{beercakes} hardywood park craft brewery

The only thing that I have ever been passionately competitive about is board games. I don’t run races, or participate in team sports, but get my in front of a folding board, a deck of cards, or a pair of dice and it is game on. Every member of my family will tell you, I hate to lose at a board game.

Today is the day I compete at something off the board. I have signed up for a dessert pairing competition at my favorite brewery, Hardywood Park, and I really want to win.

My first time making beercakes was with Hardywood’s summer seasonal beer,
Virginia Strawberry. This beer was phenomenal in a cupcake. And even if the Hardyheads did not worship it like some of their other brews, it was a favorite for me. I made several batches for friends and coworkers and every cupcake was met with oohs and ahhs.

The second beer I tried baking with was another Hardywood brew, Virginia Blackberry. This recipe turned out to be my favorite. I made them for a blogger vegetarian beer dinner and scored major points by pairing the beercake with a lemon butter cream and filling it with blackberry jam.

I experimented with beers from plenty of other breweries, but always came back to my hometown favorite. So, when I saw that the much anticipated release of Hardywood Gingerbread Stout would be kicked off with a dessert competition taking place at the brewery, I knew it was my destiny.

I baked my little heart out this weekend and look forward to a good competition today at 6:00pm. If you are in the area, you can be a judge by being one of the first 30 people at the brewery this afternoon. The winner of the contest gets a case of Gingerbread Stout and their dessert on the menu at Capital Ale House. Wish me luck…