Chocolate Beer Cupcakes: Happiness with Icing on Top

PROJECT PATISSERIE: Adventure #8

The recipe for chocolate beer cake caught my attention a few weeks ago when I was cruising through my French Patisserie cookbook.  I was looking for a birthday cake for my daughter and the chocolate beer cake gave me pause. Chocolate and beer and cake? It’s like the universe took the three things that my husband, my daughter, and I each love the most and combined them into one cosmic dessert. While I didn’t end up using it for the birthday cake ( I’m sure I’d get the “Mother of the Year” Award for serving a three year old beer cake!) I was on the lookout for the next possible opportunity to make it.

Right on cue I got the call that we’d be gathering at my sister-in-law’s for Easter dinner- would I bring a dessert? Absolutely. Chocolate beer cake was calling my name! 

I looked over the recipe, did an ingredient check, added whatever else I needed to that week’s grocery list, and off to the store I went. The recipe called for Stella Artois- a fancy pants Belgian lager. When I rolled up to the beer aisle I balked at the price of Stella and I figured the lager that we had at home would be just fine. I’ll gladly spend $29.95 on two pounds of French gourmet chocolate but don’t ask me to shell out $15 for a 6 pack! Priorities, I guess.

Easter Sunday was going to be pretty busy so I got up early that morning to get a head start on the cupcakes. I started the oven and shuffled over to the pantry to gather the ingredients. Everything was there- except the beer… its absence punctuated by the empty bottles in the recycling bin. This was starting to look like an episode of I Love Lucy: my husband drank my star ingredient!

So there I was at 6:45 in the morning on Easter Sunday trying to track down a bottle of beer.  A challenge indeed with all the stores closed for the holiday. After a few frantic texts to a nearby friend went unanswered (somehow he must have managed to still be asleep despite having a young baby at home) my sainted husband set out to procure me some beer. He came home a few minutes later with a Coors Light- a far cry, as any beer aficionado will tell you, from Stella Artois but all that he could find in my father-in-law’s garage. Beggars can’t be choosers, I guess.

Between the proverbial rock (the Coors Light) and a hard place (showing up to my sister-in-law’s empty handed) I popped the top on the beer and away we went.

The recipe is unbelievable easy and goes fairly quickly. In less than a half hour I had 12 beautiful cupcakes cooling on the rack. When they cooled they tasted amazing- very moist and light- just lovely.

I frosted them about 20 minutes before we were due to leave the house with  whipped chocolate ganache and garnished the whole thing with a pretzel- a natural companion to both beer and chocolate. The ganache was a little grainy- in my haste to leave the house I must not have completely melted the chocolate. When everything was assembled - cake, frosting, and pretzel- something was off- and I can’t pinpoint what it was. There was a bitterness to it- and I’m not sure who the culprit was; maybe the 72% dark chocolate I used in the cake batter, or maybe the taste of the beer finally came through, or perhaps the chocolate I used for the frosting was too dark?

The mystery will remain unsolved until I make it again- next time with a “Do Not Drink” note taped to the beer!

Chocolate Beer Cupcakes: Recipe

Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. While it’s warming, put one stick of SALTED butter and ½ cup of lager in a sauce pan and heat over low heat until the butter has melted. The recipe suggests using Stella Artois or some other variety of tasty, fancy lager. While I’m sure Coors Light is a charming beer, save it for a hot summer day on the river, not this chocolate cake recipe.

Sift together 1 cup of self-rising flour, 1/3 cup of cocoa powder, and ½ teaspoon of baking soda in a bowl.  Add 2/3 cup of sugar, 1/3 cup of milk, 1 beaten egg, 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract,  1 ½ ounces of dark chocolate, and the beer-butter mixture.

Beer-butter?  Does anyone else think that sounds pretty good? Imagine it on freshly baked bread…

Either spray a muffin tin with baking spray or line it with cupcake liners and fill each about ¾ full. If cupcake aren’t your thing- the thought is astonishing, but possible- this recipe can also be prepared as a loaf: line a 2 pound loaf pan with parchment paper or spray it with baking spray and fill with the batter.

For chefs going the cupcake route: bake them for about 15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. For those choosing the loaf route: bake for approximately 50 minutes or until the loaf passes the toothpick test. In either case, the top of the cake should bounce back slightly when prodded.

The recipe I used suggests serving the loaf/cupcakes warm and topped with a chocolate sauce. The other option is to allow them to cool completely and then frost them with whatever you want. I used whipped chocolate ganache, but they’d also be amazing with butter cream icing if you feel like taking the time.

Whipped chocolate ganache:

In a double boiler (or a glass bowl set in a pan of simmering water) melt 1 cup of semi-sweet chocolate in ½ cup of whipping cream over low heat. Stir until smooth.  Take the bowl off the heat and let it cool to room temperature.  Using an electric mixer (I used a stand mixer because this may take a bit) whisk until the mixture gets thick and shiny and no longer drips from the whisk. Frost the cupcakes immediately as the ganache will begin to harden if you let it sit and will be difficult to spread.