A Flight of Dark Chocolate Beer Cupcakes

We all like a little variety and when it comes to food and beverage I like small plates. I like to taste many things and compare and contrast. My beer cupcakes last weekend were inspired by two things.

First, the Winter Brew Festival at Linden Street Brewery in late January. The festival was great. They showcased many beers, all of my local favorites and a lot of medal winners. We started at the dark beer section and made our way to the home brews. 

Second, the concept of ordering a "flight" or sampler when going out. You can usually find me ordering from the starter menu and trying a few different wines. I am totally fine having those two concepts marry which is the subject/experiment for this update - A Flight of Dark Chocolate Beer Cupcakes!

Beer #1: Alaska Brewing Company, 2009 Smoked Porter
Beer #2: Anchor Steam Brewery, Porter
Beer #3: Lagunitas, Cappuccino Stout
Beer #4: New Belgium, 1554 Black Ale
Beer #5: Marin Brewing Company, Blueberry Ale

I tried two differed recipes with four different beers and here were my results. 

My favorites were Lagunitas Cap Stout (very pleasing dark flavor with hints of espresso) and New Belgium black Ale (mild, darker beer with sweet notes) mostly because of the recipe used. The recipe called for chocolate that was melted and worked into the wet ingredients. I also folded the egg whites into the ingredients at the end before piping into the cake pan. The cake was moist and had hints of espresso. It went very well with the chocolate ganache frosting glazed on top.

Lagunitas Chocolate Cupcake with Salted Caramel Buttercream Frosting

 

New Belgium 1554 Black Ale small cakes with Chocolate Ganache Frosting

The Anchor Steam (deep, creamy and smooth with slight coffee flavor) and Alaska Porter (strong smoked flavor, full and dark, very mild after taste) cakes had great flavor but the recipe made a crumbly cake. It also called for cocoa powder instead of melted chocolate which I do not prefer. The beer was delicious and went really well with the salted caramel buttercream frosting piped on top.

 Anchor Steam Porter Chocolate Cupcake with Salted Caramel Buttercream Frosting

Alaska 2009 Smoked Porter Jumbo Cupcake with Chocolate Ganache Frosting

And last but not least...Marin Blueberry Ale (lighter ale with a strong blueberry essence). This would make a great vanilla beer cupcake. Unfortunately, the beer was too light for the chocolaty goodness I was going for

Overall, once you find a dark, robust beer, whether it be smoked or espresso flavored, I don't think you can go wrong. Next would be finding the perfect cake recipe to compliment the beer :) and I think I found mine. Tips: Try melted chocolate instead cocoa powder and folding in the egg whites at the end as it does help make for a fluffy cake. 

Flight of Dark Chocolate Beer Cupcakes ready for delivery!

 

Bake on,
Sarah

Happy Birthday Honey B Cake

Beehive cakes are absolutely adorable and very fitting especially if the birthday girl is named B. I call her honey bee which I am sure her parents thought of first. Darling, Beatrice Piper was born to parents Tim and Jenn, the hippest, happiest, healthiest parents on the block.

The cake was made with organic ingredients and clover honey that we picked up at our local farmers market. The cake was delicious, B absolutely loved it and I would make it again in a heart beat. Maybe suitable for Easter or B's 2nd birthday?

Tips: I know this recipe may seem like a lot but if you have all your ingredients in a row as I like to say, its not at complicated as it may seem. I would say this is level intermediate. You might want to keep some extra icing to serve with sliced cake.

This recipe requires a Nordicware Bee Cake pan. Make sure to greese it well and flour it before putting the batter in.

Honey Lemon Beehive:
16 Servings

Ingredients:

For the cake:

• 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 16 Tbs. (2 sticks) unsalted butter softened
• 1 1/4 cups granulated sugar 
• 1/3 cup honey
• 4 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla 
• 3/4 cup milk
• 2 tbs fresh lemon juice

For the honey icing drizzled on top:

• 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
• 1 tbs honey
• 1-3 tbs milk

For the buttercream frosting for the cake center:

• 1/3 stick unsalted butter softened
• 1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted
• 1-2 tbs milk
• 1/4 tsp vanilla

For the royal icing for the bees:

• 1 tbs dried egg white powder or meringue powder
• 1 1/4 cups powdered sugar
• 2 tbs water
• Yellow and black food coloring

Directions:

Have all the ingredients at room temperature.

Heat oven to 300°F. Grease and flour a beehive cake pan; tap out excess flour.

To make the cake, sift together the flour, baking powder and salt; set aside.

In a large bowl or stand mixer, beat together butter, sugar and honey, scraping bowl often.  Add eggs one at a time, blending well after each addition. Stir in vanilla. Reduce speed to low and gradually add flour mixture, alternating with milk, mixing just until blended. Blend in lemon juice. Divide batter evenly among halves of pan, spreading the batter so the sides are higher than the center. Bake at 300 degrees for 50-60 minutes, until toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool 15 minutes in pan. Invert onto cooling rack and cool completely. 

To make the buttercream, in a medium bowl, using a handheld mixer, beat the butter on medium speed until smooth and creamy, about 1 minute. Add the confectioners' sugar, milk, vanilla and salt and continue beating until light and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes more. 

To make the honey bees: In a small bowl combine egg white powder, powdered sugar and water. Beat on medium speed, 5 minutes, until icing forms stiff peaks. Divide icing into thirds; leave one-third of icing white; color one-third black and the remaining one-third yellow. Fill a piping bag fitted with a #3 tip with black icing. Pipe bodies and heads of honeybees onto parchment or waxed paper; let set 10 minutes. Fill a piping bag fitted with a #1 tip with yellow icing; pipe stripes onto bodies of bees. Fill piping bag fitted with a #3 tip with white icing; pipe wings onto pees. Let stand at least 2 hours, until hardened - this is very important! 

To make honey icing: In a medium bowl, combine all honey icing ingredients; bland well, adding milk until icing is consistency of very thick cream.

To assemble the cake: Stand one-half of cake upright; using a serrated knife, level off the flat side of cake by trimming off rounded dome; repeat with other half of cake. Spread buttercream frosting over cut side of cake; gently press cake halves together to secure. Place cake on serving plate. Spoon honey icing over cake, covering side seams. Decorate with honeybees.

Bake on, 
Sarah