Maple Bacon Pisco Sour

As many of you know, in August my wife gave birth to a beautiful, happy, healthy baby girl. Her name is Fiona, she’s the cutest thing in the world, and I’m in love. She went to IKEA at 2-weeks (mistake!), attended her first A’s game at 4-weeks, sat at her first bar at 6-weeks, enjoyed her first spa day at 8-weeks, and danced at her first wedding at 10-weeks. We made the decision to not share her photos on social media, but trust me, she’s adorbs . . . wait, did I just say adorbs in public? As many of you also know, the lovely Jessica Merchant of How Sweet Eats is due to have a baby in a few weeks too!! Of course Bev and Ashley, being the awesome friends that they are, organized this little virtual baby shower. Not just any baby shower, but rather an over the top, trashed up, neon, larger than life spread of tacos, pizza, burgers, salads, dessert, and of course cocktails. So please join me in celebrating this wonderful moment . . . Jessica, this one’s for you!

I knew immediately that my cocktail of choice would have to include bacon. The next step in this logic was to use a technique that I’ve tried only once before: fat-washing! I mean, what could be more indulgent than that?!! The idea is to infuse the flavors of a tasty fat (in this case bacon) into an alcohol. The alcohol is then put into the freezer, where the fat will solidify and but alcohol will not. Gotta love science! The fat is skimmed and strained (think gravy) and you’re left with fat-washed booze, perfect for any virtual baby shower. It’s really that easy!! Let’s begin . . .

Start by rendering some bacon fat. That’s right, this cocktail involves COOKING BACON! Once the bacon has finished cooking, carefully strain the bacon fat through a fine mesh strainer – preferably one that won’t melt when you pour hot bacon fat through it.

Transfer the pisco to a large freezer-safe widemouth jar. This is necessary in order to remove the solidified bacon fat later. Next, strain the warm bacon fat into the pisco, and give it a good stir. It is important to let the bacon fat cool down a bit for safety reasons. However, if it cools down to room temperature it will solidify, in which case simply heat it up again.

Once you’ve added the bacon fat, place the pisco in the freezer for 24 hours. This will solidify the bacon fat, thereby separating it from the pisco, which does not freeze. Remove the pisco from the freezer and skim the solidified bacon fat off the top. Pour the pisco through a fine mesh strainer to remove any remaining particles and you’re done! Smoky, salty, bacon-y pisco!

Now you’re ready to mix your cocktail. Add egg white, lemon juice and maple syrup to a shaker. Give those ingredients, and those ingredients alone (no ice) a dry shake for 10 seconds. This will help your egg white get extra foamy.

Next, fill your shaker with ice and add the bacon-infused pisco. Vigorously shake for 10 seconds then double strain into a chilled coupe glass. I was a bit worried that using a fat-washed spirit would kill my foamy egg white. If you’ve ever tried to make pavlovas, you may have learned that the hard way. But I was pleasantly surprised that I still achieved a thick frothy foam worthy of any pisco sour.

Instead of garnishing with the usual drops of bitters, I gave the foam a very slight mist of bitters with my atomizer instead. And there you have it – a hearty breakfast and elegant cocktail all in one. Congratulations again to the lovely Jessica and her growing family. Cheers!!

MAPLE BACON PISCO SOUR

Ingredients:

For the cocktail:

• 2 oz bacon fat-washed pisco
• 3/4 oz lemon juice
• 1/2 oz maple syrup (grade B)
• 1 egg white
• Angostura bitters for garnish

For the bacon-fat-washed pisco:

• 750 bottle of pisco (preferably aged)
• 1 1/2 oz bacon fat (liquid volume)

Directions:

For the bacon-fat-washed pisco:

• Cook 4-5 strips of bacon to render bacon fat. Pour liquid bacon fat through a fine mesh strainer into a heat proof glass jar and set aside to cool slightly.
• Transfer pisco to a freezer-safe widemouth jar.
• Strain the bacon fat into the jar of pisco.
• Place the pisco in the freezer for 24 hours.
• Remove the pisco from the freezer and skim the solidified bacon fat off the top.
• Funnel the pisco through a fine mesh strainer back into the bottle.

For the cocktail:

• Add egg white, lemon juice and maple syrup to a shaker. Dry shake without ice for 10 seconds.
• Next, fill your shaker with ice and add the bacon-infused pisco. Vigorously shake for 10 seconds.
• Double strain into a chilled coupe glass.
• Garnish with a mist of Angostura bitters (optional).

More baby shower bites (and sips!) from around the web:

Trashed up Salads:

• Gimme Some Oven – Asian Broccoli Salad with Peanut Sauce
• The Lemon Bowl – Brussels Slaw with Tahini Dressing and Za’atar Crostini
• With Style & Grace – Kale Salad with Apple, Hazelnuts & Bacon

Trashed up Cocktails:

• Dine & Dish – Hot Buttered Rum Cocktail
• Food For My Family – Cranberry Orange Dark and Stormy Cocktail
• Minimalist Baker – Bourbon Pumpkin Milkshakes
• Stylish, Stealthy & (sometimes) Healthy – Apple Cider Shandy
• A Spicy Perspective – Preggy Punch Mocktail
• Girl vs. Dough – Boozy Maple Peanut Butter Cup Milkshake
• HonestlyYUM – Maple Bacon Pisco Sour
• Cookin Canuck – Pink Grapefruit Margaritas
• A Thought For Food – Mezcal Citrico Cocktail
• A House in the Hills – Pomegranate Rosemary Spritzer
• The Novice Chef – Ginger Bourbon Apple Cider
• Bran Appetit – Citrus Cider Punch Floats

Trashed up Burgers:

• Edible Perspective – Meatloaf Veggie Burgers with Mashed Potatoes + Gravy
• The Little Kitchen – Salmon BLT Sliders with an Avocado Aioli & Brie
• Daisy At Home – Balsamic Beef Burger with Mac and Cheese
• Cookies & Cups – Candied Bacon Maple Cheddar Burger
• Climbing Grier Mountain – Trashed-Up Steak Burger with Chicken Fried Bacon & Dijon Gravy
• Dessert For Two – Bleu Cheese Burgers + Sweet Potato Fries
• Country Clever – Fig Rosemary Roast Chicken Brie Brussels Sprout Panini
• Foodie Crush – The Best Cheeseburger Soup
• Lady and Pups – Spicy Sambal Chicken Meatball Sub with Eggs
• Two Peas & Their Pod – Sweet Potato and Kale Grilled Cheese
• Bake Your Day – Ultimate Breakfast Sandwich

Trashed up Tacos:

• Spoon Fork Bacon – Crunchy Ground Beef and Cheesy Tacos
• The Fauxmartha – Boozy Beef and Butternut Tacos
• With Food + Love – Harvest Hash Breakfast Tacos
• Mountain Mama Cooks – Crispy Kale and Brussels Sprout Tacos with Bacon
• Heather Christo – Bahn Mi Tacos with Spicy Sriracha Honey Sauce
• A Couple Cooks – Loaded Huevos Rancheros Tacos
• Fitnessista – San Diego Lobster Street Tacos
• Bakers Royale – Trash’d Street Tacos

Trashed up Desserts:

• Table for Two – Salted Caramel, Dark Chocolate, and Brown Butter Shortbread Bars with Sprinkles
• My Name is Yeh – Mini Vanilla Loaf Cakes, All Trashed Up
• Picky Palate – Pumpkin Spice Butterscotch Sprinkle Cupcakes
• Sprinkle Bakes – Cake Batter Confetti Cupcakes
• Averie Cooks – Easy Homemade Funfetti Cake with Vanilla Buttercream
• Sweet Phi – Trashed Up Shortbread Cookie Bars
• Love & Olive Oil – Loaded Junk Food Brownies
• Lauren’s Latest – Bakery Sugar Cookies
• Cookie + Kate – Peanut Butter, Banana, Honey and Oat Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Flourishing Foodie – Triple Layer Chocolate Cake with Salted Caramel Buttercream Frosting
• The Sugar Hit – Salted Caramel Popcorn Ice Cream Cake
• Hummingbird High – Breakfast Cereal Cake Donuts
• Top With Cinnamon – Triple Chocolate Vanilla Swirl Crumb Cake
• Bake at 350 – Chocolate Chip Cookie Ice Cream Sundaes
• Simple Bites – Lemon Layer Cake
• Bakerella – Baby Block Cake Pops
• She Wears Many Hats –  Chocolate Covered Grapefruit

Trashed up Pizza

• Bev Cooks – Beer Battered Fried Calamari Pizza
• Rachel Cooks – Apple and Chicken Sausage Pizza with Macaroni and Cheese Stuffed Crust
• Foodie With Family – Trashed Up Barbecue Turkey Pizza
• Shutterbean – Pesto Potato Bacon Pizza
• i am a food blog – Grilled Cheese Pizza
• My Life as a Mrs – Chili Cheese Dog Pizza
• Simply Scratch – Steak + Blue Cheese Pizza with Crispy Fried Shallots and Honey Balsamic Drizzle
• The Beeroness – Beer Cheese Tater Tot Pizza
• Yes I Want Cake – Roasted Pumpkin Pizza
• Two Red Bowls – Bacon Mashed Potato Pizza
• Dula Notes – Pork Bahn Mi Pizza
• Weelicious – Trashed Up Mexican Pizza Pockets
• Take a Megabite – Roasted Beet Pizza
• Hungry Girl Por Vida – Hard Cider Braised Pork with Sour Cherries and Cheesy Polenta

(images by HonestlyYUM; groovy neon graphic by Ashley)