Post Game Food Recap: Buffalo Chicken Wing Cupcake (1000th Post!)

So there was all that hype about a local bakery that decided to sell buffalo chicken wing cupcakes for the Superbowl. It got enough hype to get talked about on national media sources (I think just their websites, but still). I hope this bakery isn’t taking the credit for this invention, because I’m pretty darn sure it was making its way through the blogosphere before they threw their version out.

Anyways, this isn’t to bash them. Can’t bash what you haven’t tried, right? But it got me thinking about savory cupcakes, and the following is how I made and ate my wings for the big game.

Chicken Wings

Traditionally the wings are fried, but I don’t enjoy either myself or the house reeking of that deep fryer smell. So I went the baked route, which is only slightly healthier… but then you add the sauce and then you’re back on an even playing field.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add the chicken wings and boil for about 10-15 minutes. Drain and place on a baking sheet. Bake in a 350 degree oven until the wings are golden brown. The boiling and baking should take care of the pink issue, but if you’re cooking bigger pieces of chicken, times will have to be adjusted.

While the chicken is baking, start working on the wing sauce. I don’t have exact measurements for this, but it’s butter and Frank’s RedHot sauce. Heat in the microwave in 10 second increments until the butter is melted. If you’re microwave wary, you can go the double boiler route, works the same. In a large bowl, pour the wing sauce over the chicken wings and toss to coat. Try your best not to eat all the wings… you do have cupcakes to make.

Blue Cheese Frosting

From what I’ve read of those who tried the BCW from the local bakery, it didn’t taste very blue cheesy. And it was sweet, which is not what I think of when I think blue cheese. If you’re going to use blue cheese, you want the person eating it to know it’s there. But it needs to be smooth enough to frost on a cupcake. Solution? Mix cream cheese and blue cheese crumbles together, and just enough sour cream to make it spreadable. The flavors of the cream cheese and sour cream are light enough for the strong blue cheese to stand out.

Cornbread cupcake

I used a mix for this, but I did add to it – an extra egg yolk and just a bit of honey for a hint of sweetness.

I was a little leery about this – come on, it’s a chicken wing on a cupcake! With a cheesy frosting no less! So I tried just the cupcake with frosting first. To my surprise, it was really good. The frosting was creamy with a very pronounced blue cheese flavor. The cornbread was moist and the slight sweetness went well with the frosting. Knowing those two went, I added in the chicken wing, which at this point was lukewarm. Not bad, but it was tedious to have to bite into the wing, then bite into the cupcake. Boneless chicken next time.

M tried the cupcake sans wing and agreed that the cornbread and blue cheese frosting went well together. We had to fight over the rest of the frosted wingless cupcakes, it was that good.

So there you have it, my week late take on the buffalo cupcakes. And for my thousandth post, to boot. Yay me.