I love beer…especially brews that are rich, dark, and local. So, when I got an email from Foodbuzz Tastemakers with the chance to participate in a New Belgium Brewery Contest I jumped on the challenge. New Belgium is brewed in Fort Collins, not far from Denver and I am a fan of many of their beers. Lucky for me, I received an email saying that I was chosen!!!! In return for creating a food using one of their beer or pairing food with one of their beers I get to receive a $50 stipend to help pay for beer and ingredients. Thanks New Belgium and Foodbuzz!
So…I really wanted to push myself with this challenge. It has been a while since I’ve experimented in the kitchen (as you all can see with my lack of postings as of late) and thought using beer in baking would definitely be a challenge. Last week I went into Starbucks and saw something called a Whoopie Pie. It looked really yummy! Why not try to make Chocolate Whoopie Pies and incorporate Abbey Beer into them…and to push it even further, add espresso. I couldn’t wait to get started, submission deadline isn’t until April 28th…but I couldn’t wait!!!
Photo Pulled from New Belgium’s Website – Linked
Here we go!
Chocolate Abbey Whoopie Pies with Espresso Chip Filling
Inspired by Chocolate Whoopie Pies on Epicurious and my love of Chocolate Covered Espresso Beans!
For Cakes:
- 2.5 cups All Purpose Flour
- 3/4 cups Cocoa Powder
- 1 1/4 tsp. Baking Soda
- 1 tsp. Salt
- 3/4 cup Almond Milk with 1 Tbs. Cider Vinegar (set aside for at least 5 minutes)
- 1/4 cup New Belgium Abbey Beer
- 1 tsp. Vanilla Paste
- 1/2 cup Butter, softened
- 1 cup Turbinado Sugar
- 1 Egg
- 1/2 packet Mocha Instant Coffee (I used Starbucks Via Ready Brew)
For Filling:
- 1/2 cup Butter, softened
- 1, 8 oz. package Cream Cheese, softened
- 1 1/4 – 1 1/2 cup Powdered Sugar
- 1 1/2 tsp Vanilla Paste
- 2 oz. Chopped Chocolate Covered Espresso Beans
- Abbey Beer to thin/taste (I used ~ 1.5 Tbs)
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350* and line your sheets with parchment paper.
In a small bowl, add vinegar to your almond flour milk and set aside for at least 5 minutes. Open your Abbey beer and allow it to rest.
In medium-sized bowl, sift together your flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. Stir/whisk until it is well incorporated.
In large bowl, beat together butter and sugar until light and fluffy…this will take about 3-4 minutes on medium high. Add in the vanilla and egg. Beat until well combined. Add in the espresso powder.
Add the beer to your almond milk and stir until well combined. Add ~1/3 flour mix to the butter and beat on low until combined. Add 1/3 milk, mix until well combined. Continue to alternate until all ingredients are incorporated.
Let the batter sit for 5 minutes or so before cooking. I discovered that my later batches cooked up much better. I don’t know why…maybe it has something to do with the alcohol?
Place ~2.5 Tbs of batter on lined cookie sheet (make sure there is PLENTY of room around the plop of batter, they will spread) and bake for ~13 minutes, until the cake springs back when you touch it with your fingertip. I fit 6 cakes on a large cookie sheet and they had enough room to breath. Move the cakes onto a cooling rack, re-line your sheet and bake your next batch. You’ll get about 24 cakes…for a total of 12 pies, that are about 3.5″ in diameter. If you want smaller pies lessen your batter drops to 1.5 Tbs and they’ll end up about 2″ in diameter.
After your cakes have cooled completely you can prep your filling! Chop your espresso beans in a food processor, Cream together your room temp butter and cream cheese. Add vanilla and powdered sugar and Abbey Beer until you get the consistency you want. Fold in espresso beans. Spread filling on one end of a cake, top with second cake and allow to set in the fridge for ~30 minutes! ENJOY!!!!
Hope you all like what I’ve done and that New Belgium finds this recipe worthy of their beer!
R-
March 25, 2011 at 4:50 pm
Super cool idea. We’re fortunate to be able to buy this beer where we live.
March 25, 2011 at 11:33 pm
Thanks! It was pretty fun to experiment and I was pretty happy with the outcome…my father-in-law ate 2 of them! They are pretty rich and I could only eat half of one so if I were to make these again I’d make a smaller version. 🙂
April 4, 2011 at 2:44 pm
You did chocolate stuff with the beer, too! Love it. These sound delicious!
April 7, 2011 at 1:24 pm
THANKS!!!!
April 7, 2011 at 12:44 pm
You evil, evil woman. I may have to put this up there with my other favorite way to cook with beer ~ Guinness brownies.
April 7, 2011 at 1:24 pm
OH…Guinness Brownies, two of my favorite things!!!!
April 7, 2011 at 12:47 pm
Sounds yummy! In the ingredients list, almond milk is listed, but the directions say almond flour. I just want to be sure it’s suppose to be almond milk, right? Thanks!
April 7, 2011 at 1:23 pm
Yes, Almond MILK….thanks for the heads up…I fixed it!
April 7, 2011 at 12:50 pm
Now, all I need is for New Belgium to distribute in Cincinnati.
Great blog. Followed!
April 7, 2011 at 1:23 pm
Bummer! I bet this would work with any quality dark/red beer! Let me know if you try.
April 7, 2011 at 12:57 pm
Hi Rachel,
These look amazing! Would it be ok if we featured them on CraftBeer.com in the recipe section? I would create a post like this: http://www.craftbeer.com/pages/beer-and-food/recipes/recipes-list/show?title=gingerbread-stout-cake-with-caramel-ale-sauce that would include your photo/bio and a link to your blog. Please let me know!
April 7, 2011 at 1:24 pm
That would be GREAT!
April 7, 2011 at 1:09 pm
Oh my… I’m in looovvvee! This recipe and the beer sound like a good addition to my weekend- thanks for sharing!! (I found you via the FB post New Belgium posted with your link).
April 7, 2011 at 1:22 pm
Glad you like this…I had FUN!
April 7, 2011 at 5:43 pm
I will be makin these this weekend!
April 7, 2011 at 8:38 pm
Let me know how you like them!
April 24, 2011 at 5:44 pm
I made these and took them to my family’s Easter gathering. They were a big hit. Very rich so many were split in half. My cakes came out a bit bulkier than in the image, but maybe that was due to mixing the batter with a hand mixer and not a nice tabletop mixer.