Beer in a Cupcake

Earlier we talked about beer and food pairings, but ever thought about incorporating beer into the food itself? Everyone loves cupcakes and everyone loves beer, so what’s stopping us from combing these two together for a truly gastronomic adventure!

Shying away from a mundane weekend spent browsing the net or watching TV, I thought about combining two things that I have a penchant for: pastries and beer. Just like red wine enhances a rich tomato sauce, dark beer really compliments dark chocolate. So I decided to make a moist chocolaty cupcake.

I took The Cebruery’s very own Chocolate Hills Porter and used it throughout the recipe – in the batter, in the filling, and in the frosting. Try out the recipe below now!

***Ingredients:

For the batter:

1 cup Porter-style beer

1 cup flour

1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1/3 cup softened butter

1 cup brown sugar

1 egg

For the filling:

1/2 cup heavy cream

1/2 cup Porter-style beer

1 egg

1/3 cup brown sugar

2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons flour

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 tablespoon butter

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

For the Porter Reduction:

1/4 cup Porter-style beer

1/4 cup brown sugar

For the buttercream frosting:

1/2 cup softened butter

3 cups confectioners sugar

1-2 tablespoons heavy cream

1/4 cup Porter reduction

1 teaspoon vanilla

pinch of kosher salt

Oreo cookies (optional)

***Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line the cupcake pan with paper liners and set aside.

Make the cupcakes:

In a small saucepan bring the beer up to a simmer over medium heat, immediately turn off the heat and leave the saucepan on the stove. Sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt and set aside. With an electric mixer, cream together the butter and sugar. Add the egg and mix until combined. Set the mixer on low and slowly add 1/2 cup of the hot beer. Add one half of the dry ingredients and one half of the remaining beer, then the remainder of the dry ingredients and the remainder of the beer. Mix until just combined. The batter will be thin.

Pour the batter into the cupcake pan about 2/3 of the way up for each cupcake. Bake for approximately 15 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted in the center. Poke a hole in the center of each cupcake with the end of a wooden spoon, remove cupcakes from pan, and transfer cupcakes to a rack to cool.

Make the filling:

In a medium saucepan whisk together the cream, beer, egg, sugar, flour and salt. Bring to a slow boil over medium heat – about 8-10 minutes – whisking constantly, until mixture is thick and creamy. Remove the pan from the heat and whisk in the butter and vanilla. Allow the mixture to cool slightly (5 minutes or so) before spooning into the cupcake holes. Let cupcakes cool completely before frosting.

Make the reduction for the frosting:

Combine the sugar and the beer in a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Simmer for 5-8 minutes or until the mixture has reduced by about half and remove from heat.

Make the frosting:

With an electric mixer, cream the butter until light and fluffy. Slowly add the sugar until the butter has absorbed all the sugar. Add vanilla and 1 tablespoon of cream and beat until combined. Slowly add the beer reduction to the frosting (if the reduction has hardened, reheat over low heat, stirring constantly, until it is liquified, and then add it to the frosting) and beat until light and fluffy. If the frosting is too stiff, add another tablespoon of cream. Scoop the frosting into a piping bag and frost the cooled cupcakes.

The results? Some serious heavenly goodness!