Prosciutto & Cheese Cupcakes – Cheesecakes in a Blanket Recipe

Love savory cupcakes? You’ll love this Prosciutto & Cheese Cupcakes for its sweet and salty goodness!

Based on the popular snacks Pigs in a Blanket, we call this delicious savory cupcake, Cheesecakes in a Blanket.

These are savoury cheese cupcakes (the cheesecake) wrapped in prosciutto (the blanket) then topped with prosciutto buttercream.

Did you know? Italy is home to the world’s best known and finest air-cured prosciutto.

For this savoury cupcake recipe, I’m happy to be using the most popular Italian prosciutti and cheese, which I all love: Prosciutto di San Daniele PDO, Grana Padano PDO and Prosciutto di Parma PDO.

All three products are PDO (Protected Designation of Origin)-certified by the EU, which means they are classified as an authentic, high-quality European food, made according to traditional methods in a specific geographic region in Europe.

Prosciutto is most often eaten as-is, and I totally agree it is delicious as-is!

I remember when I visited Rome and would just go to random delis to stuff my face with freshly shaved Parma Ham or Prosciutto Pizza with a glass of red wine.

Travelling Foodie Tip: When buying prosciutto, be sure to specifically ask for prosciutto by production area (e.g. San Daniele or Parma) to guarantee it is 100% authentic as shown by the designation symbol branded into the ham.

At events, you’ll usually find me near the charcuterie board looking for prosciutto and cheese. But that’s probably the most common way to eat prosciutto.

What’s awesome about this Prosciutto & Cheese Cupcakes recipe is it uses prosciutto in such a unique way. Best of all, it’s so easy to make!

Also Read: Easy 30-Minute Recipes: Meals and Snacks in 30 Minutes or Less

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What are Prosciutto and Cheese Cupcakes?

Here’s what makes these Cheesecakes in a Blanket SO GOOD!

Grana Padano in the Cheese Cupcakes

For the cupcake, we use Grana Padano PDO, Italy’s most popular hard grating cheese, made with partially skimmed raw cow’s milk.

Did you know? “Grana” means hard grating cheese and “Padano” is the Northern Italy region where the cheese must be produced.

Grana Padano works very well in the cupcake because of its fine, grainy texture giving a dry yet flaky bite than a typical cupcake which is denser.

Because of its mellow and less salty taste, Grana Padano is perfect where it doesn’t make the cupcake too salty unlike cheddar or parmesan and the taste lingers.

I actually got addicted even with just the cheese cupcake itself.

That’s the great thing with this recipe.

If you don’t have prosciutto, you can still use this to make easy cheese cupcakes!

Also Read: Oxford County Cheese Trail in Ontario

Prosciutto di San Daniele as the Blanket

Grown in North-Eastern Italy in the Friuli Venezia Giulia region, Prosciutto di San Daniele uses selected thighs from Italian pigs which are dry-cured with sea salt in natural air for at least 13 months.

Did you know? Prosciutto di San Daniele is traditionally pressed into a guitar shape to give it a distinctive appearance.

Because it is sweeter and fattier, Prosciutto di San Daniele is used as the blanket, which acts as the cupcake liner due to its fattiness.

Its inherent sweetness complements the cheese cupcake and doesn’t make the cupcake saltier.

Prosciutto di Parma in the Buttercream

Also called Parma Ham, Prosciutto di Parma is made from specially bred Italian pig that only eats a mixture of cereals, grains and the same whey from Parmigiano-Reggiano production.

It is then air-cured for at least 400 days with sea salt in the rolling countryside of Parma in the foothills of the Apennines.

Did you know?

The Parma designation, symbolized by a crown, is governed by the Consorzio. The designation is so hard to get that there is a black market for selling fake Prosciutto di Parma.

When cooked to a crisp, the parma ham becomes quite salty, which makes it a perfect addition to the sweet buttercream.

To make it crispy fast, we used an Air Fryer kind of like our air fryer bacon.

The Prosciutto Buttercream ends up having both creamy and crispy textures as well as sweet and salty flavours!

Putting it on the Cheesecake in a Blanket, the Prosciutto Buttercream brings moistness.

The cupcake dilutes the sweetness of the buttercream, giving a perfect combination of sweet and savoury in one delicious cupcake!

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What You Need For Cheese & Prosciutto Cupcakes

Equipment

• Air Fryer – I used the Cuisinart Air Fryer Toaster Oven TOA-60 to air fry the prosciutto. Other brands will work but you might need to adjust timing/temperature.
  
  Here are other popular air fryer brands:
  • Instant Pot Duo Crisp + Air Fryer
  • Power Air Fryer XL
  • Ninja Foodi Pressure Cooker with TenderCrisp
  • Breville Smart Oven Air Fryer
  • Philips Airfryer XXL
    
• Mixing Bowls – You need a large and medium mixing bowls for the cupcake batter and buttercream.
• Hand Mixer / Whisk – We used an electric hand mixer so it’s easier to make the batter, but you can also manually mix with a whisk.

Ingredients

• Butter – You can technically use oil, but butter makes cupcakes taste better.
• Confectioners Sugar
• Eggs
• Grana Padano cheese
• Prosciutto di San Daniele
• Prosciutto di Parma
• Self-Rising Flour
• White Sugar

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How To Make Prosciutto and Cheese Cupcakes (With Pictures)

How To Bake Prosciutto and Cheese Cupcakes

Preheat oven to 360F (170C). Prepare all the ingredients and equipment.

Add the sugar and butter to a large mixer bowl, then beat until whipped cream texture.

Mix the eggs one at a time into the large mixer bowl.

Make sure they are mixed well before adding the next egg.

Fold in the self-rising flour to the cupcake batter.

Combine the grated Grana Padano cheese to the large mixer bowl.

On the cupcake tray, surround the base and sides of each mold with one Prosciutto di San Daniele.

Fill the cupcake mold 2/3 deep with cupcake batter as flat as possible.

You only want 2/3 deep because the cupcake will rise.

Bake for 25 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out with a few moist crumbs.

How To Make The Crispy Prosciutto

Air Fryer Method

Lay the Prosciutto di Parma in the Air Fryer tray in a single layer without overlapping and crowding.

Air Fry for 3 minutes at 400F (204C) until crispy. Depending on your air fryer, you might need to adjust the time and temperature.

Oven-Baked Method

Lay the Prosciutto di Parma in a baking tray in a single layer.

For efficiency, bake the prosciutto together with cupcakes on the lower level.

Check every 5 minutes until the prosciutto is crisp.

How To Make The Prosciutto Buttercream

Add butter on medium mixer bowl then whip until pale color.

Slowly add confectionary sugar, 1/3 at a time.

Make sure you completely blend the sugar in before adding the next round of sugar.

Cut the slices of the crispy prosciutto in half, lengthwise.

Use half of the crispy prosciutto, crush them into bits and combine with the buttercream.

Assemble into Prosciutto & Cheese Cupcake

Apply (or pipe) the prosciutto buttercream onto the cupcakes.

Take the remaining halves of crispy prosciutto and stick one on top of each cupcake to hold still.

Optionally, sprinkle grated Grana Padano cheese on top of each the savoury cupcake.

Enjoy these Cheesecakes in a Blanket!

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Cheesecakes in a Blanket Recipe

Here’s the recipe for Cheesecakes in a Blanket: Prosciutto and Cheese Cupcakes!

I would love to see how this recipe worked for you! Please share your creations with me on social media and tag me so I can check them out: @TravellingFoodie on Instagram & Facebook and @TravellinFoodie on Twitter.

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Hope you enjoy this delicious and easy-to-make Prosciutto & Cheese Cupcakes recipe!

Now you can surprise your family and friends with these Cheesecakes in a Blanket on your next meal or party!

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Hope these Prosciutto and Cheese Cupcakes gives you an idea on unique sweet and savory cupcake recipes!

This recipe was done in partnership with Icons of European Taste to raise awareness of the uniqueness, quality and authenticity of Prosciutto di San Daniele PDO, Grana Padano PDO and Prosciutto di Parma PDO among American and Canadian retailers and consumers.

You can learn more about Icons of European Taste from their website.