Portuguese Roasted Suckling Pig Cupcakes • Queques de Leitão

What todo when you got this enormous chunk of roasted suckling pig sitting in your fridge… what to do, what to do… These are the really tough decisions in life! ;D How about making some beautiful suckling pig cupcakes?

The batter is super simple to make, basically just throw everything together, shred up that pig, and pop it in the oven. The final result speaks for itself, not to mention that roasted pork starts to get dry if it’s not eaten the same day and gets even drier if you try to reheat it. Making these delicious creamy savory cupcakes is a brilliant way to bring that meat back to tender, juicy life again.

These Portuguese-inspired treats are perfect for parties and picnics, offering a sophisticated twist on leftover management. I used suckling pig, but honestly, you can use any kind of cooked pork as long as it’s tender, the magic is in how the moist cupcake batter transforms even day-old meat into something absolutely divine. The combination of that silky batter with shredded pork and aromatic cilantro creates little bites of pure comfort that’ll have your guests asking for the recipe.

I do have one tiny little confession to make… I cut the crispy skin from the suckling pig and put it on top of the cupcakes, visually they looked stunning, but that wasn’t the brightest idea. If you want to include the skin, chop it up and add it to the batter instead. On top, the skin got super dried out, like from crispy to rock-hard dry, so that brilliant invention of mine wasn’t one of my better ideas. At least it was easy to peel from each cupcake hehehe! ;P Let’s get to the recipe!

Portuguese Roasted Suckling Pig Cupcakes • Queques de Leitão

Servings: 12
Time: 50mins
Difficulty: Normal
Rating: ★★★★★
Print

XXXXXX

Ingredients

Flour – 150g
Eggs – 2
Olive Oil – 30ml
Milk – 125ml
Baking Powder – 1 Teaspoon
Suckling Pig – 250g (Already Roasted)
Onion – 1
Garlic – 2 Cloves
Olive Oil – A Drizzle
Cilantro – To Taste
Pepper – A Pinch
Salt – A Pinch

Directions

Start making the batter by placing the eggs, milk, and 30 ml of olive oil in a bowl, season with salt and pepper, and whisk until you have a smooth cream.

Sift the flour and mix until you have a batter, then set aside.
Sauté the onion and chopped garlic in a frying pan with a drizzle of olive oil until the onion is golden brown, season with a pinch of salt.

While the sauté is cooking, shred the suckling pig, ideally 2/3 shredded into strips and 1/3 finely chopped. At this point, if you want, you can also chop the skin to add to the dough or just eat it and don’t include it, hehehe.
Chop some coriander to taste.
Preheat the oven to 180ºC and line 12 muffin tins with non-stick paper.

When the onion is golden brown, add it to the dough with the shredded suckling pig and coriander, mix and pour a little of the dough into each muffin tin.

Bake for about 15 to 20 minutes until golden brown and that’s it, ready to serve, enjoy!

Notes: These days many supermarkets also sell pre-roasted suckling pig, so if you don’t feel like making it yourself, you can buy it ready-made and use it for these cupcakes. Since I removed the skin from the top of the cupcakes, you can add Parmesan cheese, grated cheese, or aromatic herbs like oregano on top of each cupcake before going in the oven.

Don’t overmix the batter once you add the flour, a few lumps are better than tough cupcakes.

The meat mixture should be completely cooled before folding into the batter to prevent the eggs from cooking.

These freeze beautifully for up to 3 months, just thaw and warm gently in a low oven.

Try adding a pinch of smoked paprika or cayenne pepper to the sauté for an extra layer of flavour.

If your pork seems a bit dry, add a tablespoon of the pan drippings (if you have them) to the meat mixture.

This recipe for Portuguese Roasted Suckling Pig Cupcakes • Queques de Leitão was originally created on BakeAfter.com. Esta receita de Queques de Leitão Assado foi publicada em português no Iguaria.com.