Adding Bacon To Cheesecake Should Be A No-Brainer At This Point

When thinking of a decadent slice of cheesecake, bacon is probably the last thing you'd expect to find sprinkled over the top. In all of its smoky glory, bacon is the unexpected addition that transforms your classic cheesecake into a sweet and savory delight. If you're in the mood to step out of your comfort zone, why not give this twist a try?

This unconventional pairing is abundant with bold flavors that contrast each other beautifully. Against the cake's tangy creaminess, the bacon's smoky, savory notes become even more pronounced. This spectacular contrast is further accentuated by the versatile textures. Crisp pieces of bacon add a salty bite that works so well with cheesecake's velvety smoothness. This combination is not what you'd typically expect when eating cheesecake, but that's what makes it so exciting. And better yet, it's easy to make this sweet and salty dessert.

Bacon cheesecake can be made a few different ways. Keeping it simple, the bacon can serve as a topping for the finished cake, which leaves the rest of the cooking process pretty much unchanged. The extra steps would only involve cooking the bacon and chopping it into bits. You can even add maple syrup or brown sugar to make candied bacon for a perfect blend of sweet and savory, or you could play up the maple-bacon combination and flavor a classic cheesecake base with maple.

Incorporating crumbled bacon into the cheesecake crust is another option, as is done in Daily Meal's Pumpkin Maple Bacon Cheesecake recipe. Here the bacon gives the crust a rich and smoky flavor and more bacon bits are used on top. You can also use bacon fat in a creamy topping, or incorporate bacon bits right into the cheesecake filling and bake as usual. Since we know bacon tastes great with chocolate, you could also try adding it to chocolate cheesecake.