray and place it in a cookie sheet.
- Lay bacon strips on the cooling rack
- Cover the bacon strips with about 1/4" of brown sugar
- Sprinkle cayenne on the strips of bacon to your personal level of tolerance (a little spice is nice, too much heat detracts, I think)
- For cooking outside, place the cookie sheet in a 350 degree F cooker, and turn every 4-5 minutes, until the bacon is dark brown and crispy
- For oven cooking, place the cookie sheet in a cold oven, turn it on to 350 degrees F, and, once the oven is up to temperature, turn every 4-5 minutes until the bacon is dark brown and crispy
- Promptly remove the bacon, with a form, from the cookie sheet to cool. The fork allows you to get the pieces off the cooling rack more easily
Notes
This treat will quickly disappear so be ready to make more!
So why did I go through all that if I’m talking about pig candy 2.0?
Pig Candy 2.0
Ingredients
- Bacon
- Brown Sugar
- Cayenne pepper
- Egg white from 3 eggs, room temperature
Instructions
- Spray a cooling rack with cooking spray and place it in a cookie sheet.
- Lay bacon strips on the cooling rack
- Taking 3 room-temperature egg whites, begin beating with a hand or stand mixer on high. As the egg whites start to become white, add in 1/4 cup brown sugar and sprinkle in the cayenne pepper. Continue beating egg whites until they form stiff peaks (when the beaters are turned upside down, the peaks retain their shape).
- Dredge each slice of beacon through the egg whites, then lay the slices on the cooling rack. If needed, spoon more of the egg whites on the strips of bacon after all are dredged.
- Add a generous sprinkling of brown sugar on top of this (maybe 1/8" of brown sugar). Cook as described above.
- For cooking outside, place the cookie sheet in a 350 degree F cooker, and turn every 4-5 minutes, until the bacon is dark brown and crispy
- For oven cooking, place the cookie sheet in a cold oven, turn it on to 350 degrees F, and, once the oven is up to temperature, turn every 4-5 minutes until the bacon is dark brown and crispy
- Promptly remove the bacon, with a form, from the cookie sheet to cool. The fork allows you to get the pieces off the cooling rack more easily
Notes
This recipe was created by Curt McAdams of LiveFire.com
Now you’ve got not only the smoky, bacony, sweet, salty, spicy taste of pig candy, but the added texture of the whipped egg whites. The versatility is really amazing, from simple pig candy samples to great additions to baked goods.
Try topping a cupcake with a sprinkling of crumbled pig candy 2.0!
Serve Pig Candy 2.0 as an appetizer for your fancy dinner party served with sliced red pear and English cheddar! Try adding Pig Candy 2.0 to cheesecake to make a “Pig Candy Cheesecake.” Or mix goat cheese with cream cheese and a touch of sugar, top a Liege waffle, and put pieces of pig candy on top of that! Try it in anything you’re making and see if it takes that dish to version 2.0, too!
A cupcake with a sprinkling of crumbled pig candy 2.0!
And before naysayers talk about this food making everyone fat, the idea, if you can avoid the immediate addiction to pig candy, is to have a few bites, not the whole batch of pig candy. Enjoy and share! ~ Curt
Just off the grill add a spoonful of Blackberry preserves on top of each pc.
Taste so good it has to be good for us.
I wouldn’t hesitate to chop up pig candy and put in with brownie mix. Dee
Both of those uses sounds pretty great.
Egg whites? I think I like this version better!
http://www.patiodaddiobbq.com/2010/11/pig-candy.html
Until you’ve tried it, you won’t know if it’s better or not. The egg whites are for a texture you won’t get with just the sugar or with maple syrup. If you like maple syrup, which I don’t like as much (personal taste), syrup can be added to this, too.