bacon jam stuffed corncakes

Bacon Jam.
Aren't those two of the best words--ever?
I've had bacon jam on my "baking bucket list" for a long time.
I finally got around to making it. Was inspired from one of my favorite foodie blogs Homesick Texan.
She made a spicy version and I made a spicy & sweet version.
But I learned the basic (and good) bacon jam base from her.



You should know the other fabulous find of this post.....

I wanted to make corncakes from scratch, but alas I had no cornmeal in the house.
But I did have a box of cornbread mix from Trader Joe's.
I do hate to waste food, so why not see if it will pancake?



Guess what? It did! And it was quite good to.
Now before you all start hating on me for using a box mix, it was all I had AND
these actually fried up a lot lighter and crisper than a normal corn cake would.
Plus I had to see if "it would pancake"? Just like the term "will it waffle"?
The only downside? A bit tricky to flip.
But one can remedy that with making the corn cakes small; pouring a little batter at a time.

I bet you have a couple boxes of cornbread mix just sitting in your cupboard right now.
Ask yourself--will it pancake? I bet it will.


Go ahead and mix up the batter like you normally would.
Fry them in some melted butter.
Stuff with bacon jam!







Making the bacon jam is quite easy. I've included the recipe in this post as well.
If y ou do make it, and decide to freeze some, let me know if it freezes well.
I know a lot of you will ask me that question, and to be honest the jam did not last long enough to "save for later".
It got used up fairly fast in a bunch of other recipes, which I will post.





sweet & spicy bacon jam
print recipe

1 & ½ pounds of bacon (uncooked)
half of a medium red onion, finely diced
2-3 TB fresh chopped garlic
2-3 chipotles en adobo (with the sauce too), minced (this gives a mild heat; if you want more heat add more minced chipotles en adobo)
2 TB ketchup
¼ cup + 1 TB light brown sugar
½ ts allspice
½ TB double dutch cocoa powder
1 cup of brewed espresso
¼ cup Coke
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
a couple dashes of black pepper

Slice up the bacon into 1-inch pieces. Cook in batches until cooked, all fat is rendered. Do not cook bacon till crisp. Drain cooked bacon on paper towels, remove all bacon fat from pan except for a couple tablespoons. Then over
medium heat, cook the onion and garlic until they are just cooked thru and lightly brown.
Add back in the cooked bacon, all spices, all the liquids and all the rest of the ingredients. Turn heat to low, and let simmer for a couple hours until mixture has reduced and almost all liquid is gone. You should get a nice thick-like chili consistency. Place in bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let set up in fridge for at least 4 hours or overnight.

Then place bacon jam into a food processor, and puree for a few pulses. Don’t puree too much, we want to have chunks.

Makes about 1 & ½ cups of jam.
Keeps well in the fridge (tightly covered) for about 5-6 days.
Not sure how it freezes.

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bacon jam stuffed corncakes
print recipe

If you're willing to use a cornbread mix to make the pancakes then go ahead.
The pancakes are a lot more delicate to flip over, so make them small.
As shown in the photo above, all you need to do to stuff them is put a couple of dollops of bacon jam
on the cornbread batter, let it brown on one side, then gently flip over.
I got about 12-15 small pancakes using the Trader Joe's cornbread mix.
Follow the instructions on the box as you would normally.
Fry up the pancakes in butter.
Serve with chopped veggies like tomatoes, cukes, onions, etc...
And serve with sour cream.
Remember these are savory pancakes, so maple syrup might not taste so great.
If you don't want to use a corn bread mix then use your favorite corn cake recipe.
I do highly recommend serving some hot sauce with these too.