cooking with craft beer

Drunken Strawberry Tart with Beer Lemon Curd

12.06.2012 13 Comments

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.

Drunken Strawberry Tart with Beer Lemon Curd

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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

Instructions

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.
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.
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.
Preheat oven to 375.
Place a sheet of parchment paper inside your tart and fill with pie weights. If you don’t have any, dried beans work great.
Bake for 20-25 minutes or until your tart is a light golden brown. Remove from oven, allow to cool slightly. remove pie weights.
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.
Add the curd to the crust and chill until set, about 4 hours.
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.
Add all of the whipped cream ingredients to a stand mixer and mix on high until soft peaks form, about 4 minutes.
Top tart with berries and whipped cream just prior to serving.

IPA Marinated Citrus Pork Chops With Peach Poblano Salsa

07.06.2012 14 Comments

A really well crafted IPA is a beautiful thing,but this is the style that is most often poorly done. The art of balancing a hop forward beer delicately with its subtle back notes is an art that only a few persistent pros seem to be able to manage. The well crafted, well balanced IPA is an incredible art, that takes the dedication of a thoughtful and persistent brewer to really ace.

I present to you Stone Ruination. It is a Masters level education on how to do the IPA right. Seek it out if you adore the Indian Pale Ale, or even if you tend to avoid it. That’s how you make an IPA.

IPA Marinated Citrus Pork Chops With Peach Poblano Salsa

For the Pork Chops:

1 cup IPA (Stone Ruination Preferred)

1/4 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice

1 tsp salt

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 tsp agave

1/2 tsp Sriracha

4 bone-in pork chops (about 1 to 1 1/2 inches thick)

3 tbs olive oil (plus additional if needed)

For the Salsa:

1 cup chopped fresh yellow peaches (about 1 large peach)

1 cup chopped red bell peppers, stem and seeds removed (about 1 medium sided pepper)

2/3 cup chopped poblano pepper, stem and seeds removed (about 1 large pepper)

2/3 cup chopped red onion (about 1/2 of 1 large onion)

1/4 cup chopped green onion

1/2 tsp salt

2 tbs IPA

1/4 tsp chili powder (add more for a spicier salsa)

In a large bowl or baking dish, combine the IPA, lemon juice, salt, agave, garlic and srirach, stir to combine. Add the pork chops, turning to coat. Place the bowl (or baking dish) in the refrigerator and allow to marinate for 30 minutes.

Add all of the salsa ingredients to a bowl and toss to combine.

In a pan over medium high heat, add the olive oil and allow to get hot but not smoking. Add the pork chops, cooking one or two at a time, don’t crowd the pan. Cook on each side for 3-4 minutes. You want them to still have a slight hint of pink still in the center, pork chops go from undercooked to overcooked really quickly, so keep a close eye on them.

Plate, and top with salsa. You will have more than enough salsa for the chops, serve the excess in a bowl with chips.

Homemade Beer Ricotta

05.06.2012 17 Comments

There are foods that I relent to making from scratch, taking hours to carve a meal out of whole ingredients. Hours spend on homemade pasta, breads, pie dough and sauces. The extra time is more than worth it for real food, feed to those I love from the earth, to my hands to the table.

And then there are things that take so little time and effort, I am amazed that it took me so long to start making them from scratch.

Like whipped cream, tortillas and ricotta.

The active time on this recipe is so little, and the reward is so great, I will never buy it again. No special equipment or difficult to find ingredients. No extensive aging times or unusual techniques. Just a few simple ingredients and a stove.

Spread it on bread and top with fresh vegetables.

Make homemade ricotta ice cream.

Stuffed cannellonis.

Ricotta Cheesecake.

You might need to make a double batch.

This is recipe that needs a wheat beer. The citrusy breadyness comes through in really great way. I used Colete By Great Divide. The flavors were perfect for this ricotta and lent themselves well to either sweet or savory recipes using the cheese.

I was grateful that I bought a six pack, this is a beer that will make it’s way in my normal drinking and cooking rotation.

Homemade Beer Ricotta

3 cups whole milk (do not use Ultra-Pasterized, it won’t work)

1 cup heavy cream

1/2 tsp salt

1/3 cup Saison beer, Plus 2 tbs divided

3 tbs Apple Cider Vinegar (you can also use lemon juice, or a combination of the two)

Makes about 1 1/4 cups

In a pot over medium high heat (do not use an aluminum pan) add the milk, cream, 1/2 tsp salt and 1/3 cup beer.

Clip a cooking thermometer onto the side of the pan.

Bring the liquid to 190 degrees, stirring occasionally to prevent the bottom from scorching. Keep a close eye on it, the liquid reaches and passes 190 very quickly and you don’t want it rising above 200.

Remove from heat, add the 2 tbs beer and then the vinegar (or lemon juice) and stir gently once or twice. It should curdle immediately. Allow to sit undisturbed for about 5 minutes.

Line a large strainer with 1 or 2 layers of cheese cloth, place the strainer in the sink over a large bowl.

Pour the ricotta into the strainer and allow to drain for 15 to 30 minutes and up to an hour.

After 15 minutes you will have a smooth creamy spreadable cheese. As you continue to allow it to drain, it will become more and more firm. It will also continue to firm once it is chilled, remove it from the strainer before it reaches the firmness level you want as it will continue to firm up in the fridge.

Place in an air tight container and store in the fridge.

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Cheddar Beer Bread Muffins

31.05.2012 8 Comments

I’ve noticed something about you.

You seem to have no interest in healthy beer recipes. You want your beer recipes to be a flagrant indulgence of full-flavored stimulation. You want chocolate and bacon and sugar and whatever else I can manage to squeeze into your meal.

I like that about you.

No "semi-homemade" or "skinny" versions will do for your beer baking, you want it to be bold and extravagant, diet repercussions be damned. You also have no problem with my recipes that take hours, making Bacon Beer Jam with delighted voracity.

So it is by pure accident that I offer to you a recipe that only takes 5 minutes to throw together and less than 20 to bake, allowing you to get a fully flavored beer muffin on your table in less than a half an hour.

Although I know you would have been more than willing to spend much longer. I appreciate your tenacity.

For these Beer Bread Muffins, I used Lagunitas Red, a special release that’s just so fun to drink.

Beer Bread Muffins

Cheddar Beer Bread Muffins

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Servings 8 muffins

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups flour
1 tbs sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese plus additional for topping, if desired
2 tbs chopped green onions
1/4 cup melted butter plus 2 additional tbs, divided
3/4 cup beer

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350. Spray muffin tins with cooking spray.
In a bowl combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, cheese and onions, stir until well combined. Pour in 1/4 a cup of melted butter plus the 6 oz of beer, stir until just combined.
Pour batter into muffin tins until each well is about 1/2 full. Pour remaining 2 tbs of butter onto the tops of the muffins, dividing evenly between each muffin. Top with additional cheese, if desired.
Bake at 350 for 18-20 minutes or until the muffins have puffed and a toothpick in the center comes out clean. Serve immediately, these are best right out of the oven.

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Chocolate Stout Covered Beer Caramels

29.05.2012 10 Comments

You aren’t always aware of the nexus of a true obsession. It may only be in hind sight that the catalyst is revealed upon agonizing inspection of your past. For me, however, the spark was breathtaking, an obvious birth of a fixation that lead to this blog. That trigger was Bison Honey Basil Ale. A beer that begged to be turned into Beer Creme Brulee, my first post.

If you enjoy this little blog that I have, and are as fascinated as I am with turning beer into chewable treats, you don’t have me to thank, you owe the lovely folks at Bison Brewery a debt of gratitude. As do I, or course.

For this post, I used Bison Chocolate Stout, an excellent example of the genre.

Chocolate Stout Covered Beer Caramels

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Ingredients

For The Caramels:
12 oz bottle low hop Pale or Amber ale divided
2 cups white sugar
1 cup light brown sugar
1 cup butter
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup corn syrup
For the Chocolate:
1 1/2 cups 60% dark chocolate
1/4 cup Chocolate Stout
1 tsp flakey sea salt optional

Instructions

In a large sauce pan over medium high heat, add 1 cup beer (reserve the remaining beer). Allow beer to boil and reduce until thick and syrupy and only about 1 tsp remains, about 20 minutes. Set aside. (Note: if you want a lower level of beer taste, skip this step and substitute the "extract" you have just made with 1 tsp of vanilla extract in the later step that calls for the beer extract)
Line a loaf pan with parchment paper, making sure the paper goes up and over the sides of the pan, set aside.
In a large sauce pan over high heat add both sugars, butter, cream, corn syrup and remaining 1/2 cup beer. Stir until butter has melted and then stop stirring while the candy boils (you can occasionally swirl the pan), clip a candy thermometer to the side of the pot, taking care that the tip doesn't touch the bottom. Allow to boil untouched until the liquid reaches 244 degrees. The caramel will reach 200 degrees rather quickly,but will take 15-20 minutes to reach 244. The last few degrees climb quickly so stay close to your pot.
Once the caramel has reached 244, remove from heat. Add the reduced beer "extract" that you have set aside and stir until the bubbling has subsided. Pour it into prepared loaf pan, allow to sit at room temperature for 10 minutes, then refrigerate until set, about 2 hours. Cut into squares.
In the top of a double boiler add the chocolate and the stout, stir over low heat until melted and creamy, about 5 minutes. Don't over heat or your chocolate will seize.
One at a time, place the squares into the chocolate with a fork. Roll around until covered, remove and add to a piece of wax paper, sprinkle with sea salt if desired. Once the squares been covered in chocolate transfer the to the refrigerator, repeat with remaining caramel. Chill until set, about 10 minutes.
Keep refrigerated.

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Roasted Garlic Beer Butter Shrimp

24.05.2012 9 Comments

Remember the Beer Cooking Scale I told you about last month, the one I want to invent? The one that would let you know the approximate level of Beeryness the final product has? This recipe is at both ends of that yet-to-be-invented scale’s spectrum. The beer butter has a kick you in the mouth beer flavor that will be heartily enjoyed by beer enthusiast, and the shrimp has a subtle note of beer in it’s finish. If you are a Kick You In The Mouth kinda person, cooking for a Maybe Just A Touch kind of person, this will satisfy you both. You get a butter full of intense beer flavor to slather onto whatever you so choose, and your little friend gets a plate of shrimp with slight notes of beer. Harmony between the two of you once again.

For this recipe I used a Saison brewed with sage, giving really great herb notes to the finished product. This is a special release beer from Epic Brewing called Utah Saison Sage #2.

If you can’t find this beer, look for a Saison with herb or citrus notes.

Roasted Garlic Beer Butter

1 head of garlic

1 tbs olive oil

1/2 cup Saison beer

1 stick of butter, softened

Preheat oven to 425. Rub several layers of the white papery skin off the head of garlic, leaving a light layer still in tact to keep the bulb together. Cut off the top point of the head, exposing the cloves inside.

Place on a sheet of foil, drizzle with olive oil and fold the foil tightly around the garlic. Place in a baking dish and roast in a 425 degree oven until the cloves are soft, about 20 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool.

While the garlic is roasting, add the beer to a pot on the stove. Cook until reduced to 3 tbs, about 10 minutes. (To lower the level of beer flavor in the butter, reduce 1/4 cup of beer by half.)

In a food processor, add the softened butter and the beer. Squeeze the head of garlic until the cloves push out, adding just the cloves to the food processor and discarding the papery skin.

Process the butter until smooth. Add to an air tight container and store in the fridge.

Roasted Garlic Beer Butter Shrimp, two methods

3 tbs beer butter

10 shrimp

pinch of salt and pepper

Metohd one: Grilling

Preheat grill. Melt the beer butter in a microwave safe dish. Skewer the shrimp with a heat safe skewers(or water soaked wooden skewers). Sprinkle with salt and pepper, brush liberally with melted butter. Grill until pink and cooked through, about 2-3 minutes per side. Brush occasionally with butter while cooking.

Method two: Stove Top

In a pan over medium high heat, add the butter and stir until melted. Sprinkle the shrimp with salt and pepper, add to the pan and saute until cooked through about 5 minutes.

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Beer and Bacon Jam

22.05.2012 53 Comments

Beer and bacon in a spreadable form, this may be the best thing to ever come out of my kitchen. It is a simple food, a few ingredients that over time become large with flavor and possibilities. A conversation piece, something your guest won’t forget, or a handmade gift for those carnivorous beer lovers in your life. Although the cooking time is long, your active time is relatively short.

This is the perfect way to spend a lazy sunday afternoon: The smell of bacon welling up around you in a sun soaked kitchen with Delta Spirit rising from the speakers and the rest of the demanding world no longer existing. Just you, music and the transformation of ingredients happening on your stove. Cooking, creating, lingering in my kitchen gives a very grounded feeling to my over extend life. A reminder that I need to slow down and enjoy, just be. A recipe that ask little of me other that the time it takes to simply simmer is a reminder of that, just be.

Beer & Bacon Jam

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Ingredients

12 oz thick sliced bacon 8-10 thick strips
4 cloves of garlic smashed
1/2 cup yellow onion chopped
1 1/4 cups amber ale or imperial stout divided
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
2/3 cup brown sugar

Instructions

In a large pot or dutch oven, cook the bacon, working in batches if neccessary. Remove the bacon from the pan and allow to cool and then roughly chop. Drain off the bacon grease from the pot, leaving only about 1 tbs bacon drippings in the bottom of the pot. Return the pot to heat and cook the onions until soft and translucent, about 3 minutes. Add the garlic and stir for about 30 seconds. Add 1 cup beer and both vinegars, scraping to deglaze the bottom of the pot. Add the brown sugar and the bacon, reduce heat to maintain a simmer. Place the lid on the pot at an angle, allowing to vent the steam. Cook until reduced to a thick and syrupy consistency, stirring occasionally, about 45 minutes. Transfer to a food processor along with remaining 1/4 cup beer and pulse until most of the large pieces have been chopped.
Serve at room temperature.

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Chocolate Beer Cream Puffs

27.04.2012 5 Comments

I want you to start thinking of beer as an extract. A complex amalgamation of flavors that functions in a recipe as an extract. If you were baking a fabulous caramel cake recipe, and the recipe calls for vanilla extract and all you had was mint would you just go ahead and use that? I wouldn’t, but then again a traumatic trip to Morocco has implanted a serious mint aversion in me. Think of beer the same way. If a recipe calls for a stout, an IPA isn’t going to work, you’re implanting an entirely different database of flavors. Stick with a stout or something similar, a porter maybe? If the recipe calls for a pilsner don’t use a porter, but you can always use a similarly flavored blonde ale.

This recipe is the best "first timers" recipe when cooking with beer. It takes about 15 minutes, it can be thrown together at the last minute and its simple. This is what you can go to if you have a beer themed party, easy, elegant and beautiful beer flavors that are subtle enough to be loved even by those "non beer people" in your life. You might even convert a few.

I use Flying Dog Road Dog Porter. With rock and roll good looks, a unbreakable tie to the incomprehensibly talented Hunter Thompson, and profanity right on the label, this is a beer that needs to be acknowledged. Its both full of flavor and easy to drink, this is a beer to seek out.

Chocolate Beer Cream Puffs

1 sheet puff pastry, thawed

1 cup heavy cream

3 tbs unsweetened cocoa powder

1/4 to 1/2 cup powdered sugar

2 tbs porter

1 cup dark chocolate chunks

1/2 cup porter beer

2 tbs heavy cream

preheat oven to 400.

Place the puff pastry on a floured surface and roll in each direction, making it wider and longer. Using a 2.5 inch circle biscuit cutter, cut out 20-25 circles and place on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper.

Bake at 400 until golden brown, about 15 minutes.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, add 1 cup of heavy cream, 3 tbs cocoa powder, 1/4 cup powdered sugar, and 2 tbs porter. Beat on high until soft peaks form. Taste, add addition sugar if desired, beating to combine, put in a piping bag.

Split the puff pastry circles in half to resemble buns and pipe the whipped cream into the center, replacing the top.

In a microwave safe bowl, add 2 tbs heavy cream and 1/2 cup porter. In a separate bowl, add the chocolate chips. Microwave the cream/porter mixture until hot and steamy. Pour over the chocolate and stir until melted. You’ll reach a point where the ganache looks like chunky hot chocolate, it’s fine, just keep stirring until well combined.

Spoon the ganache over the cream puffs.

Drink the rest of the porter and enjoy your handy work.

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Disclaimer: These are not traditional cream puffs, or profiterole as they are called in Greece and Italy, but the name "cream puff" seemed to describe them to the closest approximation of what they actually are. Feel free to re-name them Puff Pastry Whipped Cream Bites if this bastardized version of a traditional dessert bothers you. I don’t mind at all.

Irish Beer Brownies With Mint Sour Cream Frosting

13.03.2012 8 Comments

This week will be full of recipes for Guinness. Although I will always favor local craft beer, I do harbor a soft spot for Ireland and their World Famous Brewery. Just out of college I scraped together enough money to put myself on a flight from LAX to Dublin. I landed in Ireland on a drizzly morning, jet lagged and confused. I had no idea where to go, or how to get there. Before I really knew what was happening, I was being dragged though the streets of Dublin by a charming Irishman, clad in a newsboy cap and green wool sweater. Through his thick accent I was able to discern that he was taking me to a youth hostel at the foot of the Guinness brewery. Once we arrived at our destination, he said goodbye with a smile and a cheerful wave and he was on his way, leaving me to realized that this kind stranger had walked at least a mile in the wrong direction just to make sure I found a bed for the evening.

Although most of you will be breaking out the famous Irish Stout this weekend, I will be sticking with beer brewed a little closer to home. Rogue Brewery makes several beers that would be perfect for this recipe, including the Chocolate Stout, the Double Chocolate Stout, or even the Hazelnut Brown Nectar, I choose to go with the Mocha Porter although the idea of the Irish Lager almost drew me in.

Whatever you decide to consume on St. Patrick’s day, just remember:

Good beer does not need green food dye.

Drink well.

Irish Beer Brownies With Mint Sour Cream Frosting

For the brownies:

12 ounces dark beer, such as Rouge Mocha Porter

1 stick unsalted butter

10 ounces dark chocolate

3 whole eggs plus 2 additional egg whites

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup flour

For the Mint Sour Cream Frosting:

2 sticks of butter, softened

1/2 cup sour cream

2 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1/2 tsp mint extract

In a sauce pan over medium high heat, cook the beer until reduced to about 3/4 of a cup, about 10 minutes.

Add the butter, stir until melted. Remove from heat and add the chocolate, stirring until melted, remove from heat and allow to cool slightly.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, add the eggs, additional whites and sugar. Beat on high until very light and frothy, about 5 minutes. Add the vanilla and mix until combined. While the mixer is still on high, slowly add the chocolate mixture in a slow stream. Once about half the chocolate mixture has been added to the egg mixture, dump the remaining chocolate into the stand mixer allowing to mix until combined. Add the flour mixture and stir on low until just combined, don’t over mix once the flour has been added or your brownies will be tough.

Generously spray a 9×12 inch glass baking dish with butter flavored cooking spray. Pour the batter into the pan. Bake at 350 for 45-55 minutes or until the surface of the brownies begin to look dry and cracked and a tester inserted into center comes out with a few moist crumbs attached.

Make the frosting:

Softened butter is important to this process. If you use cold butter your frosting will have the consistency of ground beef, but melted butter will give you frosting that is too soft.

Add the softened butter and the sour cream to a stand mixer and beat until well combined. Add the sugar and beat on low until the sugar is mostly mixed in. Add the mint and beat on high until frosting is light and fluff.

Allow the brownies to cool before frosting.

Lemon Pilsner Cake

08.03.2012 7 Comments

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.