bay to the czzon

i've just returned from a tour of the south, a little bit tanner and a whole lot fatter. but really, there was no way around it; contemplating a possible move to durham, i had to sample the local goods. obvi!

so i'm here to say that i have seen the north carolina bbq. and it is awesome. same goes for the fried chicken, ditto the banana pudding. but i'll save those for another day.

today i want to talk about something else! as ted allen says, "two words: bay con."

my lovely host andrea took me to the durham farmers' market, which is about the size of the dupont circle fresh farm and, happily, cheaper and less populous. but the true culinary highlight of the trip was a couple blocks down the road.



meet sugar, the vintage airstream sweet-mobile operated by daisy cakes, innovators of cuteness and flava and creators of the bacon maple cupcake.



to my mind, this is a breakfast cupcake. it embodies some of the most delicious elements of that meal in one adorable little package. the white frosting is maple/cream cheese, the "yolk" is orange creme and the candied bacon is....yeah. delicious. so, basically, you have a bagel and cream cheese, pancakes with maple syrup, bacon, and a tall glass of orange juice. in the same bite.

this is a beautiful thing.



they have a lot of other flavors, including almond joy (on the right). i wanted to taste the PB&J, but the siren song of swine was overpowering. clearly. if you find yourself in durham on a saturday morning, try it and let me know what you think!