For their big quarter century birthday, I wanted to put on a real classy event for them. You know, all glitz and glamour, something that would really impress. Or… completely the opposite. So I invited all of our friends to Wingmasters, a divey sports bar around the corner from our apartment, for buckets of messy, greasy buffalo wings, pitchers of PBR, and a few games of Big Buck Hunter. And, considering it was such a formal affair, I figured I should make a real black-tie dessert. One with bacon, of course.
I had been eyeing a recipe on Gourmet.com for Frozen Peanut Butter Pie with Candied Bacon for quite some time. Just waiting for the right occasion. A double birthday at a wing bar full of 20-something guys was just the opportunity I needed. But really, it’s peanut butter and bacon, together in a pie. Who needs an excuse?!
I could care less about PBJ sandwiches, but I’m a big fan of peanut butter desserts. Especially peanut butter chocolate desserts… sorry Amanda and Mel. I love cool, creamy, sweet peanut butter in the form of ice cream, cheesecake, and milkshakes, or warm, nutty peanut butter rolled into cookies, baked into bread, or mixed into pancakes. So, why not take creamy peanut butter to the next level by pairing it with salty, smoky bacon? If Elvis can do it, so can I!
I felt like Dr. Frankenstein, combining an innocent pie with a not-so-innocent breakfast meat, creating some kind of (delicious) monster. I whipped, I fried, I candied, I mixed, I froze. And at last, only a short time later, the creature came to life. A frozen peanut butter pie on a chocolaty crust, studded and sprinkled with meaty, crunchy, sweet, salty bits of oh-so-naughty candied bacon. (By the way, I left out the chopped nuts). Saying the pie was a big hit would be an understatement. The twins were blown away. Anthony drooled awaiting a slice. Dave licked the pie plate clean, literally. Everyone ooh’d and ahh’d over the combo.
In the end though, it wasn’t the candied bacon that won me over. It wasn’t the buttery chocolate wafer crust. It wasn’t even the crazy combination. It was the cool, creamy, rich but light, frozen peanut butter filling. O.M.G. If you want heaven in one peanut buttery frozen bite, this is it, folks. This. Is. It. Expect to see this mixture show up again in other iterations. I’m thinking ice cream cake. You just wait.
And, by the way… I did end up giving Evan a really classy, glitz and glamour type birthday present. We took a little staycation right here in our city. We stayed in the romantic and elegant Fairmont in downtown Seattle, drank champagne, lounged in the Jacuzzi, and had an amazing steak dinner, along with ahi tartare and martinis, at the Metropolitan Grill.
Just like bacon, we’re very versatile.
