Bacon Fruit Cups

Bacon should be combined with everything, so why not fruit salad? 

This is one of the dishes I made for Bacon Camp SF 2010 - it got 4s and 5s from the judges, so is guaranteed to be tasty!  If you're a fan of bacon or fruit, give it a try.

This was inspired by Jess's BLT cups (bacon cups filled with lettuce, sliced tomatoes, and fresh garlicky croutons) were a hit at 2009's Thanksgiving II: Bacongiving.  Thanks, Jess!

ETA: and you can see some great BLT cups on Not Martha, too.  Apparently trebuchet03's bacon placemat was an inspiration!

Step 1 Tools and Ingredients

Ingredients:
2 lbs Bacon (long skinny pieces are better than short fat pieces)
Fresh basil leaves
Homemade aioli (substitute: store-bought mayo + lemon juice)
Fresh mango, cubed
Large avocado, cubed
1/4-1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon cocoa powder
1 large onion, sliced into thin rings
1 tablespoon brown sugar

Tools & Materials:
muffin tin
aluminum foil
baking tray large enough to contain the upside-down muffin tin
heavy pot for frying bacon
splatter screen (very handy!)
cutting board
knife
food processor (or blender)
oven (preheated to 500F)

Comments

[Jaxamylyn]

Gorgeous design! Love this! :D

[brainwise]

Bacon + Fruit = GENIUS

[GhostPirate]

While making the bacon fruit cups, I put squares of aluminum foil over the bottom of each muffin cup.  It saved some of the cleanup, but it was still pretty messy.  It protected the bottom of the muffin pans and protected the bacon cups from whatever might have been on the pan.  I'll be serving that our between services snack for the choir.  Some of us sing all 3 services and need something sustaining to get through the 3rd service.  The choir members will eat just about anything, but I believe they'll really take to the bacon fruit cups.

[cybergod]

WOW ! We love bacon, we love fruit. This is BRILLIANT.

Guess what we are doing one night for starters.....

Thanks poster.

[canida]

You're welcome!  How did it go?

[cybergod]

A bit trick y gettign those baskets right, but as I suspected.....BRILLIANT.

[pdub77]

Thanks for the product plug!!!  (I work at Trader Joe's.)

[canida]

Heh.  They've got good stuff.

[pdub77]

Totally!  I work there and don't feel like I'm selling my soul.  It's pretty cool.

[trebuchet03]

 A dream, realized!

[canida]

These are clearly meant to be eaten on bacon placemats.

[zascecs]

Haha, a perfect bacon dinner... 

[cowscankill]

 But that's not a main course dish! You need a main course! (I mean, personally salad is always a side dish)

[zascecs]

How about a bacon steak with mashed bacon and a bacon salad served on a bacon place mat with bacon utensils. And bacon ice cream for dessert.

...fattening >_<

[cowscankill]

 But delicious. 

:D

[zascecs]

Yea, I suppose.... 

[Kryptonite]

Bacon ice cream is actually disturbingly nice...

[zascecs]

 You've tried it before?

[adamvan2000]

"How about a bacon steak with mashed bacon and a bacon salad served on a bacon place mat with bacon utensils. And bacon ice cream for dessert."

What a perfect way to go.... Bacon heaven, here I come!
~adamvan2000

[zascecs]

Haha, but before you know it, you'll be lying in a hospital bed. That's the problem; all the good stuff is SO unhealthy! 

=/

[Kryptonite]

I ought to make a chocolate themed dinner some time...

And yes, I tried bacon icecream. I don't know how they do it, but I had some at a nice restaurant.

[quinn]

I was actually one of the judges at BaconCamp.  I can attest that these were really good!

[canida]

Excellent, thanks for the vote!
I'll have the laser-cut stencils up sometime after Maker Faire. ;)

[quinn]

Mmm... delicious meat stencils.  Hey, are y'all over on 2nd?  I work at the AAU on New Montgomery, and I just walked by an office with a big Instructables sign the other day.

[aireekah]

 This is beautiful and amazing!!!  I must now make bacon cups.  Perhaps paired with bacon bloody mary's; the breakfast of champions!

[canida]

Wow, that's inspired.  Post pictures when you do it!

[kmc512]

I just made these literally 5 minutes after I read it!! I filled it with scrambled eggs and cheese and it was SO tasty!! However, I followed all the directions and cooked the bacon cups at 500F but I had to finish them in the microwave because it smoked up my whole apartment set off my smoke alarms! I would recommend cooking them at 400 or 450F!  All in all, DELICIOUS!

[canida]

Ooh, that sounds great!  Did you take pictures?  If so, please post...

And I've dropped the temperature recommendation to 450F.  500 was due to my impatience. ;)

[loadster]

this would be easier if you use pancetta, an italian rolled bacon that you can slice to your liking. Way too much work in the prep, I apply the 'kiss'
 principle more than you, keep it simple silly. I think the chocolate pig thing is getting trite. I'd leave out the cocoa so I can taste the avocado and mango.

[canida]

The bacon powder was actually leftover from another project (laser-cut bacon stencils - Instructable coming forthwith) so I just decided to go over the top with it. ;)  Agreed, this is a bit heavier prep than I usually like, but it was for bacon camp!

[thecheatscalc]

hahaha, That looks delicious! I've had mango, avacado and crackers before, quite delicious and tangy, but I never would have thought to add the bacon. Brilliant!


Probably not the healthiest thing. But I'd spend some time on a treadmill to eat some of those things!

[adamvan2000]

I'm thinking bacon on a string in front of a treadmill, with a fan blowing towards the treadmill behind the bacon.

~adamvan2000

[canida]

I'd sprint for hours!

[pennyloafer89]

these were also made by not martha in february of 2008.

http://www.notmartha.org/archives/2008/02/27/bacon-cups/

[canida]

Aha, she did BLTs too! And referenced trebuchet03's bacon placemats.  Nice!  
Bacon cups are multi-purpose.

[maryserv]

I think that the silicon baking cups would be the ONLY way to do this.  My bacon is stuck to my metal ones.  I froze them last night and am thawing to see if it helps.  If not, I'll have an interesting fruit salad with bacon (it will taste just as amazing).  

I had to fight of my family last night from the cooked bacon cups that did come off the first batch : )  They managed to get the bits.  

Also, I'm guessing the mango is acid enough to keep the avocado from oxidizing (browning) - no browning so far and the fruit has been mixed for about 30 min. 

[canida]

Good luck!  I'll add a suggestion in the recipe to cover regular tins in aluminum foil so you can easily remove the cups.

And you're right about the mango's acid preventing oxidation.  Works beautifully.

[maryserv]

Use the silicon cupcake pans.  I ended up crumbling and using the bacon in a "fruit salad" of this recipe because I couldn't pry it off the metal tin.  

[canida]

Oh, that's sad! 
I'll add a suggestion above to cover regular tins in aluminum foil so you can easily remove the cups.

[kelseymh]

P.S.  Isn't it about time for a Bacon channel under Living?