Mangalitsa Lard Red Velvet Cupcakes
I must say, I’m very excited to have Jody Stevens of JodyCakes fame, guest-blogging today at Revival Meats. Her cupcakes are well…the best in Houston and possibly the state. In spite of her efforts to take over the cupcake world, she found a little time to humor me in a hair-brained idea revolving around pig fat cupcakes. They turned out to be, very, very good. Thanks for the experiment and the post Jody. They’re greatly appreciated! (for the latest goings-on in Jody’s world follow her on Twitter).
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About a month ago, a gang of local foodies and some of Houston’s top chefs headed up to New York and New Jersey for a trip of all things PIG.
Bacon, Red Velvet Cupcake Photo courtesy of www.apronless.com
You know we’ve been hearing a lot about bacon, as of late, even on our lil’ ol’ blog…but it was not until this trip had I ever heard of the coveted Mangalitsa pigs.
According to the Mosefund website, this is what it’s all about:
“Mangalitsa is a breed developed during the Austro-Hungarian Empire for its exquisite flavor. Originally only the Hapsburg royal family was allowed to eat Mangalitsa. They have long curly hair from dark black to blond, imagine a mad genetics’s cross between a sheep and a pig. Mangalitsa are descendents of wild boars and genetically related to the black-footed Iberian pigs of Spain. But while they may not be the prettiest pigs you’ve ever seen, they’re the tastiest you’ll ever eat. Mangalitsa were bred especially for their delicious and clean-tasting lard. The meat is dark, deeply flavorful, marbled with fat and more akin to a fine cut of beef than “the other white meat” pork. And they are unique. The breed nearly died out during the Soviet era. Were it not for the presevation efforts of farmers in Eastern Europe who revived the breed from a surviving 200 pure breds to around 50,000 today, the world would have lost this delicious meat.” I was approached by Morgan F. Weber, founder of Revival Meats out of Yoakum, TX. to create one of his favorite cakes, Red Velvet, utilizing the Mangalitsa lard. I thought, ‘Why the heck not? I made Red Velvet cupcakes made with rendered bacon fat and chocolate covered bacon for the Houston Chowhound Pork Belly Throwdown (pics and nice blurb courtesy of Rachel Markow)…sure…’
Bag-o-Lard
Because I only had 8 oz. I had to use it sparingly – since Morgan had requested the lard in the cake as well as the icing…so here are a couple of pics to show off the details…
In the mix...batter wasn't as red as normal, wonder if lard had something to do with this?
In the Pan
Finalized Piggy Goodness-Photo By aynsavoy
You can check out some of Anne’s cool Houston food photos here…
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