Chocolate Olive Oil Cake with Candied Bacon Frosting and Marzipan Pigs for #TastyMurder

When I was trying to decide on the dessert course for my friend's birthday dinner - Tasty Murder - I remembered how much I love the combination of bacon and chocolate. I settled on a triple layer chocolate cake with candied bacon cream cheese frosting and marzipan pigs.

I didn't have enough frosting, so I was thankful for the 'naked cake' trend. It's rustic and allows for uneven cover of the cake. Woohoo. It was still tasty. And, besides, the most important decoration of the cake: the forty-three candles. Yep, I put them all on there. And it was aflame!

 It took three people to light the candles in a timely fashion...

Ingredients makes three 8"x 8" square layers
Cake

• 2-2/3 C olive oil
• 2-1/2 C whole milk
• 6 large eggs
• 1 t pure almond extract
• 1 t pure vanilla extract
• 3 C flour
• 1-1/2 C organic unsweetened cocoa powder
• 3 C organic granulated sugar
• 1 t baking soda
• 1 t baking powder

Frosting

• 16 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 8 ounces butter, softened
• 1 C organic powdered sugar
• 1 t pure almond extract
• 2 strips candied bacon, roughly chopped (recipe for my Candied Cinnamon-Chile Bacon)

To Finish (optional)

• marzipan pigs
• candles

Procedure

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line the bottom of three 8" x 8" square pans with parchment paper and grease the pans well.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the olive oil, milk, eggs, and extracts until completely combined. Fold in the flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking soda, and baking powder until just moistened.

Pour batter into prepared pans and bake for 40 to 42 minutes - until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean or the cake top springs back when you touch it.

Let cool for 5 minutes in the pans before inverting onto a wire rack and cool completely.

While the cake layers cool, make the frosting. Use a hand mixer to blend the softened cream cheese, butter, powdered sugar, and extract into a smooth frosting. Fold in the candied bacon.

Place one cake layer on your serving plate with a strip of wax paper under the cake edges. Spoon 1/4 of the frosting on the layer and spread evenly with a spatula. Place the second cake layer on top and repeat. Place the third cake layer on top and frost with the remaining frosting. Press the marzipan pigs onto the sides and top with candles! Remove the wax paper just before serving.