lemon

Lemon Beer Pound Cake

Lemon Beer Pound Cake

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 -2

 

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Lemon Beer Pound Cake

Yield: 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

  1. Preheat oven to 325.
  2. 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.
  3. Add the butter, beat until well combined.
  4. Add the eggs and vanilla, one at a time, beating well between additions.
  5. 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.
  6. Stop the mixer and sprinkle with flour baking powder, baking soda and salt, sitr until just combined.
  7. Pour into a large loaf pan that has been greased.
  8. 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.
  9. 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.
  10. 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.

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http://thebeeroness.com/2015/08/14/lemon-beer-pound-cake/

Lemon Beer Pound Cake -4

Lemon Beer Dream Cake

Lemon Beer Dream Cake via @TheBeeroness

As I type this, I stand firmly on the waining end of National IPA Day (August 1st).  With two different bottles of IPA rattling around in my bones, I blame all levels of grammatical inaccuracies and typos on higher than average ABV’s.

IPA day was started by bloggers, with nothing to gain but promoting the hoptastic end of craft beer sepctructrum. It wasn’t a cooperate game, a marketing strategy, or a way to promote a single beer. It’s a rally cry, a voice from within this community I’ve come to love that just says, “join us.” A way to celebrate the beer that’s at the cornerstone of a movement that identifies us as a community and a way to pull others into the pot. Drink the Dry Hopped Kool-Aid with us, we want you here. No singular voice benefits from this, it’s just a fun, rising tide, that lifts all craft beer ships.

For these reasons, I’ll always participate. Until it gains sponsors, then I may have to reconsider.

Lemon Beer Dream Cake via @TheBeeroness

As I spent a day in and out of comprehensive distraction, I did what I do in this corner of Craft Beer Land, I cooked. I baked. I made a cake that served as a bit of therapy for a strange time in a strange life. I wanted to pay homage to the Beer of the Hour, but that IPA can temperamental. Cooking and reducing an IPA in any capacity can be a bit hit or miss. Higher IBU beer (IBU stands from International Bitterness Units, it’s how to tell how hoppy or bitter a beer is), reduce to a very bitter product. I generally use them when the beer won’t beer cooked (or at least not cooked for an extended period of time), or when I want a little beer to go along way, flavor wise.

Lemon Beer Dream Cake via @TheBeeroness

A fringe benefit of beer blogging is surprise shipments of beer from great breweries. A recent shipment was graciously sent over from a brewery out of Athens, Georgia called Terrapin. Although most of the time I’ve spent in Georgia should go lavishly unrecorded, I would like to take a trip back to visit this place.

Terrpain’s dedication to diversity of brew, as well as a steadfast determination to provide Beer For All, makes this a place I want to hang out. Sampling the beer sent all the way to the far reaches of the West Coast, I found beer that I can give to the Craft Beer Seekers in my life as well as beer that I consider to be Gateway Beer. Gateway beer is a favorite category of mine, and often hard to fill. It’s beer that will rest well on the palates of those in the Craft Beer know, as well as easy beer to serve to people who, “don’t really like beer.” It’s my way of pulling a few vodka drinkers and inBev devotees over to the Craft Beer side.

Only hours after a stash from Terrapin landed on my doorstep, I weighed my options. For this cake, I needed a lower hop beer for the cake and wanted an IPA for the filling and the frosting. I choose Maggie’s Peach Farmhouse ale (great gateway beer) for the cake and Hopzilla (beautiful, well balanced IPA) for the frosting.

Lemon Beer Dream Cake via @TheBeeroness

If you’re new to craft beer, or want a beer that’s easy to serve to people on the beer fringes, the Maggie’s Farmhouse is a great one to offer. It would also be a great choice for my Beer Sangria.

The Hopzilla I really liked, it was well balanced and in my world of flavor profiles and balanced tastes, that’s a win. A nice malt finish after a hoppy start always wins me over.

Lemon Beer Dream Cake via @TheBeeroness

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Lemon Beer Dream Cake

Ingredients

    For the cake:
  • 2 ½ cups cake flour
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • ¼ tsp salt
  • 2 cups granulated sugar
  • 2 tbs lemon zest
  • ¾ cup unsalted butter, softened
  • 1/2 cup buttermilk
  • ½ cup Saison, pale ale or White ale beer
  • 5 egg whites (reserve yolks for curd)
  • ¼ tsp cream or tartar
    • For the filling:
  • 2 whole eggs plus five yolks
  • 1 1/4 cup white sugar
  • 1 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice (about 6 large lemons)
  • 1 tbs lemon zest
  • ½ cup IPA beer
  • 2 tbs corn starch
  • ½ cup unsalted butter, cut into cubes
    • For the Frosting:
  • 1 cup butter, softened
  • 2 cups confectioners sugar
  • 1 tbs lemon zest
  • 2 tbs lemon juice
  • 3 tbs IPA beer
  • 3 tbs whole milk

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350.
  2. In a large bowl, stir together the cake flour, baking powder, and salt.
  3. In the bowl of a stand mixer add the butter, sugar, and lemon zest, beat on high until very well combined, light and fluffy, about 5 minutes.
  4. In a small bowl, add the beer and buttermilk (it’s ok if it curdles).
  5. Alternating between the flour and the beer mixture, add a bit of each to the stand mixer while it runs on low speed, until all ingredients are combined. Scrape the bottom of the bowl to make sure all ingredients are well combined.
  6. Remove the batter, add to a large bowl. Clean the mixer very well (using a hand mixer or a separate mixer is fine as well).
  7. Add the egg whites and cream of tartar to the clean bowl of a stand mixer, any amount of fat and the egg whites will not whip properly.
  8. Whip on high until stiff peaks form, about 5 minutes.
  9. Add about 1/3 of the egg whites to the cake batter mixture, gently fold to combine. Once combined, gently fold in half of the remaining egg whites, then the final egg whites, stir until combined.
  10. Grease and flour three 9-inch cake pans very well (8 inch cake pans will work as well), divide the batter between the three pans.
  11. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes or until the tops have just started to brown.
  12. Allow to cool to room temperature before removing from pans.
  13. While the cake is baking, make the curd.
  14. In a pan off heat, whisk together the eggs, yolks, sugar, lemon juice, lemon zest, beer, and corn starch. Add the butter cubes, place the pan over medium high heat. Whisk frequently until thicken to a pudding like consistency, about 10 minutes.
  15. Remove from heat, add to a bowl and refrigerate until chilled, about 1 hour.
  16. To make the butter cream, add the butter, sugar, and zest to a stand mixer, building up speed, beat on high until very well combined, light and fluffy, about 5 minutes.
  17. One tablespoon at a time, slowly add the lemon juice, beer and milk, allowing to re-mix to a fluff consistency between additions, this should take no less than 8 minutes total. Make sure the frosting is very well whipped.
  18. To assemble the cake, add one layer of cake to a cake plate. Top with half of the lemon mixture, then with another layer and then with the rest of the lemon mixture before adding the final layer of cake. Top the final layer of cake with the butter cream. If you want to frost the entire cake with buttercream, double the buttercream recipe, assemble the layers and chill the cake for at least one hour before attempting to frost.
  19. Chill until ready to serve.
http://thebeeroness.com/2013/08/02/lemon-beer-dream-cake/

Lemon Beer Dream Cake via @TheBeeroness

 

 

Drunken Strawberry Tart with Beer Lemon Curd

Being wrapped in a world filled with food people, the lovers, academics and fanatics, I’ve often lost my footing. Forgotten the simple pleasures of small, honest meals for the sake of a journey towards the creation of an epic recipe. While surrounding myself with people who strive to reinvent the world of food as we know,  I’ve been so entranced that I’ve stepped away from the core of who I am and the food I fell in love with.

I am not a moderist cook.

I am not a chef.

I may never create an epic recipe.

I am OK with that.

It was through a process, not of self discovery but of self remembrance, that stumbled upon a memory that I had almost lost within my catalogue of food experiences. Under the thousand dollar dinners, PR events, celebrity chefs, and world renowned restaurants was a small Italian city, and a home cooked meal.

Years ago, on what turned out to be a 16 hour layover, I was stuck in Pescara Italy. A girl about my age, just past 21, took pity on a broke and confused American in her tiny local airport and asked if she could show her town to me. It began with a home cooked meal, from her own mothers hands on a rickety folding table in her living room, the only place in the small apartment that would accommodate us all. Homemade bread, a small green salad, smashed peas and a roasted chicken.

For dessert was a lemon tart. Simple, beautiful and tangy, made by the hands of a woman who didn’t speak a word of English, but who took time to cook for me even though we would never have the ability to have a conversation, and I could never properly thank her. This is the food that I fell in love with, and I am reminding myself to stay true to that.

I’ve done my best to make the beer infused version of the tart that was made for me in Pescara, and chose a beer that is nearly as fascinating to me. Cooney Island Lager has flavors that remind me a great meal made in spring, orange, citrus, bread and apples.

If you can’t find this beer, look for a low hop beer with notes of citrus, tropical fruits and bread.

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Drunken Strawberry Tart with Beer Lemon Curd

Ingredients

    For the tart crust:
  • 1 1/4 cups of flour
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 stick of unsalted butter, cut into small cubes
  • 3-5 tbs ice cold water
    • For the curd:
  • 1 tbs lemon zest
  • 2 whole eggs plus six yolks
  • 1 1/4 cup white sugar
  • 1 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice (about 6 large lemons)
  • ½ cup beer
  • 2 tbs corn starch
  • 1 stick unsalted butter, cut into cubes
    • For the Strawberries
  • 3 cups strawberries
  • ½ cup beer
  • 1/2 cup powdered sugar
    • For the Whipped Cream
  • 1 cup heavy cream
  • 2 tbs beer
  • 1/2 cup powdered sugar

Directions

  1. In a food processor, combine the flour, sugar, and salt. Pulse to combine. Add the cubes of butter and process until combined, about 1-2 minutes. Your dough should resemble course meal.
  2. Start with 3 tbs of water, pulse until combined. If the crust doesn’t hold together add more water, a bit at a time, until it does.
  3. Dump the dough into a 4 inch deep, 9 inch wide tart pan with a remove-able bottom (you can also use a pie pan). Starting with the sides, form the crust inside the pan, trying your best to make it all as even as possible. Cover with plastic wrap and chill for a least 3 hours.
  4. Preheat oven to 375.
  5. Place a sheet of parchment paper inside your tart and fill with pie weights. If you don’t have any, dried beans work great.
  6. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until your tart is a light golden brown. Remove from oven, allow to cool slightly. remove pie weights.
  7. Add the lemon zest, lemon juice, beer, sugar, corn starch, whole eggs and yolks to a bowl and whisk until well combined. Add the lemon mixture to a pan over medium/low heat along with the butter. Whisk until thickened, about 10 minutes. Allow to cool to room temperature.
  8. Add the curd to the crust and chill until set, about 4 hours.
  9. Just prior to serving add the berries to a shallow bowl of pie pan and cover with 1/2 cup beer. Allow to stand at room temperature for 15-20 minutes. Drain and return to bowl with the sugar, stir to combine.
  10. Add all of the whipped cream ingredients to a stand mixer and mix on high until soft peaks form, about 4 minutes.
  11. Top tart with berries and whipped cream just prior to serving.
http://thebeeroness.com/2012/06/12/drunken-strawberry-tart-with-beer-lemon-curd/

Lemon Pilsner Cake

 If you have ever had the opportunity to talk to a brewmaster, you have seen it. You’ve seen that look that lets you know that there is an art and a respect for what they do that goes far past what most Americans experience at their day jobs. The look that tells you that the paycheck isn’t the reason he does the job. The flavors, the journey, the solving of the problems that yield to an end result of a drinkable, shareable masterpiece. You’ve seen that look.

It’s because of that look that I try to create recipes that respect the years of love and hard work that go into the process of making Craft Beer. I had the idea of making a lemon cake with pilsner, but the issue is always the hops. Hops are a hard ingredient to cook and bake with, given that they often reduce to a very bitter product. Scrimshaw Pilsner, while still a pilsner, has a low, and well balanced hop taste. It is also from one of my favorite breweries, North Coast, that produces an incredible variety of craft beer. And you can bet that if you are ever lucky enough to take a tour of the brewery, you will see that look I’m talking about, all over the place.

Lemon Pilsner Cake

1 1/2 cups cake flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/3 tsp salt

2 tbs lemon zest

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter

1 1/4 cup sugar

3 eggs

1/4 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice

1/2 cup Pilsner

Icing:

4 oz cream cheese, softened (cold cream cheese will result in lumpy icing)

1 cup powdered sugar

1/4 cup heavy cream

1/4 cup Pilsner

1/2 tsp vanilla

Direction:

Preheat oven to 350.

Spray a large loaf pan with butter flavored cooking spray.

In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and lemon zest until well mixed.

In the bowl of  stand mixer, cream the butter and sugar until well combined. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well and scraping the bowl between additions. Add the lemon juice and mix until well combined. Turn the mixer on low and add the flour a bit at a time until just barely combined, do not over mix.

Remove the bowl from the stand mixer and add the pilsner, stirring with a wooden spoon until just combined. Pour into prepared loaf pan. Bake at 350 for 45-55 minutes or until the top turns a light golden brown and a tooth pick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool before serving.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, add the cream cheese and the powdered sugar, beating until well combined. Add the remaining ingredients and whip until smooth.

Top the cake with the icing, chill prior to serving.

 Cooking and baking with craft beer.