It means sitting on the back porch with a summery beer will soon be a common activity!

Saying goodbye to citrus also means it’s time to start thinking about rhubarb. A friend of mine had an idea to brew a Belgian Witbier with rhubarb, so that is definitely on the docket for upcoming homebrew activities. I’m thinking chamomile would be a good accent spice to the tartness of rhubarb.

Belgian Witbiers got me thinking of these pillowy striped meringue cookies I noticed on Martha Stewart’s website, so I decided to adapt the idea to include some great craft beer flavor.

These juicy cookies began as an idea to play with the citrusy flavors in Belgian Witbiers, but somehow during the process I discovered that a pop of citrusy hops (aptly, in the case of Chainbreaker, Citra) is really important to achieve the desired effect. The otherwise complex sweetness of a Belgian Witbier is lost in all the sugar sweetness of the meringue. If you don’t use Chainbreaker to make these cookies, make sure to find a beer with tons of hop flavor (preferably of the orange-y or grapefruit-y variety).

The beer:

Deschutes Chainbreaker White IPA

Style: It’s a cross between a Belgian Witbier and an American IPA. I think it tastes more like a great wheat-forward American Pale, but there is a definitely belgian-y something something going on in the yeast area with this beer. It’s not primarily yeast-driven, like a lot of Belgian styles, so it was easy for me to adapt the beer recipe into a homebrew that you can make with relatively little ability to control the fermentation temperature. (DW Chainbreaker Clone)

Tasting Notes: Immediately, this beer delivers a strong and spicy citrusy flavor. Most likely a combination of the brewing spices (coriander and orange peel) along with a ton of Citra hop flavor (one of my favorite varieties). The taste that lingers in your mouth is sweet, fruity from yeast esters, and slightly spicy. The mouthfeel is excellent: refreshing, but not dry. The character of the head foam is gorgeous and aptly reminiscent of meringue.

Other beers that would be appropriate:

Fremont Brewing Seattle Beer Week 5th Anniversary Pale Ale: This year’s Seattle Beer Week beer is brewed down the street from my house. It’s a delicious and session-able pale ale, and a major Citra bomb, so it’s perfect for these meringue swirls. The aroma alone is enough to put me into a juicy citrus coma. I also discovered that even though I usually don’t prefer the flavor of Simcoe hops, that their grassy and herbal notes (sometimes described as “dank”) are a nice compliment to the Citra hop flavor I love.
Knee Deep Citra Pale Ale: I just tried this beer a few months ago. It’s very dramatic with the Citra flavor in a way that I’m sure would come through beautifully in the cookies. The caramel notes from the malt will give just the right complexity to achieve a balance with the sugary sweetness of the meringues.
Rogue Honey Orange Wheat: I have loved this beer for years. But beware, it is sweet and not hop-forward at all. The orange-y flavor is something special, almost orange-blossom honey like, and it sings with the honey sweetness and there is almost something biscuit-y about the malt flavor.
Georgetown Manny’s Pale Ale: This is a beer that is all over the place in Seattle. Even friends of mine who know nothing of the bounty of our craft beer scene are crazy over this brew, right along with my fellow craft beer geeks. I’d go to this beer for this cookie for the hop character alone. It’s a very nice example of a Northwest inspired pale ale. The hops are powerful and citrusy, without ruining your palate.

The pastry recipe:

Chainbreaker Meringues
(makes about 30 2-inch cookies)

1. Preheat the oven to 215°F.

2. Reduce your Chainbreaker from 3 oz to 1 T (0.5 oz). This is a small amount, so it will go fast. It took me about 5 minutes in a pretty small saucepan.

3. Warm the egg whites, sugar, and Chainbreaker reduction in the bowl of your stand-mixer over a saucepan with simmering water (keep this on the burner over low heat) while whisking for about two to three minutes. You’re looking for the mixture to be slightly warm to the touch.

4. Once the mixture is warmed, add the salt and cream of tartar, put it on the mixer and whip on high for about seven minutes, or until it is cool and has reached stiff peaks. Fold in the orange zest.

5. Now you’ll need a pastry bag, a small round tip (I used Ateco 805), some orange gel paste food coloring, and a small paintbrush. I fold the end of the pastry bag over, lay it on its side, and paint 3 or four vertical stripes of food coloring inside the bag. (Martha Stewart’s site has a great video showing you how to do this here.)

6. Pipe the meringue in swirls on to a sheet pan lined with parchment paper. This would be a great time to add a little something extra to this cookie if you like – sprinkle some crushed coriander on top, or even a bit of chopped up hop pellets or wheat malt.

7. Bake in a 215°F oven for about 1 hour or until the meringues are stiff and shiny on the outside (they will still be nice and pillowy on the inside). Cool and enjoy! These will keep nicely for about 3 to 4 days at room temperature (as long as your room isn’t too humid).

For Pi Day this year, I made a tart cherry pie with a delicious Vanilla Bean Imperial Porter. Keep your eyes out for that, and maybe I can squeeze the last bits out of citrus season with some hopped up blood orange curd.

2012 ended with a bang for Beer for Dessert. I wrote an article about craft beer and holiday pies for CraftBeer.com (here), and a few of my recipes have been featured on the site, which is awesome! I’m also looking forward to taking an online class on brewing from the Siebel Institute (a surprise Christmas gift from Mr. Beerfordessert).

I rarely make resolutions, but I often enter a new year full of hopes and expectations for the coming months. This year is no exception: I’m hoping to try tons of new beers this year, thus I am dubbing this season “New Beers” season.

My good friend, Adam, recently introduced me to the Crux Fermentation Project out of Bend, OR (featuring the former brewmaster for Deschutes, Larry Sidor) via an awesome holiday gift: a small growler of their Triskel IIPA. A refreshing reminder that although Russian River is no longer distributing to WA, there are still fantastic things going on nearby in the world of west coast IPAs.

I just got back from Port Townsend’s Strange Brew festival this past weekend, full inspiration for new homebrewing and pastry projects: whiskey and ginger with red ale, rauch beer with the flavors of butterscotch candies, pineapple with a big juicy IPA, and much more!

This recipe, however, uses an old favorite. Mr. Beerfordessert had another birthday, and Hair of the Dog Adam continues to be his favorite brew.

Basque cake is a dense, sweet, almost cookie-like cake that happens to be filled with rich pastry cream. It is often flavored with rum, so I thought Adam would feature nicely in this dessert.

The beer:

Hair of the Dog Adam

(this discussion is largely taken from my last post using Adam – the Rum Adam Raisin Cake of 2011)

Style: Interestingly, this beer is kind of in a realm of its own. You’ll see above that BeerAdvocate categorizes it as an old ale, but I (and others) think it may not quite fit into that style. Apparently, it was inspired by an extinct German style known as adambier. It’s got the leathery/dried fruit malt-character of an old ale, but something about the hop character just isn’t quite right for the old ale style. It’s awesome, and something entirely different.

Tasting Notes: The strong malt backbone of this beer is the first thing that hits the palate. Smooth, lightly mouth-coating (not quite cloying) body with flavors of leather, dried fruit, and plums (kind of like some kinds of rum!). The hops start to creep in after a moment or two… just the right amount of bitterness and a bit of that spicy and piney character that I love (maybe Northern Brewer or Chinook?).

Other beers that would be appropriate:

Rochefort 10: The dried fruit and leather flavors in this beer are intense. While it doesn’t have the hop character of Adam, it will definitely give this cake a little something special.
Deschutes Jubelale: This is probably one of my favorite winter warmers. I look forward to it every year. It’s roasty and spicy – a great flavor profile to pair with the richness of pastry cream.
Maritime Pacific Jolly Roger: Brewed down the street from my house, this is a boldly hoppy winter warmer. The hops in this are almost grassy, which I think would add some interesting character to the cake.
Sierra Nevada Bigfoot: This barleywine is delicious and easy to find. The roasty and smooth toffee malt flavors and spicy hop finish are out of this world.
Rogue Hazelnut Brown Nectar: Fruity and nutty at the same time, it would make for an interesting and decadent pastry cream.

The pastry recipes:

Adam Pastry Cream
(makes about 8 oz/1 Cup)

1. Reduce your Adam from 6 oz to about 2 oz.

2. Warm the milk with the vanilla bean in a medium saucepan over high heat. Make sure you slice the vanilla bean in half lengthwise and scrape out the seeds into the milk first.

3. While this is warming, whisk together in a bowl the yolks, granulated sugar, and cornstarch. I find it helps to combine the sugar and cornstarch first, and then whisk that into the yolks (to avoid lumps of cornstarch).

4. Once the milk has started to simmer, pluck out the vanilla bean pod and dump in the Adam reduction. At this point, it may curdle slightly, but never fear – the emulsifying power of yolks is our savior!

5. Temper the hot milk/Adam mixture into the egg yolks. I do this by pouring about ¼ C milk into the yolk mixture and whisking, and then adding about another ½ C, and whisking, and finally adding the rest. Dump this back into the saucepan and put it over medium heat.

6. Whisk the pastry cream constantly while over medium heat until it starts to thicken. It will start bubbling a bit, and may splatter, so take care. Once it is thick and no longer tastes of raw cornstarch, scrape it into a container and cover with plastic wrap (such that the plastic wrap is actually touching the surface of the pastry cream – this will prevent the formation of a skin). You can store pastry cream like this, refrigerated, for up to a week.

Adam Basque Cake
(makes one 7-inch round cake)

1. Cream butter and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment until light and fluffy.

2. Once creamed, slowly add in the eggs and Adam and mix on low speed until fully combined.

3. Add the dry ingredients and mix on low speed until smooth.

Assembly Time!

1. Preheat the oven to 350° F.

2. To build this cake, I use a 7-inch cake ring on a baking sheet lined with parchment. You can try it in a 7- or 8-inch cake pan with parchment on the bottom. I have not tried this yet, and am not sure if it would be too difficult to remove from the pan. Perhaps try buttering the sides and bottom very well? Let me know if you try this method!

3. Start by taking a little less than ½ of the cake batter (14 oz by weight) and spreading it in the bottom of the pan. I piped mine into the pan and made a little lip around the edge to keep the pastry cream contained.

4. Spread the pastry cream on top of this layer, leaving about ¼ inch border free (the lip) all the way around.

5. Pipe or spread the rest of the cake batter (17 oz) over the top – make sure you build the wall up around the pastry cream so it won’t escape during baking!

 

6. Bake for 30 minutes, rotate, and then bake for another 30 minutes. This cake should fall a little bit in the middle once it cools. After cooling, run a paring knife around the edge and remove the ring. Serve with whipped cream, bits of crushed chocolate malt (if you have it), and a maraschino cherry!

I have a few things in the works – a sweet potato pie recipe, some gingersnaps, and an orangey-wit beer cookie to help get us through the rest of winter. Happy new beers, happy baking, and happy drinking!

Another fantastic element of life in Seattle is the abundance of beer festivals. My favorite is held in the autumn — the Elysian Great Pumpkin Beer Festival (GPBF). Breweries from all over town and across the globe come together and provide us Seattleites with the nectar of the gourds, sweet fermented liquid of squashiness. A true beer-lover’s celebration of the great fruit of fall.

This year did not disappoint. My favorites (in no particular order) included some new local breweries. Reuben’s Brews made a Pumpkin Rye that had an obvious rye spiciness to compliment pumpkin pie spices in the concoction. Bainbridge Island Brewing aged a pumpkin ale in a whisky barrel and dubbed the brew Whisky Jack. Just enough whisky to warm your senses and amplify the pumpkin flavor. Epic Ales made a Pumpkin Pie Gose, a sour and salty beer that benefited from the squashy and spicy undertones.

I left the festival hungry for a sweet and tart pumpkin ale inspired dessert, and this cranberry upside-down cake made with Two Beers Pumpkin Spice Ale really hit the spot.

This recipe is aptly inspired by two beers I tried at GPBF. A new Belgium and Elysian collaboration beer, Kick, a sour pumpkin-cranberry ale, and Two Beers Pumpkin Spice Ale – a nicely balanced not-too-sweet but perfectly spiced beer. I haven’t tried this idea yet, but I’d bet that a blend of the two beers would be awesome.

The beer:

Two Beers Pumpkin Spice Ale

Style: Pumpkin Ale! While this isn’t really a BJCP style on its own (they include pumpkin ales in the “Spice, Herb, or Vegetable Beer” category… even though pumpkin is technically a fruit, heh) I like to think of it as its own style of beer. Usually made with pumpkins or some type of squash with spices added, these beers tend to be low in bitterness and accentuate the spices and pumpkin flavor with sweet malty flavors.

Tasting notes: This is the first year I’ve seen a pumpkin ale from Two Beers, and they bottled it! As compared to my default pumpkin ale, Elysian Night Owl, this beer is heavier on the spices and I especially like the amount of nutmeg in the flavor profile. Nutmeg is delicious in the right amount paired with cranberries, so the beer really elevates this simple dessert.

Other beers that would be appropriate:

Elysian Night Owl: This was the first of the style I ever tasted. Spicy, smooth, sweet, and delicious. In pastry school I learned that all pumpkin ales are not created equal by substituting an inferior but ubiquitous pumpkin ale for Night Owl in a mousse base. Just like with wine, when cooking or baking with beer always keep in mind that the beer flavors become highly concentrated when reduced or heated with other ingredients. If you don’t like to drink it – you definitely won’t like it in your dessert!

Elysian Great Pumpkin: This is the sweeter, stronger, and bigger-in-every-way older sister of Night Owl. It’s a limited batch each year, and in my opinion, slightly different each year. This year is sweeter than last year, and the spices are just right.

Southern Tier Pumking: If you want a sweet and cloying (in a good way) pumpkin ale, this is the beer for you. This will make a fantastic cake, and it would also make for some fantastic pumpkin pie!

Howe Sound Pumpkineater: This BC brewery bottles their beer in cute flip-top bottles, so they’re easy to spot on the shelves. They come out with different seasonals every few months, and this pumpkin ale was one of my favorites this fall. It’s sweet and spicy but refreshing at the same time.

The pastry recipes:

Cranberry Upside Down Cake with Two Beers Pumpkin Spice Ale
(makes one 8-inch round cake)

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.

2. Use 1 oz (2T) of butter to grease an 8-inch cake pan. Combine ¼C of granulated and brown sugars with spices and sprinkle evenly over the bottom of the pan. Scatter frozen cranberries over the sugar mixture in an even layer.

3. Cream ½C + 2T (5 oz) butter and ½C (4 oz) of granulated sugar in a stand mixer with the paddle attachment (you can use a hand mixer instead) until light and fluffy.

4. Combine egg, vanilla, and beer and add to the butter mixture, alternating with dry ingredients. Mix until combined.

 

5. Use a piping bag or a plastic bag with the corner cut off to pipe cake batter in an even layer on top of cranberries and smooth with spatula.

6. Bake at 350°F for 40 minutes, turning once, or until cake springs back to the touch in the middle and appears a light golden brown color.

7. Allow to cool for 30 minutes and then run a pairing knife around the outside and invert on to a platter. Enjoy with a glass of pumpkin ale!

Next up, I made Mr. Beerfordessert’s birthday dessert with Hair of the Dog Adam again. This year it’s a totally different kind of birthday cake, and Adam makes it especially yummy.

These peach tartlets, however, were a success. Peaches are a sign of the last drops of summer around here. A reminder to savor the sun, sandals, and tank tops – for the few days that remain before we all hide under our raincoats and winter shoes.

The beer is delicious with peaches and honey. (The sneaky cat in the background is optional accoutroment.)

One of the best ways to learn anything is to fail, right? I’m really trying to come up with a great raspberry tart utilizing Gigantic‘s (a new operation around PDX founded by two local craft brewers: one who spent some time at Pelican and HUB) The City that Never Sleeps Imperial Black Saison. That is a delicious beer, and it tastes great with the tart sweetness of fresh raspberries. I tried, and failed, on a few iterations of brown butter filling made with the beer and raspberries marinated in the beer.

So I decided I’d just let that recipe sit for a bit, try to re-imagine it with a fresh outlook. Perhaps I’ll try a brown-butter quick bread with raspberries and a beer glaze? Yum!

My break from recipe testing for that combination turned out to be these peach tarts! A recent trip to Hawaii rekindled my love for Maui Brewing’s beers, and this one in particular is my new favorite of theirs.

The beer:

Maui Brewing La Perouse White

Style: Belgian Witbier. This style is traditionally brewed with some wheat, coriander, and orange peel. This flavor profile is usually compliment by citrusy esters produced by the belgian yeast strain.

Tasting notes: This beer is brewed with tangerine peel instead of the traditional bitter orange peel. It really shows in the flavor profile: the sweeter citrus sister. The coriander lends a brightness to the beer, and makes it very refreshing. It pairs well with peaches.

Other beers that would be appropriate:

St Bernardus Wit: A classic example of the style. This beer is always great with peaches, and would even make great peach preserves.

Logsdon Kili Wit: I love every beer I’ve had out of this brewery, and this one is no exception. If you can get it, make the tart with this.

Epic Ales Solar Trans Amplifier: An old favorite for a little bit of a different spin on this dessert. Garnish with a little candied ginger if you use this beer, because this beer really tastes of the spices: chamomile and ginger.

Two Beers Panorama Wheat: Another great craft beer in a can. This isn’t a belgian witbier, but it has just enough spiciness from the wheat that I think it would be great in this recipe.

Upright Pure Wit: This portland brewery never disappoints. They even turned me on to this pretty fun game called Rack-O. The Pure Wit is refreshing and citrusy, and has just enough tartness to stand up to the peach flavor in this recipe.

The pastry recipes:

Peaches with honey and Maui La Perouse White (and pan caramel sauce)

I used 2 white peaches and 2 yellow peaches. The white peaches turn a bit pink during the cooking process.

1. Blanch the peaches in boiling water for about 3 minutes and then plunge them into a bowl of ice water. This makes it so you can easily remove the skins.

2. Peel the skin off the peaches and slice them.

3. Melt the butter in a small saucepan with the sugar, honey, and beer over medium heat. Once this mixture is bubbling, add the peach slices and cook them, turning frequently, until they are half-candied.

4. Remove the peach slices. These will keep in the refrigerator for about a week, covered.

5. Allow the sauce in the pan to reduce over medium heat for about ten minutes, until it is slightly caramelized. Reserve the pan caramel sauce to garnish the tarts.

 

Assembling the tarts:

1. Make pâte sucrée from this post and line 5 small tartlet molds with it. Bake these at 350°f for 12 minutes.

2. Make the frangipane (almond cream) from the same post and divide evenly among the 5 tartlets.

3. Push 6 to 7 peach slices into each tartlet and bake for 35 to 40 minutes at 350°F.

4. Cool, remove from tart molds, and garnish with the pan caramel sauce.

I have the Gigantic City that Never Sleeps Imperial Black Saison recipe on deck, and the future holds something delicious made with pumpkin ale, because ’tis the season!

This beer is a definite summer pleaser, acting as a sort of harbinger of the season on some of these rainy Seattle days. “June Gloom,” we call it here.

My favorite part of this dessert is the simplest bit – strawberries marinated in beer for no more than an hour. Eat them freshly out of the beer and they have a bit of zing from the carbonation.

Northwest Brewing Company (originally Laughing Buddha, then Trade Route) is an old favorite of mine around these parts. During my introduction to the craft beer scene around town, I drank a lot of their Ginger Pale Ale and Pandan Brown. A friend from the homebrew club now works there, and gave me a few growlers of the Beach Blonde to experiment with for this dessert.

In fact, during the recent National Homebrewers Conference, I was reminded of NBC’s IPA made with Kaffir Lime Leaves because a member of my homebrew club brewed a similar beer (with tons of lemongrass as well – and it made a great red beer to top it off).

This year’s NHC was my first, as it was held in Seattle. Club night was definitely my favorite event – it was pretty amazing to meet homebrew clubs from all over the country and try their beers. A local club, Impaling Alers, made some delicious beer floats with a raspberry chocolate stout and ice cream. Two other favorites: Stilly Masher’s Nutella Porter, and the Arizona Society of Homebrewers Rye IPA.

My club, the North Seattle Homebrewers, had a nice representation of beers and our booth turned out beautifully (Viva Cascadia!). Our club barrel project, a sour belgian pale, was definitely a favorite. I brought my Chamomile Pale Ale, and it was well-received.

I really enjoyed Gordon Strong’s presentation. Mostly stuff from his book, Brewing Better Beer, but his attitude was the important part for me. He’s a big proponent of combining your skills with knowledge to try new things. I’m right there with him on some things – I’m moving beyond the desire to just slam a beer with bitterness and I’m prepared to celebrate the many complex flavors of hops without the overpowering bitterness. One of my next homebrew projects will be an all late-hopped pale ale.

Also, of course, I loved listening to Nicole Erny speak about tasting beer and developing flavor identification. Sean Paxton‘s dessert at the banquet was pretty inspiring, as well. He made some mousse by infusing cream with Crystal 80. Fantastic idea.

The beer:

Northwest Brewing Company Beach Blonde

Style: Belgian Blonde. These tend to be dominated by the belgian yeast-produced fruity esters like bananas, citrus, and pears. Often some other spicy and fruity notes from the yeast and brewing additions (grains of paradise, coriander, orange peel) are notable.

Tasting notes: Super-refreshing mouthfeel and sweet pear and banana notes. I love the lemony aftertase. Pop a few strawberries in your glass and/or a lemon wedge to boost the fruity flavors in the beer.

Other beers that would be appropriate:

La Chouffe: An old favorite, once again. The cute little gnome on the label entices you to buy two bottles instead of just one. The fruity character in this beer is more peachy than banana/pear, so it would make a different, but delicious, cake. In fact, swap out the strawberries with peach wedges or do a combination if you go with this beer.

Logsdon Seizoen Bretta: In the past year, I’ve had a few beers from Logsdon Farmhouse Ales, a small brewery outside of Hood River, and I’ve been impressed with every one. This one is a not-too-dry and definitely funky tasting Saison. Again, it has a definite pear and peachy character (so much so, the brewery makes a version aged in oak with peaches – I have not tried it yet, but am looking forward to it).

Rogue Honey Orange Wheat: Not to be confused with the Somer Honey Orange. This beer is made by the Eugene Tracktown Brewery and the two are pretty different. Sweet, and doesn’t skimp on the honey and orange flavors. They claim the malts are only 2-row and wheat, but I swear there’s some special honey sweet taste that I would only attribute to honey malt (it must be from the actual honey, I guess). The fact that it’s only 10 IBUs makes it a great choice for sweet dessert applications (on top of the complex orange-honey-malt flavor profile).

Hilliard’s Saison: Another beer in a can! This is a local (out of Ballard) brewery with two types of beers in cans all over the city: an amber, and this delicious saison. The saison-in-a-can is yet another sign that the future of craft beer is cans. It’s dry, refreshing, and very citrus-fruity (lemons ahoy!).

The pastry recipes:

Chiffon Cake with NW Brewing Beach Blonde
(makes one half-sheet of cake)

Chiffon cake is one of those hybrid cakes. It’s leavened chemically (baking powder), and also with whipped egg whites. It comes out deliciously fluffy from the egg whites and satisfyingly moist from the addition of egg yolks and vegetable oil. It keeps well in the freezer and the refrigerator.

1. Preheat oven to 350°F and prepare a half-sheet pan with parchment or a silpat (no need to oil or flour anything).

2. Combine the flours, baking powder, the first addition of sugar, vegetable oil, egg yolks, beer, vanilla, and salt and whisk to combine.

3. Beat the egg whites in a stand mixer until they reach soft peaks, then add the sugar and continue beating until they reach stiff peaks.

4. Fold the egg whites into the first mixture until it is uniformly-mixed.

5. Spread in half-sheet pan and bake for 25 to 30 minutes. When the cake is done it will be nicely golden-brown and spring back to the touch.

 

Lemon Curd with NW Brewing Beach Blonde
(makes about 2 ½ C of lemon curd)

Zest the lemons before you juice them, it’s easier that way.

1. Combine the lemon juice, beer, zest, eggs, and granulated sugar in a stainless steel saucepan and cook while whisking over medium heat until it starts to thicken and bubble.

2. Let it bubble for a minute or two while whisking, remove from the heat and pour into a bowl. Whisk in the butter until it melts. Store, covered, in the refrigerator for up to two weeks.

Strawberries marinated in NW Brewing Beach Blonde

1. Chop strawberries into desired size. I sliced about 8 of them in half (to go around the outside of the cake), and the rest of them I chopped into smaller pieces.

2. Put them in a jar and pour about 1 C of beer over them, until they are all covered. Seal, and marinate in the refrigerator for no more than one hour. If you leave them too long, the strawberries start to break down. Drain and reserve the strawberries separately from the liquid.

The great thing about this is that once you drain the berries for use, you can still drink the beer! (It won’t lose all of its carbonation during the marinating time).

Cake Assembly

 

You’ll need about 1 C of heavy whipping cream for this, and everything else you just made above.

1. Cut out 3 circles of your desired size (I did 7-inch circles) from your half sheet cake. Place the first one on a piece of cardboard covered with aluminum foil and wrap with a strip of acetate. If you don’t have acetate, you can use a long piece of aluminum foil, you just won’t be able to see the outside of the cake until you remove it. I’ve done it this way before, and it works just the same.

2. Spread about ½ C of lemon curd on top of the first cake layer. Top with the next cake layer and add another ½ C of lemon curd. Arrange the half strawberries around the outside of the cake and sprinkle the
remaining pieces evenly around the middle.

3. Whip the 1 C of cream to soft peaks and fold in 1 C of the lemon curd. Spread over the top of the strawberry layer and smooth.

4. Remove the acetate or aluminum foil and serve. You can keep this in the refrigerator for a little while, but the strawberries will start to leak and disintegrate with time, so eat it fresh!

I’m thinking of doing some sort of breakfast pastry thing next. Either that or something inspired by summer fruit and sour beer flavors.

Seattle Beer Week can take full responsibility for rekindling my adoration for milk stouts (I’ve been a longtime fan of the Left Hand Milk Stout) – this year, Elysian produced a coffee milk stout commemorative beer for the week (Split Shot Espresso Milk Stout). Sweetness from lactose and the bitterness from chocolate malt and coffee marry nicely.

Speaking of coffee, Naked City brewed a Coffee IPA. Just when I’d thought new frontiers in IPAs would be a rare find, this one blew me away. Try it if you can find it. Or brew some!

I attended the yearly Sour Beer Fest at Brouwer’s, and was happy to discover that I could try Cantillon’s Fou’Foune (apricot-y and gorgeous), and Iris. Iris happens to be a very interestingly hopped sour. Novelty is always good in a beer, especially when it delivers a pleasant flavor profile.

Jamie Floyd of Ninkasi gave a beer sensory analysis class at the end of the week that inspired me to learn more about flavor and how the brain creates it. In fact, I’m reading a fantastic book on the topic right now: Neurogastronomy : how the brain creates flavor and why it matters. I’m fascinated with the two ways humans use the sense of smell (inhaling vs. exhaling), and that the retronasal route (exhaling) has the biggest impact on the perception of flavor.

This dessert is a celebration of sugar and the fact that it can be used to create two opposing tastes: sweetness and bitterness. The custard is sweet from the strong malt backbone of this Scotch Ale (with a helpful boost of richness from cream and egg yolks), and the burned sugar on top sings with bitterness. Chocolate malt shortbread plays a similar melody – a sweet, rich cookie speckled with bitterness from roasty chocolate malt.

Bittersweet, as it were.

The beer:

Port Townsend Scotch Ale

Style: Scotch Ale. Should be a solid malt-bomb with great body and strong caramel notes.

Tasting notes: This beer, also known as Peeping Peater, has definite peaty notes in it. An earthy smokiness that makes the sweetness and body a bit more bearable. The hops are lost, but that’s not the point of this beer.

Other beers that would be appropriate:

Oskar Blues Old Chub: A scotch ale in a can, you say!? What is this!? No longer just a hipster accessory around Seattle, cans are the future of our liquid bread. It’s more energy efficient to transport them than glass. And whether or not you care about energy efficiency, you probably care about the price of your beer. This beer will make a great crème brûlée.

Borderlands Noche Dulce Vanilla Porter: This beer is probably hard to get right now except on tap around the Tucson area. An old friend introduced me to this brewery on a recent trip to the southwest and it has been on my mind since then. A deep and roasty porter with an acceptable amount of body and in-your-face sweetness from the vanilla. Just enough vanilla. My hope is that this brewery explodes and starts bottling (or canning) and sending the bottles (cans) straight to my door in Seattle.

Silver City Fat Scotch: A fat beer, for sure. If that’s even an apt flavor descriptor. Mouth-coating caramel flavor and fruitiness make this a great idea for a beer-infused crème brûlée.

The pastry recipes:

Crème Brûlée with Port Townsend Scotch Ale
(makes 4 small ramekins of crème brûlée)

NOTE: I usually don’t do this, because it doesn’t seem to make a huge difference, but in this recipe it does. Use degassed beer for this recipe. Pour out what you need the night before and let it lose its carbonation. Trust me, if you don’t, your custard will be very aerated and this will affect the mouthfeel and decrease your perception of the richness.

1. Preheat oven to 350°F and place your ramekins in a large high-sided pan. (You will fill the pan halfway up with hot water before sliding it into the oven, to bake the custard in a water bath.)

2. Separate your two eggs. The best way to do this is with your hands. Just make sure to wash them afterwards. And enjoy the experience of connecting with the texture of your food in its component parts in this manner. Save the whites for something else.

3. Whisk together all of the ingredients in a pitcher and portion into ramekins.

4. There will be some bubbles on top from your whisking. You want to get rid of those. Either skim them off or use my method: burst quickly with a blowtorch to pop them.

5. Pour hot water into your pan halfway up the ramekins and bake, covered for about 35 minutes. Uncover and bake for about 10 minutes more, until the custard jiggles uniformly.

6. Chill completely, overnight in the refrigerator.

7. For brûléeing, I use the 3-layer method. Sprinkle sugar on top of the custard and tap it off until there is a thin even layer. Torch until it is just melted, but not yet starting to caramelize. Add another layer of sugar and do the same thing. Finally, on the third layer, you get to caramelize it. This method yields the perfect thickness for that satisfying cracking noise as you plunge your spoon into the brûlée.

 

Chocolate Malt Shortbread – made with DME
(makes about 15 cookies)

If you don’t have access to chocolate malt or DME, replace with the same amount of cocoa nibs and brown sugar, respectively.

1. Chop the butter into small cubes and crush the chocolate malt in a food processor.

2. Combine all ingredients in a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and mix on low speed until a dough forms.

3. Chill for about an hour, preheat oven to 350°F and roll out dough to about ¼-inch thickness.

4. Cut out desired shapes. I used a spring-inspired flower-shaped cutter, and then used a pastry tip and a paring knife to make it look more fancy. Place cookies on a sheet pan lined with parchment.

5. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes until slightly golden brown at the edges. Cool, and enjoy with the crème brûlée.

 

I’m anxiously awaiting berry season around here. I have a few summery berry recipes up my sleeve.

Sure, it has a boring name, but it makes up for it in style.

This recipe took a few tries. Four, to be exact.

Achieving a similar density between the blondie batter and the brownie batter was a challenge. And then I had to make sure the beer flavor was well-balanced as part of the dessert, and not too overpowered by the chocolate.

To top it off, I realized that it needed something salty. Not just plain old run-of-the-mill pretzel salty, though. I sprinkled these chocolate-dipped pretzels with some homemade Centennial Hop Salt. The perfect amount of bitterness and aromatics. Even suitable for the faint of hop in your life.

The beer:

Dogfish Head Palo Santo Marron

Style: They call it an American Brown Ale. Its depth of flavor is unmatched by most others in this style. Aged in an enormous tank made from the wood of the Palo Santo tree, this beer is really something special.

Tasting notes: Deep and complex from the uniqueness of the wood, this beer is usually a sipper for me. It tastes of super-dark cocoa and smoky vanilla. It’s sweet, and not as hot as you would expect for being 12% abv.

Other beers that would be appropriate:

Allagash Curieux: I originally wanted to make this recipe with Curieux. I thought I had a bottle stored away in the cellar, but it turns out I did not. Sadly, Allagash stopped distributing to WA, so I’ll have to wait until I can procure another bottle. Curieux is a bourbon barrel aged Belgian tripel. It’s sweet and citrusy, nicely malty, and super bourbon-forward. I’ve always thought it tasted amazing with chocolate, so this recipe is a no-brainer for it.

The pastry recipes:

Palo Santo Marron Black and Tan Brownies
(make a ¼ sheet batch of brownies)

The tan part:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F and prepare a ¼-sheet pan by lining it with parchment paper.

2. Melt the butter, sugars, and beer all together in a saucepan over medium heat. While this is melting, measure the white chocolate into a medium-sized bowl.

3. Once the butter and sugar mixture is melted and bubbling, pour it over the white chocolate and whisk until everything is melted.

4. Add the 2 eggs and whisk to combine. Add in the flour, baking powder, and salt and whisk until uniform.

5. Dump into the prepared pan and spread in an even layer with an offset spatula.

The chocolate part:

1. Melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add the 1 T of beer (or water, if you like), and the sugar and whisk until bubbling and hot.

2. Pour over the 3 oz of chocolate chips (in a medium bowl) and whisk until melted. Add the egg and vanilla and whisk to combine. Add the dry ingredients and whisk until uniform. Fold in the 2 oz of chocolate chips.

3. With a large piping bag, pipe 5 stripes along the top of the tan blondie batter. Drag a paring knife at a 90° angle across the pan, back and forth, to create the design. If you’re not comfortable with piping, just drop spoonfuls of brownie batter on top of the blondie batter and swirl randomly with a knife.

4. Bake for 40 minutes, rotating the pan once at the halfway point. Check that a knife inserted in the center comes out clean before you remove the brownie.

5. Once cool, run a knife around the outside, invert, and cut into 2.5-inch squares and garnish with chocolate-dipped pretzels sprinkled with hop salt (info below).

 

Chocolate Dipped Pretzels with Hop Salt
(makes 20 chocolate dipped pretzels)

1. Melt the chocolate in a metal bowl over a small saucepan of simmering water (I call this a bain marie sometimes).

2. Meanwhile, process the hop pellets in the food processor with 2 T of the kosher salt until fairly well-combined. Mix with the remaining ½ C of kosher salt and store in an airtight container for up to 2 months. I used Centennial hops for their super-citrusy flavor and aroma. They are quite bitter, though. So you might want to go with a lower AA hop if bitterness isn’t your thing.

3. When the chocolate is melted, dip each pretzel (i only dipped half of each) and lay on a sheet of parchment. Sprinkle with hop salt and allow to sit at room temperature until set.

Next project? Either a shortbread with hops I’m working on for NHC treats, or a beer-infused creme brulee.

One part rhubarb, two parts hope.

That’s the recipe for spring here in Seattle. Oh, and the rhubarb is optional.

Since my discovery of Snoqualmie Brewery and their Spring Fever Belgian Grand Cru a few years ago, the waiting period between gloom and summer around here has become a bit more exciting. The beer is awesomely fruity and refreshing, and is a perfect addition to spritz cookies and rhubarb jam.

Before I continue, I need to confess something. I did something really nerdy.

I went to Emerald City Comicon.

Not only did I attend the famed nerd gathering, but I actually stood in line and got Wil Wheaton’s autograph.

Yes. I think Wil Wheaton is pretty awesome. I am admitting it in public. It has nothing to do with his participation in a television show from the 90s with a title that rhymes with Bar Check (a show that my sister forced me to watch as a child – against my will, of course).

Nah. It’s because he’s also a homebrewer.

In fact, he was kind enough to autograph my AHA membership card. Cheers, Mr. Wheaton. Keep on brewin’ on.

The beer:

Snoqualmie Spring Fever

Style: BeerAdvocate calls it a Belgian Strong Pale Ale, the bottle calls it a Belgian Style Grand Cru Ale. This area of beer styles is full of delicious yeast-driven flavors: fruity esters, spicy notes, and bready-ness. Often the beers are brewed with spices and such that boost the yeasty esters (coriander, grains of paradise, and orange peel are common). In the case of the Belgian Pale Ale or the Belgian Strong Pale Ale, some hop notes are usually present, and Snoqualmie definitely went for floral and spicy hops in this one.

Tasting notes: I love that this beer is sweet but not cloying. It doesn’t stick to the inside of your mouth for long, which makes it pretty refreshing. The citrus notes remind me a bit of orange flower water, and the spice is definitely coriander. It gives the rhubarb jam kind of an earthy malty sweetness in the background, and it brightens up the cookie dough and the ganache drizzle with its hint of spice and citrus.

Other beers that would be appropriate:

Duvel: The quintessential Belgian Strong Pale Ale. This beer actually tastes more like apples and spice than floral/citrus, so it would definitely rock with the rhubarb.
De Dolle Bos Keun: I’ve written about Bos Keun, before. I’m sure of it. This is an old favorite. The cute pink cartoon bunny on the label inspired me (and Mr. Beerfordessert) to name our homebrewed clone of the beer “Harvey.” If you use this one, definitely use orange blossom honey in the rhubarb jam. It will be legendary.
La Chouffe: I can’t jump into spring here without mentioning La Chouffe. I’ve had a long love affair with La Chouffe and that cute little gnome on the label. It’s refreshing, peachy, and very spicy.

The pastry recipes:

If you don’t want to make the rhubarb jam, the spritz cookies can still be delicious. Use some of that raspberry (or strawberry) jam sitting around in your fridge. Mix in a bit of the Spring Fever, reduce it down for a few minutes over low heat, and go to town.

Rhubarb Jam with Spring Fever and Honey
(makes about 2 C of jam)

1. The day before you make the jam: Place all the ingredients in a large bowl, toss, cover with parchment, and store in refrigerator overnight.

2. The next day, drain the juice from the preparation into a large heavy-bottomed pan with high sides and cook over high heat (skimming occasionally) until the mixture reaches 221°F on a thermometer.

3. Add the diced rhubarb and simmer for about 5 more minutes, until the rhubarb is nearly candied. Transfer to sanitized jars and process in a hot water bath for 20 minutes.

 

Spring Fever Spritz/Thumbprint Cookies
(makes about 2 dozen 2-inch cookies)

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Make sure your butter is nice and warm (I leave mine sitting out for a while). Cream the butter with the powdered sugar in the bowl of your stand mixer with the paddle attachment until light and fluffy.

2. Meanwhile, reduce the beer by half (to ¼C) by simmering it slowly on the stove.

3. When the butter and powdered sugar are well-creamed, add in the beer and the egg yolk. Mix until well-combined and add the flour, mixing until you have a sticky dough. If you’re making spritz cookies, you’ll want the dough to be very soft and pliable, so it will be easy to pipe or push through a spritz cookie extruder.

4. Transfer the dough to a pastry bag fitted with a large star tip and pipe 2-inch rosettes onto sheet pans lined with parchment. I put a tiny bit of dough underneath the parchment to “glue” it to the sheet pan to keep it from moving around while I’m piping. If you don’t want to pipe or use an extruder, you can drop tablespoonfuls of the dough onto the parchment and move on to the next step.

5. Use your pointer finger (or thumb) dipped in water to make impressions in the center of the cookie. Pipe (I used a paper cone filled with rhubarb jam) or spoon about a teaspoonful of rhubarb jam into the cavity in the center of each cookie.

6. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes until light golden brown.

Once the cookies are cool, drizzle them with Spring Fever ganache (recipe below) and enjoy!

Spring Fever White Chocolate Ganache
(makes about ¾ C)

1. Reduce the beer to 2 T (1 oz) by simmering it on the stovetop. Add the cream and butter and keep warm.

2. Melt the white chocolate in a metal bowl over a pan of simmering water on the stovetop.

3. Once the white chocolate is melted, bring the beer mixture to a boil and pour over top of the chocolate. Whisk to combine.

4. Drizzle with a spoon or a paper cone over the cookies and chill in the refrigerator to set.

 

I’m in need of inspiration for my next project! I’m loving Deschutes Chainbreaker White IPA and was thinking it would be a nice addition to raspberry cheesecake.

Blueberry and custard tartlets with Elysian’s Fallout Cardamom Pale Ale?

Black and tan brownies with Allagash Curieux?

P.S. – Don’t you just love that green plate in my photos with the leaf impressions? It was made by the fabulous Erin of Carlton Ceramics. She used leaves from my hop bines to make the impressions.

Sasquatch.

A man in a gorilla suit.

Whatever you choose to call it, the hairy beast is on my mind these days. Not because I live a mere 150 miles from Ape Canyon, WA, the site of a 1924 alleged bigfoot sighting. (Hilarious and definitely a bit creepy.)

This monster has been on my mind because I’m getting excited about this year’s National Homebrewers Conference, held this June right here in our beautiful city! The theme is “Brewin’ with Bigfoot” and I’m happy to say I’ve seen a man in a gorilla suit at more than one homebrew event in the past year. My homebrew club has been working hard on some devious plans for our booth construction, and I’m trying to come up with snack ideas.

I’ve been distracted with this bread pudding idea for a good while now, so I figured I’d just go for it. Bigfoot is a great choice for bread pudding. I chose to use this year’s vintage. It really makes this dessert something special.

The beer:

Sierra Nevada Bigfoot

Style: American Barleywine. To me, the notable difference between an American Barleywine and an English Barleywine is hop flavor and hop bitterness. The English ones are more malt-forward, and things like roasted barley and/or chocolate malt make for most of the bitter notes. The American Barleywines really celebrate the hop bitterness, and the fresh ones tend to pack a punch when it comes to hop flavor. The malt is there, too, of course. With some time on it, this style will develop some dried fruit and sherry flavors. Mr. Beerfordessert and I store a few bottles in the cellar every year for future enjoyment.

Tasting notes: Bigfoot 2012 definitely has a toffee-like flavor from the malt bill. That makes it a perfect choice for bread pudding. The hops definitely represent the Northwest: piney, a bit earthy, and citrusy. I also detect a bit of a raisin and dried fruit flavor in there.

Other beers that would be appropriate:

Hair of the Dog Doggie Claws: This is a great example of an American Barleywine brewed with Northwest hops. I also know for a fact that Hair of the Dog makes their own version of bread pudding with this, served at the tasting room in Portland. I haven’t tried it, but the beer is good, and the food is always excellent. Probably because Alan Sprints, the brewer-owner is also a chef and knows his stuff!
Full Sail Old Boardhead: This is an old favorite of mine. I’ve made caramel ice cream with cellared vintages in the past, so I’m confident it will be great in this dessert.
J.W. Lees Harvest Ale (Lagavulin Whisky Cask): I chose the whisky cask version because that is the one I enjoyed most recently. The depth of malt flavor, smokiness, and sherry notes make it especially well-suited to the rich custard and toasty bread flavors in this treat.

The pastry recipes:

Before we jump into the recipes, let’s talk a bit about bread pudding. When embarking on this project, I started out by doing a bit of research on the topic. I’ll admit, I’ve never been a huge fan of the powerful richness of this dessert, so I don’t have a great deal of experience making or eating it. My research comes mostly from an old textbook from pastry school: Bo Friberg’s The Professional Pastry Chef. Friberg’s recipes rarely let me down, and this item is no exception.

Bread pudding was historically a great use for old, stale bread (and still is). Just soak dried bread cubes in a rich custard, mix with whatever nuts and dried fruit you have laying around, bake, and Ta-da! An incredibly rich dessert that can satisfy you with just a few bites.

It turns out there’s another style of bread pudding that explodes with even more flavor (fat) called Bread and Butter pudding. You butter some slices of bread, toast them to golden-brown, layer them with nuts and dried fruit, and soak the whole thing in a custard overnight before baking. Oh, and you pour on some heavy cream after the soak for good measure.

That is what I’ve decided to make. I’m going for broke here and holding nothing back. This bread and butter pudding is exploding with richness and Bigfoot.

I had some chocolate malt laying around from a recent homebrewing project so I decided to crush that up a bit and mix it with the nuts and dried fruit in the filling for good measure. Cocoa nibs would be a nice touch if you’re not a homebrewer.

Cover it in a gooey Bigfoot caramel sauce and garnish it with Bigfoot whipped cream. Do not be afraid. This will not disappoint you.

Bigfoot Bread and Butter Pudding with Chocolate Malt
(makes enough to fill a square 8 or 9 inch pan)

1. Preheat the oven to 400°F. Slice your Challah into ~ 1-inch slices, brush each side of the slices with melted butter (the 4 T above ought to do it, with a little bit left over to butter your baking dish) and toast until golden brown, about 15 minutes. Brush the remaining melted butter on the bottom and sides of your square baking dish.

2. While the bread is toasting and cooling, prepare the custard. Whisk the eggs, sugar, and vanilla together in a large mixing bowl. Add the 3 oz of melted butter and whisk to combine. Add the milk, Bigfoot, and nutmeg (I actually don’t measure the nutmeg – I either grab a pinch or do a quick grate of fresh nutmeg on my microplane) and whisk to combine.

3. When the toast is cool, cut the pieces into rectangular shapes and arrange in a snug layer in the bottom of the dish. Pour half the custard over the top, and then half of the heavy cream. Sprinkle the almonds, dried cranberries, and chocolate malt over this layer. (I crushed my chocolate malt up in my food processor for a bit, first.)

 

4. Arrange the remaining toast squares over the top in a second snug layer. Pour the rest of the custard over the top, but not the rest of the cream (we’re saving that for last). Put some parchment paper over the top of the pudding and add a plate with some weights to keep everything submerged (I used some extra bottles of Bigfoot). Soak overnight in the refrigerator (preferred) or at least two hours at room temp.

5. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350°F. Pour the remaining cream on top of the pudding. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove foil and bake for another 30 minutes. The pudding will puff and get golden brown on top. When it is done it will be set (uniformly jiggly across the whole thing).

6. Allow to cool to room temp. You can cut this into squares or flip it out and cut it into circles like I did.

Serve with the caramel sauce from this post (made with Bigfoot), and Bigfoot whipped cream (½ C of cream whipped with 2 T powdered sugar and either 2 T of Bigfoot or 2 T of the Bigfoot caramel).

Enjoy!

This better be the end of winter around these parts, and I’m hoping this bread pudding was enough to satisfy our winter cravings. I’m ready for spring, so I’ll be baking up something loaded with the promise of brighter days for my next project.

And now you’re shocked that I’m devoting a whole post to it.

I am, too.

I’ve been disappointed with this kind of dessert. It always seems like the cake needs more beer and less chocolate. Chocolate and stout together isn’t really a bad idea. These are flavors that want to be together. They taste good together. I just think the dessert needs to be done in the right way. A dessert that’s deserving of the beer you put into it.

In a way, I came around on this idea by deconstructing it. The cake here is all beer and no chocolate. The frosting has a great balance to it – the sweetness, the buttery-ness, the chocolatey-ness. And a hint of bourbon, of course.

The credit for this goes to my boss, really. These are both recipes I make at work, with a few tweaks (the beer, for one – we make this cake with white wine at work). He also gave me encouragement on this deconstruction idea, pointing out that the chocolate would be easily distinguishable from the stout by way of texture alone. When you’re tasting the frosting, you feel it on your tongue differently than the cake.

The beer:

Deschutes Obsidian Stout

Style: American Stout. Beer nerds spend a good amount of time arguing about stout and porter and history. I can’t really say I have a strong opinion about the history of the style or the history of the difference between stout and porter. I leave it to people like Martyn Cornell and Ron Pattinson. You can get sucked into that stuff and spend hours learning from those guys about the rich and dramatic history of beer on this planet. I love it. One thing’s for sure: beer styles are constantly evolving and there’s always room for new ideas and adaptations.

Tasting notes: This beer is the very embodiment of all of the roasty/malty/coffee/chocolate things that a stout should be. The bitterness in the finish hits spot on, a nice combination of northwest hops and roasted malt bitterness. This stuff is delicious with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. In fact, it’d be delicious as an ice cream flavor!

Other beers that would be appropriate:

Elysian Dragonstooth Stout: I used to work at a cupcake shop that spent a season making chocolate cupcakes with this beer. The best part was that we also made a caramel sauce with it. Deep and roasty, I loved to sneak a spoonful of the sauce when no one was looking.
Firestone Walker Velvet Merlin: This beer is great mixed with bourbon (it’s no mistake that FW has brewed a bourbon-barrel aged imperial version of this beer in limited batches). Try it in the cake with a bit of bourbon, I dare you!
Georgetown Porter: This beer used to be called 9 Lb Porter but Georgetown was forced to change the name as a result of some sort of trademark dispute with another brewery. Boo on that, hooray for the malt bomb that is this beer. Steep it briefly with some market spice tea before mixing it into the cake batter and you’ll have a cake that celebrates the flavors of Seattle. Better yet, if you’re really ambitious you can brew up a batch of Market Spice Porter and use that in the cake.
Alaskan Smoked Porter: Adds a little something special to this cake. If you like bacon and chocolate, you’ll like this beer and you’ll love the cake.

The pastry recipes:

Obsidian Stout Cake
(makes one half-sheet cake layer, enough for about 5 or 6 individual stout cakes)

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, sugar and vanilla.

2. Add the oil and stout and whisk to combine. If you want to see something interesting, measure the oil and stout in the same measuring cup (see below). It’s a little bit otherworldly.

3. Sift in the dry ingredients all together and whisk to combine. At this point, I let the mixture sit for a few minutes while I gather my half-sheet pan, parchment paper, and offset spatula.

4. Give the mixture one last whisk to get rid of clumps, pour into a half-sheet pan lined with parchment and spread with an offset spatula. Make sure you push the batter into the corners really well.

5. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes at 350°F. The cake is done when it springs back to the touch in the center.

Chocolate Frosting
(frosts about 5 or 6 individual stout cakes)

1. Melt the 12 oz of bittersweet chocolate and 10 oz of butter in a metal bowl over a hot water bath.

2. While this is melting, whip the 8 oz of butter in your stand mixer with the paddle attachment until light and fluffy.

3. Add the powdered sugar and cocoa powder, and mix with the paddle until combined uniformly.

4. With the mixer on low speed, add the cream slowly. The mixture will look a bit gross and broken, but that is normal at this stage.

5. Dissolve the instant espresso into the hot water and combine with the vanilla extract and bourbon. Pour this on top of your melted chocolate and butter mixture.

6. With the mixer on low speed, pour in the hot mixture and mix until the frosting is uniform and no longer streaky. Scrape the bowl once during this process. At this point the frosting will be very liquidy.

step 3	step 4	step 6

7. You can store the frosting in a sealed container at room temperature for up to a few weeks. When you need to use it, you may need to warm it over a hot water bath to get it to a spreadable consistency.

Assembling the Cakes
 
1. Once the cake is cool, pour chocolate frosting on top of it (leave it in the pan!) and spread into an even, thin layer.

2. Store this in the refrigerator for at least an hour, until it firms up nicely.

3. Once the frosting layer is firm, run a paring knife around the outside of the cake (it’s ok if the frosting breaks a little bit), and flip out on to a cutting board.

4. Using a round cookie cutter (I used a 3-inch one), cut out circles and arrange them in stacks of three. I dusted my cake landing area with a little powdered sugar to keep the cake from sticking.

Note: Beware of leaving cake scraps unattended. As you can see below, a passerby stole a bit of cake for a snack! To avoid this problem altogether, you could make square cakes, leaving little to no scraps.

5. Warm some chocolate frosting to a spreadable consistency and frost each cake. I attack this task by frosting the sides and then the top. I then wield my spatula with fury, running it over the frosting in a random manner in order to achieve a rustic “country-style” look.

Enjoy your cake with a nice glass of Obsidian Stout. Cheers to a chocolate stout cake recipe that really respects the beer!

I’m still toying with the Berliner Weisse cake idea, but I think it will take a bit of tweaking. Woodruff is one of the homebrewing plants I’ll be growing in the P-Patch this summer, so maybe I’ll wait until I have a nice stash and make my own syrup.

For now, I’m celebrating the end of winter by making barleywine bread pudding.