Dessert

Vanilla Shortbread and Blackberry Beer Jam Bars

29.04.2016 9 Comments

Vanilla Shortbread and Blackberry Beer Jam Bars

There are all these little things we don’t talk about.

I pretend, over here on the other side of this computer, that I’ve got my shit together. And you pretend to believe me. But really, I’m a mess. I had to have someone teach my how to organize a file cabinet. My talents don’t extend to organization, I’d rather make duck confit and lemon soufflé than an Excel spread sheet.

I spent all day trying to make Apple Pie Bars with Stout Caramel Sauce and Cinnamon Pale Ale Short Bread Crust and then this happened. Yesterday I had Honey Stout Glazed Salmon with Asparagus Blackberry Salad for lunch, but I had cereal and popcorn for dinner. In front of the TV.

I also have a bit of an overly enmeshed relationship with my UPS guy. He’s at my house roughly 6 times a week, sometimes even twice a day. He reads my blog, knows about my family and always has a guess as to which brewery I’ve received beer from that day. Someday’s he’s basically my only in-person human conversation, which makes his sunny attitude that much more of a benefit to our daily chats.

When Lagunitas sent over Aunt Sally, neither of us had the opportunity to play that "who sent this?" game, the name was on the side of the box. It sat in my beer cellar (the bottom shelf of my fridge) for a week while I decided what to do with it. I like fruit with sours. I also like something to balance it, something round and warm and mellow and buttery to counter the pinchy sour-tart flavors of a wild ale. So this happened.

Really, I just let myself open this as a way to console myself for the apple pie bar fiasco. Then the recipe just sort of happened. But I’ll let you pretend like you believe that it was a calculated move all along.

Vanilla Shortbread and Blackberry Beer Jam Bars

Print Recipe

Servings 9 bars

Ingredients

Crust:

1 cups 120g all purpose flour
1/3 cup 35g powdered sugar
½ tsp 3g salt
6 tbs 84g unsalted butter, cut into cubes
1 tsp 3g vanilla extract

Filling:

1 lbs blackberries fresh or frozen
1 cup wild ale gose, sour, lambic, Flanders red
1 cup 105g powdered sugar

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350.
Add the flour, powdered sugar, and salt to a food processor, pulse to combine.
Add the butter and vanilla extract, process until well combined.
Line an 8x8 baking dish with parchment paper. Press the crust into the bottom of the pan in an even layer.
Bake at 350 for 18-22 minutes or until just starting to turn a light golden brown. Allow to cool.
Add the blackberries, beer and powdered sugar to a sauce pan over medium high heat. Boil until thickened, stirring occasionally, about 12 minutes.
Pour the blackberries in an even layer on top of the crust. Chill until blackberries have set, about 1 hour.
Lift out of the pan using the parchment paper. Cut into squares.

Beer S’Mores: Stout Chocolate Bar and Belgian Ale Marshmallows

15.04.2016 8 Comments

Beer S’Mores: Stout Chocolate Bar and Belgian Ale Marshmallows

There are foods I only like for nostalgic reasons. Fritos and bean dip, Jello-cake with whipped cream frosting, Taco Bell. It reminds me of growing up, in a house with ten people, and meal time was more of a defrost-and-feed triage. S’mores has one foot in that circle. It’s a partial reminder of those early days. You knew the day was special when it ended with S’mores. It was an afternoon-on-the-lake, camping-with-friends, backyard-grill-outs, kind of day that ended with a bunch of kids pulling puffy marshmallows out of a large plastic bag, skewering them with a wire coat hanger, and trying not to fall into the open fire pit. I was the burn-it-black kind of marshmallow maker. I was the charred-outside, melty-inside kinda girl. Now, I like to brulé homemade marshmallows to the perfect golden brown, serve them over homemade stout flavored chocolate bars along side a great beer. But I’ll still eat my weight in bean dip scooped up with Fritos because some things never change.

Intimidated of marshmallow making? Check out my step-by-step tutorial (with photos). Just replace the water in the tutorial with beer.

Beer S’Mores: Stout Chocolate Bar and Belgian Ale Marshmallows

Print Recipe

Ingredients

For the marshmallows:

Powdered sugar
3 ½ envelopes unflavored gelatin such as Knox
1 cup beer flat and cold*
2 cups granulated sugar
½ cup light corn syrup
2 large egg whites
½ tsp salt
3 tsp vanilla extract

For the Chocolate Bars:

10 wt oz dark chocolate (62% cacao)
1/3 cup stout beer

For the s’mores:

18 graham crackers

Instructions

Make the marshmallows:

Grease a 9x13 baking pan, sprinkle with powdered sugar until well coated, set aside.
In the bowl of a stand mixer add ½ cup cold flat beer. Sprinkle with gelatin. Allow to stand while the sugar is being prepared.
In a large saucepan (mixture will bubble up considerably) over medium heat, add the remaining ½ cup beer, sugar and corn syrup. Stir until the sugar has dissolved.
Raise heat to high and allow to boil until the mixture reads 240F on a candy thermometer (about 6-8 minutes).
Once the temperature has been reached, turn off heat.
Turn the mixer on low and slowly pour the hot sugar mixture into the gelatin. Once all the sugar has been added turn the mixer on high until light and fluffy and tripled in volume, about 6 minutes.
While the mixer is running, prepare the egg whites. Add the egg whites to a bowl with the salt. Beat on high with a hand mixer until stiff peaks form.
Gently fold the egg whites and vanilla extract into the stand mixer ingredients until just combined.
Pour the marshmallows into the prepared pan. Sprinkle with powdered sugar. Allow to set at room temperature until set, about 2 hours. Remove from pan, cut into squares.

Make the chocolate bars:

In the top of a double boiler add the chocolate and beer. Stir until the chocolate has melted and combined with the beer. Line a loaf pan with parchment paper. Pour the chocolate into the prepared pan in an even layer. Chill until set, about 20 minutes. Cut into 9 squares. Can be made four days ahead of time.

Make the s’mores:

Brulé the marshmallows, sandwich one square of chocolate and one bruléed marshmallow between two graham crackers.

Chocolate Covered Strawberry Stout Brownies

23.03.2016 21 Comments

Chocolate Covered Strawberry Stout Brownies

I was on a train, somewhere near midnight, traveling south trough Italy. I was 20-years-old, traveling with another girl my age who was hardly bigger than a middle schooler. We found a sleeping car, closed the door and latched it shut. These are the things you do when you’re a small girl, traveling by train in the recesses of a foreign country, you lock all doors with all available locks.

While boarding we’d seen the guys who loudly claimed the car next to ours and seemed to be throwing an Italian frat party inches from the beds we’d claimed for the night. We hear them quiet down, chatter in hushed Italian, laugh, whisper again. Then they start to bang on the adjoining wall. Their shouts get louder. We hear the door open, two of them start to bang on our flimsy door secured with an equally flimsy lock. We tell them to go away, we don’t want to party, but this somehow is perceived as encouragement. They don’t understand English, and their reply is just as unintelligible to us. They retreat.

Throughout the night, and the various stops along the route between Venice and Bari, we hear them attempt to make contact again. We hardly sleep, scared that the lock will give out and we will finally find out what a pack of mid-20’s Italian men want with the two American girls. Somewhere near dawn, we pull into a small train station in a remote part of Southern Italy and we hear them file out of the door and into the small train hallway, clearly they’ve reached their destination. Just before the car next to us is finally quiet we hear a loud, aggressive knock on the pocket door that’s served as our bouncer and safeguard for the night. We both sit bolt upright.

As the train pulls out of the station and resumes it’s course we bravely peek our heads out. On the ground is a small brown box and a note written in Italian on lined notebook paper. We open the box, it’s six small artisan chocolate candies. We both smile, somehow relieved by what we’ve found, no matter what the note actually says. Later we ask a conductor to translate the note for us, "We wanted to give you some chocolate. We are culinary students and wanted to share. Hope we didn’t disturb you too much. Safe travels."

Maybe someone else would have felt guilty for shunning what ended up being decent people, maybe I should have. I was touched by the gesture, even though the safeguard of an appropriate red flag in that situation kept me from enjoying what may have been some pleasant company. The chocolate was great, as chocolate at dawn always is. Perfect with espresso and laughing about what happened, what could have happened, and how glad we were that the trip ended the way it did.

Chocolate Covered Strawberry Stout Brownies

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Servings 9 squares

Ingredients

Brownies:

½ cup melted butter
1 ¼ cup sugar
¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp espresso powder
½ tsp salt
2 large eggs
½ cup stout beer
¾ cup all purpose flour

Topping:

1 ½ cups fresh strawberries chopped
¾ cup dark chocolate melted

Instructions

Preheat oven to 325.
Add melted butter, sugar, cocoa power, espresso powder and salt to bowl. Stir to combine.
Add the eggs and beer, stir until well combined.
Sprinkle with flour, stir until just combined.
Pour into an 8X8 baking dish that has been greased.
Bake at 325 for 32-35 minutes or until the top is slightly firm to the touch. Allow to cool completely.
Add strawberries in an even layer. Drizzle with melted chocolate, allow chocolate to harden before cutting and serving.

Espresso Stout Chocolate Soufflé Cake

17.03.2016 11 Comments

Espresso Stout Chocolate Soufflé Cake

I spent the weekend driving a loop around the Pacific Northwest. From Portland, to Hood River, up the middle of Washington, through Leavenworth and Suncadia, over to the coast with a long drive down the 101. It was fantastic. Maybe it was the company, maybe it was how gorgeous Washington and Oregon really are, even in the midst of shitty weather.

Everyone should do this. Not just once in a lifetime, but once a year. Jump in the car with your favorite grown-up human, drive, stop at a brewery along the way. It’s pure magic. It wasn’t just the stout I devoured at pFriem Brewing or the dive bar in Leavenworth that I spent hours in, giggling and consuming beer.

It wasn’t the magic of the mountains and the misty fog coming over the river. It’s finding the pause in your life. It’s finding the gorgeous heart of what "local" really means. It’s falling in love with the place you’ve made your home. It’s the small towns you’ll never have any reason to visit. It’s the people tending their farms at sunset, who don’t even know you’ve made the end of their day a memory in your heart.

I came home and wanted to make something that felt the same. So familiar and brand new. Falling in love again with the love you already have. A winding road through a state you’ve known, but that seems excitingly unfamiliar.

It’s cake, it’s a brownie, it’s decedent and it’s amazing. It also goes well with all those stouts I had this weekend.

Espresso Stout Chocolate Soufflé Cake

Print Recipe

Servings 8 servings

Ingredients

12 oz fine-quality bittersweet chocolate not unsweetened, chopped
½ cup unsalted butter cut into cubes
½ cup stout beer espresso stout or chocolate stout
1 tsp vanilla extract
½ cup sugar plus ¼ cup, divided
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp instant espresso powder
3 large eggs plus 2 yolks, separated and room temperature
½ teaspoon salt

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350. Butter a 9-inch spring form pan and line the bottom with a round of parchment paper, set aside.
In the top of a double boiler set over gently simmering water add the chocolate, butter and beer. Stir until just melted, remove from heat, allow to cool for 20 minutes (to prevent the yolks from turning into scrambled eggs).
Add just the yolks, one at a time (set the whites aside in a separate, clean bowl), to the chocolate stirring until combined.
Stir in vanilla extract and ½ cup sugar.
Sprinkle with flour and espresso powder, stir until just combined.
Add the salt to the egg whites, beat with a hand mixer until light, fluffy and tripled in size. Add the sugar, beat until stiff peaks form.
Gently fold in about ¼ of the egg whites into the chocolate, stir until combined. Stir in about half the remaining egg whites, then the last of the egg whites, stir until just combined.
Pour in the prepared pan in an even layer.
Bake at 350 for 35 minutes or until a wooden pick or skewer inserted in center comes out with moist crumbs attached. Allow to cool for 20 minutes. Run a knife along the edges, gently remove from pan.
Can be made a day ahead of time, allow to sit at room temperature, loosely covered.

Adapted from Fallen Souffle Cake

Simple Make Ahead Chocolate Stout Pot de Crème

25.02.2016 4 Comments

Simple Make Ahead Chocolate Stout Pot de Crème

It’s seems small, just a forgotten "5" that didn’t survive the mobile cut-and-paste before I hastily searched the subway app for the route to take me uptown. The minor detail landed me on the wrong train and 10 blocks from my destination, in heels, and a darkened city.

I’m early, of course, a chronic condition for me, so I decide to walk. Through the rush hour of New Yorkers leaving their jobs, rushing home, insular behind their glassy eyes and resolve to ignore everyone else on the street. Past the bodegas, questionably-obtained-handbag stores, Chinese restaurants with glowing neon OPEN signs, and even through the bowels of the loading docks of the NYC USPS. I walk, enjoying the night that’s warmer than a February should allow. This is my favorite activity. Strange as it is, wandering a City alone is to me what going to the movies is to normal people. It’s fascinating, beautiful, dirty, and euphoric. It calms me and reminds me that there is so much life in the world, so much left to be seen and discovered. And for one walk, no matter how short, I get to see a glimpse. Small and simple, just a walk that wasn’t supposed to happen, reminds me of how perfect small and simple can be. Like a half pint of chocolate, and a small scoop of whipped cream, it can be perfect and last only a handful of minutes.

Simple Make Ahead Chocolate Stout Pot de Crème

Print Recipe

Servings 4 servings

Ingredients

For the Pot De Crème

5 large egg yolks
½ cup sugar
½ tsp salt
1 ½ cups heavy cream
2/3 cup stout beer*
5 wt oz dark chocolate chopped

For the Whipped Cream

1 cup heavy cream
¼ cup powdered sugar
½ tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract

Instructions

Preheat oven to 325.
In a medium sized bowl whisk together the yolks, sugar, and salt. Set aside
Stir together the cream and beer in a sauce pan over medium high heat. Heat until warmed and bubbles just start to form around the edges (do not boil or simmer), remove from heat.
Add the chocolate, stir until chocolate has melted and is well combined.
While whisking the yolks continually slowly add the chocolate until completely combined.
Add small (6 ounce) ramekins to a baking pan, divide the mixture evenly between the ramekins.
Slowly pour warm water in the baking pan around the ramekins until about half way up the sides. Cover the baking pan with aluminum foil. Gently transfer to the oven.
Bake until the chocolate has set but the center is still slightly wobbly, about 45 to 50 minutes. Remove from oven, carefully remove from water bath and allow to cool to room temperature before transferring to the refrigerator. Chill until set, at least 3 hours and up to 3 days.
Just prior to serving, make the whipped cream. Add all the whipped cream ingredients to a bowl. Using a hand mixer to beat until soft peaks form. Top each Pot De Crème with whipped cream.

Notes

A barrel age stout will give you a stronger beer flavor, a mild stout like an oatmeal or milk stout will give you a milder flavor.

Buttermilk and Beer Beignets

19.02.2016 9 Comments

Buttermilk and Beer Beignets

I have this detrimental habit of undercutting my price, or doing work for free, in exchange for a plane ticket and a hotel reservation. Last year I nearly committed to writing an entire menu just for the opportunity to go to Uganda for the weekend. The timing ended up being too last minute and (fortunately or unfortunately, I can’t decide which) I had to back out.

I also have a habit of obsessively bookmarking restaurants across the world if they sound interesting, just in case I’m ever in that area and looking for a place to eat. Most of which will go unvisited, but the few times I’ve found myself within walking distance of bookmarked business, I’m more thrilled than is appropriate.

The majority of my pre-trip plans include figuring out where I want to eat once I get there. Last year in Panama it was ceviche in the fish market. In Bogota it was Abasto. When I finally make it to New Orleans it’ll be beignets at Cafe Du Monde.

This recipe is the closest I’ve come to the real thing. Light, airy, slightly chewy and completely addictive. The beer gives it a beautiful lightness that I haven’t found in the classic recipes that call for evaporated milk.

These were so good, in fact, that they now replaced my beer doughnut holes as my go-to recipe for bring-a-dish gatherings.

Buttermilk and Beer Beignets

Yield: 20-24 Beignets

5 from 2 votes

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Ingredients

1 envelop 2 ¼ tsp/7g rapid rise yeast
¼ cup 54g sugar
4 cups 480g bread flour
½ tsp 2g baking soda
¾ cup 180g wheat beer
1 ½ cups 360 g buttermilk
½ tsp 3g salt
oil for frying canola, peanut, or grapeseed oil
Confectioners sugar for dusting

Instructions

In the bowl of a stand mixer stir together the yeast, sugar, bread flour, and baking soda.
In a microwave-safe bowl combine the beer and butter. Heat until the mixture reaches between 120-130F on a cooking thermometer (mixture may curdle, this is normal).
Add the liquid to the dry ingredients, mix on medium speed until all the flour has been moistened.
Add the salt, turn the mixer on high and beat until the dough forms a soft sticky ball that gathers around the blade, about 8 minutes.
The dough will be very soft and loose, but if it’s too loose to hold together add a few pinches of flour.
Transfer to a large, lightly oiled bowl. Loosely cover with a towel or plastic wrap. Allow to rise in a warm room until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
Add dough to a well-floured surface, dust with flour. Pat into a large rectangle about ½ inch thick. Avoid using a rolling pin in order to preserve the air bubbles in the dough.
Add 3 to 4 inches of oil to a pot over medium-high heat. Clip a cooking thermometer onto the side making sure the tip doesn’t hit the bottom of the pot. Heat oil to 350F to 375F, adjust heat to stay in that temperate range.
Using a bench knife or pizza cutter, cut the dough into 2-inch squares. A few at a time (don’t crowd the pot) fry the beignets on both sides until golden brown and cooked through, about 2 minutes.
Remove and allow to drain on a stack of paper towels or a wire rack. Sprinkle with powdered sugar just before serving.

Adapted from Epicurious

Pale Ale Crumb Cake + Loving Craft Beer People

03.02.2016 16 Comments

Pale Ale Crumb Cake

Walking in the bay doors, they all seem to look the same. There are always the mingling smells of hops, malt and fickle high-maintenance yeast hard at work. There’s a brewer in rubber boots nearby, working out a problem behind a furrowed brow. There is inevitably a tank being cleaned, water from a thick hose being sprayer to cleanse the vessel to ready it for the next batch.

Music played from unseen speakers. Drums and bass melting into the sounds of the equipment, mostly being ignored. I’m always greeted warmly, always welcomed in and offered a beer. In the past year most of my visits to breweries have been to write a story, or take photos. You can make the argument that there are more beautiful subjects than fermenters and bright tanks. You can tell me how shitty the yellow fluorescent light is in a brewery. You could, but I’d tell you how much I want to show you the beauty in what is there.

Have you seen fresh hops right from the bine? Have you seen the look on a brewers face when sampling wort? Have you seen how gorgeous the color of beer can be? Maybe I’m starry-eyed over the craft beer community, maybe I focus more on what’s right than what’s wrong, but I won’t stop. Maybe it was the years of teaching anger management to gang members in South Central Los Angeles but I’ve learned that people tend to repeat the behavior you focus on. Let the others tear down people, behaviors, and semantics, I’m here as much for the people as I am for the beer. Of course there are changes that can and need to be made, we are, after all, a bunch of humans who drink too much. But let’s do it together. And let’s talk more about what we’re doing right. Because, craft beer, I love you. Flaws and all.

Have some cake, drink a beer, and let’s talk this out. I won’t stop loving craft beer, and I won’t stop focusing on how much I love the people here and what they are doing right.

Pale Ale Crumb Cake

Print Recipe

Servings 9 squares

Ingredients

For the Crumb Topping:

1/3 cup 73g sugar
1/3 cup 73g brown sugar
1 tsp 3g ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp 3g salt
8 tbs 113g unsalted butter melted
1 ½ 180g cups flour
2 tbs 20g cornstarch

For the Cake:

1 cups 120g all purpose flour
2 tbs 20g cornstarch
½ cup 117g sugar
½ tsp 2g baking soda
½ 3g teaspoon table salt
6 tbs 83g unsalted butter, cut in cubes, softened
1 large egg plus 1 yolk
1/3 74g cup pale ale
2 tbs 26g olive oil
1 tsp 4g vanilla extract
powdered sugar for dusting

Instructions

In a small bowl stir together the sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, salt and butter. Add the flour and cornstarch, stir to make a soft dough, set aside.
In the bowl of a stand mixer add the flour, cornstarch, sugar, baking soda and salt. While the mixer is running add the butter mixing until the butter is cut in and the mixture resembles coarse meal with no uncombined lumps of butter.
Add the eggs, yolk, beer, olive oil and vanilla, beat until light and fluffy and well combined.
Line an 8x8 baking pan with parchment paper with the paper hanging over the sides. Pour batter into prepared pan in an even layer.
Crumble the topping and gently sprinkle it over the batter in an even layer. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Allow to cool for ten minutes, remove from pan using the parchment overhang. Cut into squares, sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Chocolate Stout Truffle Mousse Bars with Pretzel Crust

20.01.2016 13 Comments

Chocolate Stout Truffle Mousse Bars with Pretzel Crust

At a beer event in a crowded bar in Portland, Oregon last week I talked to a talented brewer about his participation in an upcoming brewing competition. "Really, I’m just going so that I can drink some more of their Yodo!" He laughs and talks about how much he loves the beer that Michael Kiser of Good Beer Hunting, organizers of the Uppers and Downers festival, helped brew for the event.

He’ll tell you how much he’s thought about the beer he’s decided to brew. He’ll tell you all day long about how much he admires the other brewers that are participating. He won’t, however, say anything negative about any of the other participants. The more you hang out with brewers the more you’ll notice a shocking absence of shit talk. Brewers want to collaborate, root for each other, learn from and teach each other. They want to share a beer and share secrets: that’s beer. Competition is friendly and often collaborative, making these festivals all the better for the spirit that fuels the conversations.

The Uppers and Downers Festival of Coffee Beer on February 20th in Chicago will be witness to the spirit of collaboration between talented brewers and coffee roasters. It’ll showcase the staggering creativity and innovation that have been the result of the bar being raised in craft beer over the past half decade. There is no doubt that if you were to listen in on brewers talking about the other guys beer, you’d hear overwhelming admiration and praise. Reminding us that the heart and soul of craft beer is just as impressive as the beer that’s being shared.

Chocolate Stout Truffle Mousse Bars with Pretzel Crust

Print Recipe

Servings 9 bars

Ingredients

Crust:

3 cups 3 wt oz mini pretzel twists
2 tbs 25g brown sugar
6 tbs 85g melted butter

Middle layer:

10 wt oz dark chocolate 62% cocoa content
1/3 cup 74g chocolate stout
¼ cup 40mL heavy cream
1 tbs 14g unsalted butter

Top Layer

1 cup 226g heavy cream, chilled
¼ cup 26g unsweetened cocoa powder
¾ cup 72g powdered sugar
pinch salt
1 tsp 6gvanilla extract
2 tbs 34g stout beer

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350.
Add the pretzels and brown sugar to a food processor, process until the pretzels have turned to crumbs. While the processor is running add the butter in a slow stream. Allow to process until well combined.
Spray an 8X8 pan with cooking spray, add the crust to the bottom of the pan in an even layer. Using your hands or a heavy bottomed mug press the crust until well compacted.
Bake at 350 until lightly browned, about 12 minutes.
Remove from oven, allow to cool.
Add the chocolate, 1/3 cup stout, heavy cream and butter to the top of a double boiler over medium heat. Stir until all the chocolate has melted and is well combined, remove from heat, pour into an even layer on top of the crust.
Allow to chill in the fridge while you prepare the next layer.
Add the heavy cream, cocoa powder, powdered sugar and salt to the bowl of a stand mixer. Beat on high until soft to medium peaks form.
Slowly add the vanilla and beer, mixing until peaks return.
Add to the pan in an even layer, chill until set, at least two hours, and up to two days.

Holiday Ale Candy Cane Truffle Fudge

02.12.2015 13 Comments

Holiday Ale Candy Cane Truffle Fudge. Only takes 10 minutes, and it’s crazy good.

Winter ales make me glad it’s December. The frozen roads, crowded stores, jam-packed schedules are the price of admission to the best month of beer all year long. We still have some fresh hop beers from hop harvest that happened a few months ago, barrel aged beers are hitting the bottle shops in full force, and winter ales have showed up to join the party.

So…what is a winter ale? Glad you asked, and the answer is both really simple and completely complicated. Basically a winter ale is a beer released in November or December that has a higher than average ABV (about 7% or higher), often maltier and sweeter than your average beer, and features spices often found in holiday meals such as cloves, cinnamon, orange, and nutmeg. Of course there are hundreds of exceptions and many people consider barrel aged stouts (that really don’t fit that definition) to fall under the category of "winter ales." People call these "winter ales," "winter warmers," "holiday ales," or "christmas ales." They make excellent sharing beers due to mostly being sold in the large bomber style bottles and having a generous dose of booze for your pint. The flavors go incredibly well with holiday food, especially if you decide to serve duck or goose as your holiday feast.

Want to try a few? Here are some to look out for, in no particular order:

Freemont Brewing // Bourbon Barrel Abominable

Highland Brewing // Cold mountain Winter Ale

Ninkasi Brewing // Sleigh’r

Widmer Brothers Brewing // Brrr Winter Ale

Hopworks Brewery // Abominable Winter Ale

Sierra Nevada Brewing // Celebration Fresh Hop Winter IPA

Maritime Pacific Brewing // Jolly Roger Christmas Ale

Tröegs Independent Brewing // Mad Elf

Southern Tier Brewing // Old Man Winter

Great Divide // Hibernation Ale

Black Raven Brewing // Festivus Winter Ale

Holiday Ale Candy Cane Truffle Fudge

Print Recipe

Servings 18 -24 pieces (depending on size cut)

Ingredients

16 wt oz dark or semi-sweet chocolate chips or bar form
1/3 cup 102g sweetened condensed milk (not evaporated milk)
¼ tsp .5g vanilla extract
1/3 cup winter ale plus 2 tbs, divided
2 standard sized candy canes crushed

Instructions

Line an 8x8 baking pan with wax paper; set aside.
In the top of a double boiler over gently simmering water add the chocolate, 1/3 cup beer, and sweetened condensed milk. Stir until well combined and chocolate is melted.
Stir in the vanilla extract and remaining 2 tablespoons beer.
Pour into prepared pan. Top with crushed candy canes.
Chill until set, about 3 hours.

Notes

Note: weight ounces and fluid ounces are not the same. Weigh the chocolate on a kitchen scale to get an accurate measurement, or refer to the weight ounces listed on the chocolate package.

Note: If you don’t own a double boiler, place a metal or heat safe glass bowl over a pot of water. Make sure that the bottom of the bowl doesn’t touch the water. Bring the water to a gentle simmer; do not boil.

Pecan Pie Smoked Porter Brownies

06.11.2015 10 Comments

Pecan Pie Smoked Porter Brownies

I have these moments. These "how have I lived this long without this?" moments that seem to reveal an incompleteness prior to the revelation that I was unaware of.

Beer was a big one. Realizing in the dawn of my beer drinking days that "imported" didn’t mean better, it meant, arguably, worse. The only thing I knew for sure about the "imported" beer was that it wasn’t fresh, and was most likely stale and destroyed from months of shipping in warm containers.

Cocoa powder is another. There is a vast difference in taste between cheap brands, and craft brands. Rich, dark, silken texture gives you an elevated result. Your chocolate desserts taste Nordstrom instead of Walmart. It’s like a secret ingredient that’s hidden in plain sight. Why you can make the same brownie recipe as your neighbor, but yours just taste better, and no one can figure out how you do it.

There there was salt. Salt, in general, is grossly underused by most home cooks, but that’s not the only revelation. Good salt. Great salt. Every time my passport has been stamped as I return to the USA, It has always been with a pouch of salt in my bag.

Honey and salt will always return with me from any destination. Smoked salt is my favorite, it’s transformative. Step far, far away from the iodized salt and immediately replace it with Kosher. Buy some French Gray, and some Himalayan Pink and a ton of Smoked Maldon and you’ll be off to a good start.

Coconut was another. Ever since the most loathsome of all Trick-or-Treat offerings, Neapolitan Sundaes, Almond Joys and Mounds bars, started taking up valuable real estate in my orange plastic pumpkin during childhood Halloweens, my Trow Away pile of post-Halloween candy sorting convinced me that coconut was to blame. Assaulting me with its odd texture that wasn’t quite crunchy and wasn’t quite chewy and definitely wasn’t delicious. Then came chicken Panang and I realized that I love, LOVE coconut, I just hated crappy candy. Now, I stockpile coconut milk, full fat, of course.

Then there are smoked things. I went through a phase of not liking anything smoked, mostly because of a run in with meat that had recently vacated a 1940’s gym locker that had been transformed into a meat smoked. But still smelled like sweat socks. I got over it, with the help of bacon. Now, I love all the smoked things. I even own a stovetop smoker.

So, beer, coconut, salt, smoked things. This is why I give everyone, and most food products, a second chance. Or maybe a third. But don’t push it.

Pecan Pie Smoked Porter Brownies

Print Recipe

Servings 12 brownies

Ingredients

For the Brownies:

18 standard sized 280g graham crackers (two standard sleeves)
2 tablespoons brown sugar
½ cup 90g plus ½ cup (90g) melted butter, divided
2 cups 420g white sugar
1 ½ cups 135g unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp 8g salt
¾ cup 164g smoked porter beer*
1 tsp 6g vanilla extract
2 large eggs plus 2 yolks
2/3 cup 95g flour
¼ tsp .5g smoked paprika

For the Pecan Layer:

2 tbs porter
1 cup 234g packed brown sugar
½ cup 171g light corn syrup
2 eggs
1 tbs 12g vanilla extract
¼ cup 55g butter, melted
¼ cup 57g heavy cream
2 cups 227g chopped pecans
1 tsp sea salt

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350.
Add the graham crackers and brown sugar to a food processor, process until just crumbs remain. While the mixer is running add ½ cup melted butter, process until well combined.
Press into the bottom of a 9X13 pan in an even layer.
Add the remaining ½ cup melted butter, sugar, cocoa power, salt, beer and vanilla to bowl. Stir to combine.
Add the eggs, stir until well combined.
Sprinkle with flour and smoked paprika, stir until just combined.
Pour over the crust. Bake for 20 minutes, remove from oven and allow to cool for 20 minutes.
Reduce oven heat to 325.
In a large bowl stir together the 2 tablespoons beer, brown sugar, corn syrup, eggs, butter, cream and pecans.
Pour over brownie layer, sprinkle with sea salt.
Bake at 325 for 35 minutes or until the center is a little wobbly, but not sloshy.
Allow to cool to room temp. Cover and chill until set, at least two hours and up to two days.

Notes

*I used Alaskan Brewing Smoked porter. You can also use a coffee stout, or a barrel aged stout.

Oatmeal Stout Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars

09.10.2015 17 Comments

Oatmeal Stout Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars

A few years ago I had to sell a house. One I’d bought when I was probably too young to do so, and the Los Angeles housing market was angry and hostile. It was only about a year before things started to go south and I knew I needed out.

I had just one open house. The realtor asked me to leave an hour early so that she can get set up, work her house-selling magic. Before I left to wander the city and hope for the best, I baked a huge plate of cookies and left them on the kitchen table for the gawkers and home buying hopefuls to partake in. When I returned a few hours later I had three full-price-or-better offers, and a house that still vaguely smelled of vanilla and caramelized sugars.

Every offer was accompanied by a letter, and each letter mentioned the cookies. Maybe it was just the smell of freshly baked, chocolate-studded, hand-held desserts. Or maybe there is something about fresh-baked cookies that will transform your house and make people want to live there. Either way, it was the best batch of cookies I’ve ever baked.

Oatmeal Stout Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars

Print Recipe

Servings 9 bars

Ingredients

Crust:

9 graham cracker sheets 147g
2 tbs 39g brown sugar
4 tbs 46g melted butter

Filling:

1 ¼ cups 100g old fashioned oats
1 cup 120g all-purpose flour
½ cup 92g brown sugar
¼ cup 58g white sugar
½ tsp 3g baking soda
1 tsp 6g salt, divided
3 tbs butter melted
1/3 cup 90g stout beer
2 egg yolks
1 tsp vanilla
4 wt oz dark chocolate chunks

Instructions

preheat oven to 350.
Add the graham crackers and brown sugar to a food processor, process until just crumbs remain. While the food processor is running, slowly add the butter until well combined and resembles wet sand.
Press firmly into the bottom of an 8x8 baking dish.
In a large bowl stir together the oats, flour, brown sugar, white sugar, baking soda and 1/2 teaspoon salt.
Make a well in the center, add the melted butter, beer, yolks, and vanilla, stir until just combined.
Add the chocoloate chips in an even layer on top of the crust.
Press the filling into an even layer over the chocolate chips, sprinkle the top with the remaining salt.
Bake at 350 until the top is golden brown, about 22-26 minutes.
Allow to cool completely before cutting.

Top Craft Brewery Destinations in Napa and Sonoma County & Beer Caramelized Apple Tart with Saison Crème Anglaise

28.09.2015 4 Comments

A few years ago I read an email from a reader, late at night, right in the middle of my most honest hour. She asked about culinary school, art school, college, where should she go? What should she do? "Don’t go" was my answer. I told her to save her money and travel. If you want to work in food, go find it. You won’t find it in a class room, you’ll find it where it grows. Eat pasta in Italy, sample Champagne in France, sit in a strawberry field in California. Work for free in any restaurant that will have you, buy beers for any chefs who will give you his after work hours, and don’t just learn food, live it. Travel is the best education you’ll ever have. I’m passionate about travel and it’s necessity for human growth. I’ve partnered with Travelocity —the website I bought my first plane ticket from when I was in college— to spread the word about beer tourism. Keep an eye out for information about travel and beer in the upcoming weeks, give me your tips and tricks, tweet me the travel articles you love most. Let’s grab a beer and talk about adventure.

Top Craft Brewery Destinations in Napa and Sonoma County

“It takes a lot of good beer to make good wine,” The bartender at Bear Republic in Healdsburg California —right in the heart of Wine Country— jokes as he pours a Café Racer DIPA for a waiting customer. Vintners are a frequent after work crowd in the brewery taprooms around one of the most well-respected wine regions in the United States. As a result, the beer has become world-class, a mecca for beer people, and a hub for beer tourism. If a couple of airports and a few chipper flight attendants can’t stand in your way of a great beer, where Napa Valley meets Sonoma County is the perfect destination to cut your beer tourism teeth. Here are the top locations for grabbing a pint of local beer in wine country.

Russian River. With a beer so sought after, it’s release causes traffic to shut down, every hotel in the area to be booked to capacity, and an 8 hour wait to get in the doors just for one 10-ounce pour, this brewery is on every beer travelers list. Russian River Brewing draws beer tourist from all over the globe to the sleepy little town of Santa Rosa, California. Even if you can’t make it to the release of their sought after triple IPA, Pliny The Younger, every beer they make is world-class. Ask for a Blind Pig, many beer geeks claim it’s just as good, or even better, than the one that causes a wee bit of mass hysteria during it’s February release.
Bear Republic. This small brewery in Sonoma county is all heart. With a gorgeous space, bartenders that remember your name, and several awards winning beers under their belts, this is a great place to stop in for a pint. Bear Republic always has new and one of a kind beers on tap, ask your friendly beer slinging bartender what he recommends and he’ll pour your something that you’ll probably never have the opportunity to sample again.
Lagunitas Brewing. Don’t let the outside of this Petaluma brewery, housed in an industrial park, fool you. Once you get inside it’s a gorgeous location with a beautiful patio, perfect for an afternoon of pub grub and outstanding beer. This is a brewery well-known for their “A Little Sumpin' Sumpin Ale”, but they also do several variations of this hoppy beer that are only served in a very limited release. Ask if they have any new variations of A Little Sumpin' on tap, or just let the bartenders pour you a flight (that’s beer speak for a beer sampler platter), and see what you like! (*this article was originally written before the brewery partnered with Heineken. If this bothers you, feel free to skip this one. The beer has remained the same and the brewery is still worth a visit)
Napa Smith. Napa Smith is the only production brewery in Napa, this is where you go when you’ve tired of wine tasting and just want a cold pint. Napa Smith has thoughtfully brewed all of their beers to pair well with food, following the mantra “Brewed for food.” They offer a large flight of 10 sampler beers, making that a great place to start when deciding what you want to drink for the evening.
Third Street Aleworks. This charming little brewery sits down the street from Russian River, making it a great stop on a Santa Rosa pub-crawl. Sick of those hopped up bitter West Coast beers? You’ve come to the right place. Third Street has award-winning stouts and porters, perfect for those who dig the dark brews. Try their Black Cat Porter or the gold medal winning Blarney Sisters’ Dry Irish Stout.

*If you’re in the area, stop by the best dive bar in all the world (this is just my opinion) Ernie’s Tin Bar. Craft beer and a CSA pick up location, located along a winding country road.

I’ve also made you a dessert, one that nods to Napa and Sonoma county. A recipe that reminds me of the slow-food culture and the locavore spirit. It’s a part of the United States that everyone should be able to visit at least once in their lives.

Beer Caramelized Apple Tart with Saison Crème Anglaise

Print Recipe

Servings 8 -12 tarts (depending on size)

Ingredients

For the Tarts:

1.5 lbs apples cored and thinly sliced (Honeycrisp, or SweeTango)
4 tbs 57g unsalted butter
1 cup 230g brown sugar
½ tsp 3g salt
1 cup 226g wheat beer
1 sheet puff pastry thawed

Crème Anglaise:

½ cup 134g heavy cream
¼ cup 68g whole milk
1/3 cup 82g Saison beer (or wheat beer)
½ of a vanilla bean pod
3 large egg yolks
1 ½ cups 338g granulated sugar

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400.
Add the apple splices, butter, sugar and salt to a skillet over medium heat. Once the sugar has dissolved and the butter has melted, add the beer. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally, until the liquid has reduced and thickened to a caramel sauce, about 15 minutes. Allow to cool.
Roll out the puff pastry on a lightly floured, flat surface. Cut out circles just larger than a muffin tin well, or a mini-tart pan (grease the tart pan/muffin tin or spray with cooking spray). Press into shape. Fill the wells about half way with the apples.
Bake for 18-22 minutes or until crust is golden brown.
Add the heavy cream, whole milk and beer to a saucepan.
Using a pairing knife, split the vanilla bean pod lengthwise. Scrape out the inside of the pod with the back of the knife. Add the pod and the inside scrapings to the pan. Bring to a low simmer, remove from heat.
In a medium sized bowl whisk together the yolks and sugar until very well combined, and a light yellow color.
While whisking, slowly add the cream mixture, whisking until well combined.
Strain the mixture through a fine mesh sieve back into the sauce pan. Over medium/low heat cook, stirring frequently, until thickened. About ten minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool. Store in an air tight container in the refrigerator until ready to use, up to three days.
Serve the tarts drizzled with the Crème Anglaise.

I was compensate by Travelocity for this post, all opinions, words, recipes and ideas are my own.

One Bowl Chocolate Stout Loaf Cake with Blackberry Frosting

09.09.2015 10 Comments

One Bowl Chocolate Stout Loaf Cake with Blackberry Frosting

The first time I was paid to write a story it was about gang members. Gang members who are also bakers.

It was a story I’d pitched to a start up emagazine that asked for submissions and received thousands. I wanted to talk about Homeboy Industries, a non profit that helps get people out of gangs via a bakery they started to employe the unemployable. Maybe it was my guilt I carried with me about leaving the job I had working with gang kids in order to pursue my dream of food writing. Maybe it was just so incredibly impressive that this program actually worked, and worked really well. Or maybe it was the fact that baking could save someones life. I got the assignment.

My first draft read so starry-eyed-in-love with the company that I needed more, I need the reality of it all, the grittiness that sometimes gets lost when mainstream media try to glam up the truth for mass consumption. So I went back to Homeboy Cafe, to talk to Sarah. A woman who had run a very successful chopshop, ran around with gangs since she was 13, sold drugs, and ended up in solitary confinement with bullet holes in her body. It was driving around East Los Angeles with her in my passenger seat, stopped outside the urban garden she was running, that made the biggest impact on me. At least a decade older than me, and several lifetimes more experienced, she seemed so shy, "I brought this for you…" She pulled a crumpled page out of her pocket, "they did a story about me." She showed me the internal newsletter the company prints out for employees, Sarah was the lead story. "It’s nice…you know…people talking about you for something good." We sat there for a second, worlds apart in the same car, and I told her she should be so proud. The silence for the next few seconds was about as warm as I’ve ever felt.

I think about Homeboy sometimes when I bake, how transformative it can be just to do something right and to have people talk about you for something good.

You can read the article about Homeboy, and Sarah, in my Portfolio (scroll down, past the black). To this day, it’s one the my favorite articles I’ve ever written.

One Bowl Chocolate Stout Loaf Cake with Blackberry Frosting

Print Recipe

Servings 6 to 8 servings

Ingredients

1/2 cup unsalted butter softened
1 1/2 cup 335g granulated sugar
1 large egg at room temperature
1 teaspoon 7g vanilla extract
¾ cup 170g stout beer
¼ cup 55gvegetable oil
1 1/2 cups 225 g all-purpose flour
3/4 cup cocoa 60 g powder
1/2 teaspoon 3 g baking soda
1/2 teaspoon 4 g salt
½ cup 130 g blackberries
2 cups 1/2 lbs powdered sugar
1 teaspoon 5g fresh lemon juice
½ teaspoon 3g vanilla extract

Instructions

Preheat oven to 325.
Add the butter and sugar to a bowl. Using a stand mixer, beat until well creamed. Add the egg and vanilla, beat until combined. Stir in the beer, and olive oil.
Sprinkle the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. Stir until just combined.
Pour batter into a loaf pan that’s been greased and floured.
Bake for 60-65 minutes or until or until a cake tester inserted into the center of the loaf comes out with just a few crumbs.
Remove from oven and allow to cool completely.
In a blender add the blackberries, powdered sugar, lemon juice, and vanilla extract, blend until smooth.
Pour over the top of the cake, chill until set.
Remove from loaf pan and slice prior to serving.

Lemon Beer Pound Cake

14.08.2015 5 Comments

I’ve always been an adventurous eater.

I ate ants in Colombia, snake meat in Greece, mint tea made with a brown liquid I couldn’t identify in Morocco. If it’s new to me, I want to try it. I want to eat all the things, even if I know I’ll hate them. Even the few things I can’t stand, like pears, bananas, and raw celery, if you make them in a way that’s new and exciting, I’ll dive right in. Even if I know with every ounce of certainty that I’ll hate it. Curiosity rules my decision making at time. Even in the midst of my eat-all-the-things ambition, I have a true love for simple food done well.

It took years for me to figure out how to make the perfect steak, and how to cook ribs at home that taste like a southern BBQ, and how to make mac n cheese that’s creamy out of the oven. Sometimes, simple is the most beautiful.

Lemon pound cake is a simple but beautiful food. It’s perfect early in the morning with coffee, or late at night with a beer or a classic rye Old Fashioned. My main goal was the perfect icing. I wanted that thick layer that sits on top like a crown, not dripping down that side. I wanted coffee shop style icing. I figured out that a thick paste, spread on while the cake was still in the pan, then chilled for an hour gave me that gorgeous look. Although I do think this version is better for late-night-with-booze consumption than those cakes served in the morning. But it’s your call.

Lemon Beer Pound Cake

Print Recipe

Servings 6 to 8 servings

Ingredients

1 tbs lemon zest
1 ¼ cup sugar
2 tbs butter softened
3 eggs room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/3 cup lemon juice
1/3 cup wheat beer
3 tbs olive oil
1 ¾ cups flour
½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
Glaze:
2 cups 1/2 lbs powdered sugar
pinch salt
2 tsp lemon juice*
½ tsp water

Instructions

Preheat oven to 325.
In the bowl of a stand mixer add the lemon zest and sugar. Beat for about 2 minutes on high to release the lemon oils into the sugar.
Add the butter, beat until well combined.
Add the eggs and vanilla, one at a time, beating well between additions.
Add the lemon juice, beer and olive oil , beating until well combined, scraping the bottom of the mixer to insure all ingredients are well incorporated.
Stop the mixer and sprinkle with flour baking powder, baking soda and salt, sitr until just combined.
Pour into a large loaf pan that has been greased.
Bake at 325 for 55 o 60 minutes or until cake is golden brown and tooth pick inserted in the center comes back with just a few crumbs attached. Allow to cool completely.
Stir together the powdered sugar lemon juice and salt to make a thick paste. Spread over the top of the cake, chill until set about 3 hours. Cake is best made a day ahead of time.
Substitute all of some of the beer to increase the beer flavor.

Notes

Substitute all of some of the lemon juice in the glaze to increase the beer flavor.

Sugar Beer Doughnut Holes

12.08.2015 5 Comments

Sugar Beer Doughnut Holes

This is my go-to.

It’s been my summer backyard party staple. It’s what I’ve been making for months when I get the invite to "come over, we’re making food, just bring whatever." It’s all the things I look for in bring-to-a-party food.

It transports well, it sits at room temperature for a long time without concern, and it’s impressive. I know that last part makes me a bit of an over-foodie asshole, but I can’t change now.

If you’ve never made doughnuts, it’s really pretty simple, and there is only one major concern: temperature. Twice, you have to concern yourself with temperate in order for these to turn out perfect, but other than that, it’s pretty simple.

First is yeast temperate. For rapid rise yeast, the liquid (in this case beer) needs to be between 120F and 130F, too low and it won’t get a good rise, too high and you’ll kill the yeast. If you aren’t sure what temperate to use, always (always) use the temperate listed on the package of yeast, not the temperate listed in the recipe. Always.

Second, you’ll have to worry about the deep fry oil. I own a small deep fryer, because of course I own a deep fryer, and it maintains the temperate all on its own. But before I did, I just used the Dutch oven filled with a few inches of canola oil.

Clip a deep-fry thermometer onto the side, make sure the tip doesn’t touch the bottom (not even for a second, just to see how it feels), and adjust the oil temperate to keep it between 350F and 375F.

Those are the big battles, and really, it’s not that bad. And at the end of it all, you get to show up with 36 homemade doughnut holes, and that’s worth all that temperate worry. You deserve a beer.

Sugar Beer Doughnut Holes

Print Recipe

Servings 36 doughnut holes

Ingredients

3 cups 360g all purpose flour
¼ cup plus 1 cup, granulated sugar, divided
1 packet rapid rise yeast 2 ¼ tsp
¾ cup wheat beer
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
3 large egg yolk room temperature
¼ cup heavy cream room temperature
1 tsp salt
oil for frying

Instructions

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook add the flour, ¼ cup sugar and yeast.
Add the beer to a microwave safe bowl, microwave on high for 20 seconds, test temperate and repeat until beer reaches between 120 and 130 degrees F.
Add the beer to the stand mixer, mix until most of the flour has been moistened.
Add the vanilla then the yolks, one at a time. Add the cream and salt.
Building up speed, beat on high until the dough comes together and gathers around the blade.
The dough will be very soft.
Add dough to a lightly oiled bowl, cover and allow to sit at room temperature for 1 hour or until doubled in size.
Punch down the dough and knead lightly to remove any air bubbles. Place dough in the fridge and allow to rest for 1 hour.
Roll dough out on a lightly floured surface to 1-inch thickness. Cut doughnuts into circles using a 2-inch round biscuit cutter.
Place doughnuts on a baking sheet that has been covered with parchment paper. Loosly cover with a towel.
Allow to rise at room temperature until doubled in size, about 30 minutes.
Fill a large heavy bottomed saucepan with canola oil until about 4 inches deep. Add a deep fry thermometer and bring oil to about 360 degrees, adjusting heat to maintain temperature.
Working in batches, fry the doughnuts on each side until golden brown, about 1-2 minutes per side. Remove from oil and allow to cool on a wire rack.
Place remaining 1 cup sugar in a small bowl. One at a time roll the cooled doughnuts in the sugar, add to a serving tray. Serve immediately.

Wild Ale Blackberry Sauce

07.08.2015 4 Comments

Sometimes, we have to step outside our boxes.

The ones that seem comfortable, safe, predictable. We know the boxes, and we don’t grow in there. We stagnate. The world is huge, it’s full of experiences waiting to push us past the people we’ve decided to become and into the people we can be, if we can let go for a second.

Sour beer, that might be a little bit of a let-go scenario for you. Sour beers are beers that have been infected, on purpose, by wild bacteria. I know! It sounds awful, it sounds like a problem that needs to be solved, and sometimes it is.

But this is the original beer, the way beer was first made, more for lack of options than intentionality, when beer was in its infancy. Love it or hate it, sour beers (most common are Lambics, Flanders Red Ales, goes, gueuze, wild ales, etc.) are incredibly hard to make. The balance of flavors, the wrangling of a wild strain of yeast, the way it all comes together.

So what are you in for the first time you order one of these guys? Sour. You’re shocked, I know. There is a tartness that can range from a mild funk to a glass of boozy sour patch kids. It turns out, these are also hard beers to cook with.

This, my friends, is my first sour beer recipe. I used Odell Brewing's Pina Agria, a sour beer with a nice pineapple flavor, because, shockingly enough, it was brewed with pineapple. It’s a great one to try if you’re into sours.

Try a sour, if you get a chance. Add one to the flight at your next taproom visit. Maybe you’ll love it, maybe you won’t, but at least you’ll know.

Sour Ale Blackberry Sauce

Print Recipe

Servings 1 1/2 cups

Ingredients

½ lbs fresh blackberries
1 cup white sugar
1 cup plus 2 tbs sour ale* (I used Odell Pina Agria Pineapple Sour)

Instructions

Add blackberries, sugar and 1 cup beer to a saucepan over medium high heat. Simmer until blackberries have broken down and sauce has thickened, about 10 minutes.
Allow to cool to room temperature.
Add remaining 2 tablespoons beer, stir then add additional beer to thin to desired consistency.
Store in an airtight container in the fridge until ready to use. Will keep for two weeks.

Beeramisu: Tiramisu Made with Beer

Beer people, we have our own language. Our own accepted set of standards. In most settings, with most normal humans, it’s unacceptable and off putting to ask a stranger if you can sample the beverage in their hands.

Blackberry Beer Cheesecake Tart

17.07.2015 14 Comments

I’m sitting at a bar in Bogota, Colombia, communicating the best I can through broken Spanish. Laughing with several kitchen’s worth of chef’s, trying to convince them that, even though I nearly passed out from the altitude, and I’m in fact, not pregnant. They motion with their hands to create invisible fake bellies, then laugh. They point at my beer, "No, no! No good for baby!" we all laugh.

I’d spent most of the week with them, redoing the menus at the Bogota Brewing Company's pubs. A trip that I can’t wait to tell you more about, a trip that was nothing short of life changing. I’m sitting at the bar, finishing a Champinero Porter, one of the best porters I’ve had in a long time and I think about the choices I’ve made that lead me down this rabbit hole. I must have done something right. I’ve made strange choices in my life, some terrible, some mediocre, some harmful, but I must have done something right. Grateful isn’t a strong enough word. I can’t find the right way to express how I’m feeling, not in English, certainly not in Spanish. So I finish my beer, laugh at the implication that I’m pregnant, hug them all and thank them. It’s been an incredible trip, an unforgettable country, and outstanding people.

Blackberry Beer Cheesecake Tart

Print Recipe

Ingredients

For the cheesecake tart:

1 sheet puff pastry thawed
24 ounces cream cheese
1 ½ cups sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbs flour
2 tbs corn starch
1 tsp salt
½ cup saison beer or wheat beer

For the blackberry layer:

3 cups 12 wt oz blackberries
1 cup saison or wheat beer
1 cup powdered sugar
2 tbs cornstarch
1 tsp salt

Instructions

Preheat oven to 300.
Add the blackberries, saison, powdered sugar, cornstarch and salt to a pot over medium high heat. Bring to a low boil, stirring frequently until thickened, about ten minutes. Set aside.
Roll out puff pastry on a lightly floured surface. Line a 9-inch spring form pan, letting the less hang over the sides. .
Beat the cream cheese in a stand mixer until light and fluffy. Add the sugar, egg and vanilla, beating until well combined. Add the flour, cornstarch, salt and beer, stir on low speed until well combined.
Add to the spring form pan in an even layer.
Pour the blackberry sauce evenly over the cheesecake layer. Fold the excess puff pastry over the top of the tart.
Bake at 300 for 1 hour or until the puff pastry is golden brown. Allow to cool to room temperature, then refrigerate until chilled, at least 3 hours and up to over night.