Carolina Jalapeno Poppers AKA Carolina Cake Pops

Name: Carolina Cake Pops
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 1 h
Total time: 1 h 15 min
Yield: 12
Cuisine: Carolina BBQ
Ingredients: 1lb chopped smoked rib meat or any leftover smoked pork meat; 8oz freshly grated pepper jack cheese; ¼ cup chopped white onion; ¼ cup chopped dill pickle; ½ to ¾ cups of Dukes Mayo (flex into more if you like pimento cheese a little more wet); Perpetual Pork Seasoning, or substitute kosher salt; 12 jalapenos; 12 pieces of thick cut bacon; ½ cup yellow BBQ Sauce; ½ cup honey

Carolina Cake Pops

Billy Bones

Rated 5.0 stars by 1 users

Cuisine

Carolina BBQ

Author:

Billy Bones

Servings

Prep Time

15 minutes

Cook Time

1 hour

Everybody loves a jalapeno popper. Texas even has its own version called the "Texas Twinkie" with brisket in it.

Well, now the Carolinas have their own popper as well. It's called "The Carolina Cake Pop." Instead of beef, the jalapeno is stuffed with pork alongside a riff on pimento cheese that might remind you of a McRib sandwich. Then it's all wrapped in bacon and schhhhhhmoooked.

I think The Carolina Cake Pop is better than a Texas Twinkie and for sure better than a standard jalapeno popper. Use any leftover pork you have and make this easy recipe.

If they don't already know, people are gonna learn that your tailgate is THE tailgate as a result of these poppers.

Ingredients

For the McRib-ish Pimento Cheese

1lb chopped smoked rib meat or any leftover smoked pork meat
8oz freshly grated pepper jack cheese
¼ cup chopped white onion
¼ cup chopped dill pickle
½ to ¾ cups of Dukes Mayo (flex into more if you like pimento cheese a little more wet)
Perpetual Pork Seasoning, or substitute kosher salt

For the poppers

12 jalapenos
12 pieces of thick cut bacon
½ cup yellow BBQ Sauce
½ cup honey

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Directions

Watch the video at the end of this page!
Mix all the pimento cheese ingredients together — adding rub or salt to taste. If you can make this the night before, do it. The flavors come together incredibly well. Don’t be afraid to amp up any ratio of the ingredients to your liking.
I went for about 1:1 cheese to chopped pork and I like my pimento cheese a little less mayo heavy
Get your smoker up to 300 degrees F
Cut a long V out of our jalapeno and use a spoon to remove the seeds and pith — keep the V
Stuff your jalapeno with the mix and put the V back on
Wrap each jalapeno with 1 piece of bacon
Place the jalapenos on a wire rack and on the smoker for 1 hour
After an hour, mix the BBQ sauce with the honey and brush the outside of the cake-pop with the sweet BBQ sauce
Let the cake-pops cook for 10-15 more minutes and then remove from the smoker and let cool on the wire rack
You’ve done it, you’ve cake popped — let me know what you think!
Eat B.B.Q. Live Forever

Recipe Video

@rolling_bones_bbq 🌶️ Jalapeño poppers, but with a Carolina twist. I made up a riff on pimento cheese, added some chopped rib meat, perpetual pork seasoning and then stuffed it in a jalapeno wrapped in bacon and smoked it. Full recipe is in the link in bio under recipes! These are perfect for a tailgate, you can do all the prep the night before so that all that is left to do is put them on the smoker the day of. Eat BBQ, Live Forever #rollingbonesbbq #bbq #texasbbq #smokedmeat #recipe #tailgate #ribs #jalapenopoppers ♬ original sound - Rolling Bones Barbecue

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