Ok, folks, welcome to my new experiment, phase one, beer
cakes!! I am so damn excited about how these turned out that I can hardly
contain myself.
I have tons of beer in my fridge, but haven’t had much time to drink it because we have been busy having beer cocktails and chicken salad sandwiches. I knew I wanted to buckle down and work through what was in the fridge when an idea came to me. Why not use some of this beer to make cupcakes?
I have heard of people making cupcakes with Guinness and thought immediately that the Hardywood Strawberry would be an interesting beer to try to bake with.
A quick google search and I found this recipe for Coronoa and Blue Moon cupcakes on Sweet Tooth. I swapped the Blue Moon for Hardywood and made a basic cream cheese butter cream frosting. I tried stuffing a couple of the cupcakes with strawberries, inspired by Brittany’s post from last week on Eating Bird Food.
I completely burnt the first batch and it was such a buzz kill. I tried not to get too discouraged because the top of the cupcake tasted pretty damn good.
I was determined to make it work and round two was a complete success! I had 15 taste tester friends who all agreed they are excellent! (My one friend had no shame in eating three in a row. And she did not get drunk, so no worries if you have to drive somewhere.)
In honor of Virginia Craft Beer month this August, I will be experimenting with a bunch of different Virginia Craft Beers. I will let you know how it goes.
Speak to me: Do you have a favorite Virginia Beer that you think would make a great cupcake?
Nice presentation.. I want to try one.. Heartywood should be serving these.. j~
ReplyDeleteIt was a beer-baking-palooza in Richmond this weekend. :)
Deletethis looks so good! I can't wait to try this new hardywood beer. Yumm.
ReplyDeleteThe Strawberry is a great summer seasonal, but I am awaiting patiently for my favorite, Hardywood PUMPKIN Saison!
DeleteThis is so creative! I love that you are featuring local VA craft beers. Would love to see you try baking with Blue Mountain Brewery Evil 8, one of my absolute favorites.
ReplyDeleteI am going to look for that Blue Mountain on my next beer run.
DeleteThese are awesome! I think you should do a pumpkin cupcake with the Hardywood Pumpkin Ale when it comes out again this fall. :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for the link love.
I LOVE the Hardywood Pumpkin and will definitely be experimenting when it comes out next month. Can't wait for that!
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