The Bacon Cake
A Delicious New Way To Enjoy Bacon Made The Wright Way
THE BACON CAKE
It has been our pleasure to bring Wright Brand Bacon into homes for 100 years. Now, we’re excited to be doing it in a whole new way. Introducing The Wright Brand Bacon Cake. Savory cornbread, thick-cut bacon and hot honey cream cheese all come together to help us celebrate our milestone event by helping you celebrate yours.
SPECIAL NOTE
This recipe layers two circular loaves of cornbread, which are held together by a layer of stuffing in between the layers. The exterior of the cake is iced with cream cheese and decorated with bacon rosettes, strips of bacon, and chopped bacon pieces.
**Please review the entire recipe before baking and constructing.**
CORNBREAD INGREDIENTS
1/2 cup cooked and chopped Wright Brand Bacon
1 1/3 cups cornmeal
1 1/3 cups flour
2 tsps salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
1 cup lard
1/3 cup whole eggs
2 1/4 cups buttermilk
1/3 cup cheddar
1/4 cup scallions
CORNBREAD COOKING INSTRUCTIONS
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees
- Whip egg whites until stiff peaks form and set aside
- Combine cornmeal, flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cayenne in a large mixing bowl
- Place egg yolks and buttermilk into a bowl; mix well
- Add the cornmeal mixture into the buttermilk mixture, mixing until just combined, then whisk in the lard
- Stir in the cheddar, bacon and scallions
- Gently fold in the egg whites
- Bake in 2 buttered and floured 6 inch cake pans at 325 degrees for 20-25 minutes
- Let cool and set aside
CHEESE SPREAD INGREDIENTS
1 1/2 cups shredded white cheddar
1 1/2 cups shredded ghost pepper cheese (or substitute pepper jack cheese)
1 cup honey
1 tbsp filtered water
3/4 cup cream cheese
1/3 cup white cheddar powder
1/2 cup Dijon mustard
2 tsps black pepper
1 tsp creole seasoning
CHEESE SPREAD COOKING INSTRUCTIONS
- Place all ingredients in a food processor and blend until completely smooth
BLUE CORNBREAD INGREDIENTS
1/8 cup cooked and chopped Wright Brand Bacon
1/3 cup cornmeal
1/3 cup flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 cup lard
1/8 cup whole eggs
1/2 cup buttermilk
BLUE CORNBREAD COOKING INSTRUCTIONS
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees
- Combine blue cornmeal, flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cayenne in a large mixing bowl
- Put the eggs and buttermilk into a bowl and mix well
- Add cornmeal mixture, mixing until just combined, then whisk in the lard
- Stir in the bacon
- Bake in a buttered and floured 1/8 sheet pan at 325 for 10-12 minutes
- Let cool and set aside
**Chef’s Note
You’ll need to first make blue cornbread (above), before transforming into cornbread stuffing (below)
BLUE CORNBREAD STUFFING INGREDIENTS
1 recipe blue cornbread (above) crumbled
1 1/2 tsp minced celery
1 1/2 tsp minced bell peppers
1 1/2 tsp minced onions
1/2 tsp minced garlic
1 tbsp crushed tomatoes
1/3 cup cooking sherry
1/8 cup chicken stock
1 tbsp chopped parsley
1 tbsp chopped scallions
BLUE CORNBREAD STUFFING COOKING INSTRUCTIONS
- Sauté the celery, bell peppers, onions and garlic for about 1 minute until fragrant
- Add tomatoes and continue to cook for an additional minute
- Deglaze with sherry and reduce by 1/3
- Add blue cornbread, parsley, scallions and stock. Turn off heat and mix thoroughly.
BACON ROSETTE INGREDIENTS
3 strips Wright Brand Bacon
BACON ROSETTE COOKING INSTRUCTIONS
- Preheat oven to 300 degrees
- Roll bacon lengthwise from 1 end to the next
- Place 2 toothpicks through each rosette so they hold together
- Bake in a 300 degree oven for about 40 minutes
- Remove toothpicks and set rosettes aside
BACON GARNISH INGREDIENTS
6 strips Wright Brand Bacon
BACON GARNISH COOKING INSTRUCTIONS
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees
- Cook bacon for 12-14 minutes, or until cooked and browned but not crispy
- Let cool and chop half into medium dice and leave the other three whole
FINAL CAKE ASSEMBLY
- Stack in this order: cornbread, stuffing, cornbread, leveling off the tops if necessary
- Transfer to a cake stand and treat the cheese spread as icing, covering the entire outer surface. Leave enough cheese spread to create the rosettes
- Pipe rosettes along the top rim around the cake with the remaining cheese spread
- Garnish bottom edge of cake by wrapping 3 strips of cooked Wright Brand Bacon along the base of the first layer
- Arrange medium-diced, cooked bacon on the outer walls of the cake in a “confetti” pattern
- Top the center of the cake with 3 bacon rosettes and sage leaves
The three relatives got to work right away, hand-selecting every pork belly and trimming it to perfection. They cured each thick-cut piece and smoked it for hours over real hickory wood, enriching it with one-of-a-kind, savory flavor. When they finally tasted their bacon handiwork with its perfect, mouthwatering mixture of sweetness, saltiness, and smoke, they knew their careful attention to detail had paid off. They called their bacon Wright® Brand, and it was made the Wright Way. And for the last 100 years, they and their descendants have overseen the bacon-making process from beginning to end in that same small town of Vernon, Texas.
Today, Wright Brand bacon can be found on grocery shelves all over the United States. Besides adding some delicious new flavors, like Applewood Smoked and Double Smoked, we have kept our bacon unchanged. It’s what it’s always been—hand trimmed, thick cut, and real wood smoked. We’re not ones for big announcements and fanfare, but we thought it was worth telling everybody that after 100 years in the bacon business, we’re going to keep doing what we’ve been doing. The Wright Way to make bacon started in 1922, and it will stay that way for the next 100 years.
