This Valentine’s Day, leave the cheap chocolates and grocery store roses behind and present your loved one with a gift that packs a serious porky punch-- smoked candied bacon roses! 

Covered in a light layer of caramelized agave sweetener and brown sugar then smoked low-and-slow on the grill, this edible arrangement that I created for Kingsford.com will make this Valentine’s Day gift an instant hit!

SMOKED CANDIED BACON ROSES

Ingredients

1lb. thick cut bacon

2-3 tbsp. agave sweetener

¼ cup brown sugar

Additional tools

Wooden toothpicks

Pastry brush

1-2 bunches of fake flowers (available at most craft and dollar stores)

Instructions

Preheat charcoal briquets in a charcoal chimney. Once the briquets are ashed over, place them on one side of the grill’s bottom grate to create a 2-zone cooking surface with one hot side and one cool side.  Replace the top cooking grate, cover the grill, and adjust the bottom grill vents to bring it to approximately 300 degrees.

Lay bacon slices on a parchment covered baking sheet pan and brush the topside of the slices with agave sweetener.

Sprinkle brown sugar over the slices and use the pastry brush to create an even coating of agave syrup and brown sugar over the slices.  

Turn the slices over.  Starting at one end of the slices, begin rolling them in to a tight spiral.  Insert one toothpick through each spiral/rose to keep the outer end of the slices in place while they cook. 

Place the bacon spirals/roses on the cool side of the grill as far from the charcoal as possible.  

Cover the grill and allow the bacon to cook for approximately 30 minutes until cooked through and nicely browned.

Remove the bacon spirals from the grill and set aside.  Remove the flowers from the fake flower bouquet(-s), leaving only the stems and leaves.  Place the bouquet(-s) in a vase and place one bacon spiral/rose on the end of each stem (note that the bacon might slide down the stem.  If so, make a small loop in the stem approximately 1 inch from the top).

Present the candied bacon bouquet to your loved one!

- Recipe by Clint Cantwell, courtesy of Kingsford.com