Hefeweizen Cupcakes

I really don't remember how I stumbled across this recipe on Beantown Baker's blog, but Jen the Beantown Baker has an amazing collection of cupcake recipes and loads of other delicious looking yumminess. I highly recommend you check it out!

But when I saw Hefeweizen Cupcakes, I knew I had to make them!!

It took awhile to actually get around to it. And I had a Franziskaner Hefe-Weisse in the fridge that was off-limits, for what probably seemed like FOREVER to Jon!

But our friend's birthday rolled around, and he ended up being in town without his lovely wife or family, so I decided it was the perfect occasion for Hefeweizen Cupcakes!



Hefeweizen Cupcakes
Makes 9 cupcakes

2 egg whites
1/2 C sugar
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 C vegetable oil
zest of one large lemon or 2 small lemons
3 TBLS milk
1 C all-purpose flour
1/2 C Hefeweizen or other wheat beer

In a medium-sized mixing bowl, whip egg whites until soft peaks form.
Gradually mix in the sugar.
Mix in baking powder, baking soda, vegetable oil, zest, and milk.
Mix in half of the flour.
Mix in the beer.
Mix in the other half of the flour.
Fill cupcake liners 3/4 full.
Bake at 350F for 15 minutes or until cupcakes bounce back when lightly touched.

Beer Glaze Recipe
1/2 C malted milk powder
2 TBLS all-purpose flour
1/4 C hefeweizen or other wheat beer
4 TBLS unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/4 C powdered sugar

In a double boiler, combine all the ingredients except for the butter and sugar.
Melt the mixture, stirring continuously until it's thick - about 12 minutes.
Cool completely.
In a medium-sized mixing bowl, mix the cooled malt mixture with the butter.
Mix in the powdered sugar.
The end result should be a thick and sticky glaze.
Spread onto cooled cupcakes.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The beer that sat in my fridge forever!


Preheat your oven to 350F
Ok... so beat your egg whites until soft peaks form.


Then gradually mix in the sugar.
Mix in baking powder, baking soda, vegetable oil, zest, and milk.
Mix in half of the flour.
Mix in the beer.
Mix in the other half of the flour.

It will look like this =)


Fill cupcake liners 3/4 full.


Bake at 350F for 15 minutes or until they bounce back when lightly touched.


Now to make the Beer Glaze.

So malted milk powder, beer and flour in to the double boiler.


Mix well, cook and stir until thick.


About 12 minutes...


When completely cooled...

Mix the cooled malty mixture with the butter


Then mix in the powdered sugar...


Now you're ready to glaze the cupcakes!




Kinda yeasty and a little savory sweet. But not too sweet. I'm not fond of stuff that's really sweet and these were great!



Really tasty... nice crumb...



They ARE different.

But I'll definitely be making them again!

Give them try!

Brats in Beer with Sauerkraut

Grill season is in full swing. What's your favorite thing to grill?

I can never choose. Anytime I fire up the coals, the kids usually want burgers & dogs. But I usually want to grill some chicken or steak or veggies or pork or shrimp... See my problem? I can't choose!! So typically, the minimum that ends up on my grill is burgers & dogs, plus at least one other protein.

One Jon's often requested grilled foods is Brats.


I didn't grow up eating these and honestly, I'm not a big fan. I'm not really sure how or why I started making them like this.

But Jon & our friends seem to really like them!

Brats in Beer with Sauerkraut
Brats
Sauerkraut, mostly drained
Beer
Onion, sliced
salt & pepper
Sausage Rolls (nice ones!)
Mustard (the good stuff!!)
Mayo (if you like)

Make a bed of sauerkraut in the bottom of a grill-safe pan.
Top with some sliced onions, then brats.
Top brats with more sauerkraut & sliced onions.
Sprinkle with a little salt & pepper.
Cover with beer.
Let that rest in the fridge for awhile (until the coals are ready)
Put the pan on the grill. If the beer is boiling too much... move it to a cooler part of the grill, so it doesn't totally boil off. Simmer for about 30 minutes. Pull the brats out of the sauerkraut and place them on the grill to get some nice grill marks on them. Serve them in a sausage roll that has really good mustard and mayo in it... add some of the sauerkraut & onions and enjoy!



I like to use little foil loaf pans for this. They each hold two brats plus kraut nicely.




Ok... looks like I added the beer before topping with kraut... but in hindsight... adding the beer last would be better!




Now to get the coals ready.

That's Jon's job. I hate to do it and I'm not very good at it. It takes me forever!

Coals are ready... on to the grill they go!


They are sharing the grill with some Ranch Turkey Burgers.

Steamy...


Ok... ready for some grill marks.

I moved them to the other grill... because that's where I had room!


One opened up a bit...


Time to get the sausage rolls ready.

Jon prefers Mr. Mustard for his brats... and he like mayo too.








That's it! Ready to eat!


That probably would have looked a little better cut in half! But I assure you... if you love brats... you'll love them like this!

Lambic ~ Cantillion Iris

We tried this just before we started Wine Tasting. Since neither of us drink wine, we thought we'd practice on beer. Something Jon knows very well and I've been getting more experienced with.

I don't really like beer. I do like the fruity lambics... Lindemans Framboise is my favorite. It's completely unbeer-like.

Since in PA there are so many rules & regulations regarding alcohol sales, when you do find cool beers, they cost a fortune. At least WAY more than in MA, which is how I view them. So every time I go visit my family in MA, I come back with few single beers, that I think Jon will like. Even though I don't like beer, I'm pretty good at picking them out, just from hanging out with him.

Jon pulled out a Lambic that I picked up for him last time I was in MA. It was a 2005 Cantillon Iris. It was just a straight up lambic. I had never tried one before. (How different can it be from Framboise?) But the shelf tag went on and on about it being an award winning Lambic... so into the cart it went.

This is from the importer:
Iris is made in the style of lambic – fermented by wild yeasts and aged in oak wine casks at the brewery – but with a couple of big differences. First, it is made entirely from malted barley, whereas traditional lambic uses one third unmalted wheat. In addition, the brewery has used fresh Hallertau hops in the boil and for dry-hopping the Iris. (Traditional lambic calls for hops that have been aged for several years, which impart virtually no hop flavor to the finished product.)

Iris is a rare and unusual treat to thrill the connoisseur of traditional Belgian beers – absolutely, utterly unique.


From the brewer:
The Cantillon brewery is closely linked to Brussels, a city which has the iris as its symbol. As the name indicates, the "marsh iris" is a plant growing in humid areas. The historical center of Brussels is built on swamps where this flower used to grow abundantly.
Iris

Artist : Julie Van Roy, 1998

In 1998, the Brussels Museum of the Gueuze celebrated its 20th anniversary. The Cantillon brewery decided to make a new spontaneous fermentation beer for this occasion, named after this symbolic flower.

It is a completely original beer which, contrary to the other products of the Brewery, is not brewed with 35% of wheat. The Iris, which is only made with malt of the pale ale type (giving a more amber colour to the beer) conserves the typical flavour of the spontaneous fermentation, the complex aromas and the vinous taste.

The hopping is different too. Lambic is made with 100% dried hops, for the Iris we use 50% of dried hops and 50% of fresh hops. The latter cause a superb acidity, the former, due to their tannins, enable to conserve the beer while preserving all its qualities.

After two years in the barrel, the Iris undergoes a second fresh hopping two weeks before the bottling. A linen bag, filled with hops, is soaked in the beer for two weeks. This technique, called "cold hopping", gives the beer a more intense savour and makes the smell and the taste more bitter.

Iris is brewed only once every season and all the beers come from the same brewing. This is why the beer is dated. The second fermentation is obtained by adding liquor.

Although it is a spontaneous fermentation beer, the Iris is very different from the Lambic. The amber colour and the bitter and slightly caramelized taste make it a complex beer.

Sounds good doesn't it?







My review:
Color ~ Dark amber/orangy color - pretty =)
Head ~ small nice light head
Lacing ~ a bit of lacing on the glass
Smell ~ ummm smells like beer (I say that to Jon all the time!) Ok... but after really smelling it... it's pretty funky... and a little citrusy and maybe a little spicy...
Flavor ~ Usually I say, tastes like beer... but not this time. I have to say, this lambic instantly and completely assaulted my mouth. The first flavors/tastes were overwhelmingly sour vinegary bitter orange. I couldn't get past that. I swallowed it and it immediately felt like someone punched me in the stomach. Also, my tongue felt very pruned.

I thought, crap... I got a bad bottle... we went upstairs to read reviews online....

You can read reviews here.

I guess it's supposed to be funky... stinky cheese rind, wet dog, funky barnyard, dirty socks... those are actual (good??) reviews! (why do people really want to drink this???)

So Jon & I were busy trying to name all of the funky flavors in this bitter nasty brew. The next day, I realized that he'd never actually said if liked it. He likes things that I find completely revolting, so I really had no idea.

He said that he didn't like it. It was a challenge to drink or to find any redeeming qualities about it.

So there you have it! If you like SOUR, bitter, funky barnyard in your brew, this Lambic is for you!

Birmingham Bridge Tavern & Beer Reviews

So Saturday morning Jon woke up wanting Fish & Chips from the Birmingham Bridge Tavern. I LOVE LOVE LOVE their Jerk Chicken Wings, so I was more than happy to head over there for a late lunch. We invited Ericka & Drew (you might remember them from most of the gatherings at my house!) As it turned out, they had car trouble and couldn't make it.

Jon & I walked about 8 or 10 blocks from our house to the BBT (Birmingham Bridge Tavern) and took seats at the bar.

Kristin was are bartender. She's the owner's girlfriend and totally cool!

While Jon was perusing the beer selections, I asked if they had any brewed iced tea. She said that it would be a couple of minutes, but she'd make me some and disappeared off to the kitchen! What a sweetie!

By the time she returned, Jon had decided on a Samuel Smith Oatmeal Stout.



It was a very dark brown with a slight reddish tinge that you could only see if you held it up to the light.

The darkish foamy head dissipated pretty fast.

Let me start by saying, I'm not a beer drinker. I took a sip... and I've actually progressed a little past my standard answer of "it tastes like beer".

Ok, to me it did smell like beer. My first sip tasted sweet and almost mapley. Jon said, it's not maple, it's sweet from the malt. It had a bit of a bite but from the roasted roasted barley, not hops. Even though it wasn't a 'thick' beer, it had a lot of mouth feel.

Jon really liked it. Ummm... it's beer, so I'll definitely pass.

Then onto the next beer!
Jon decided he'd like to try a Baltika 8 Wheat Beer



Big fluffy head, that didn't last very long. Jon said it smells like the floor of a beer cooler... but said that's not a bad thing (really? doesn't sound so good to me!)

Jon took a sip and said, "mmmmmm" "It's interesting"

Ok... it kinda smelled & tasted like beer to me.

Jon: you can tell it's a wheat beer, but not German yeast, it's like an American wheat.

I thought it was a little citrusy. We both noted the lack of banana flavor you usually get in a wheat beer.

Would he have this one again? Probably not. It was ok. But not a winner.

And for his next beer! (hey we walked... plus I was only drinking iced tea... plus there is food coming up)

He chose a Barley Wine. I have NEVER tried a Barley Wine that I like. I take a sip and usually make a squinchy face that feels like I'm turning my face inside out. This was no different.

He picked Heavy Seas Below Decks Barley Wine



You can't really tell from the picture, but it's a nice dark copper color.

Jon didn't really have anything good to say about this Barley Wine.

He's made better Barley Wine. It's weak for Barley Wine. No mouth feel. Malt flavor doesn't last. It tastes watered down. It has a yucky aftertaste.

He definitely won't be having this again.

Ok... those are the beer reviews... although Kristin did create a beer drink for us that I'll add to the end.

On to the food!

Unfortunately for Jon, they were out fish. He usually gets the fish & chips when he goes. (he goes more often than I do, with his band)

He decided to get a burger with onion rings. One of the things he likes best about the BBT is that the food is always very hot. Lots of time pub/bar food could be hotter. But at the BBT, everything is piping hot! His burger was great. He usually gets a side of Thousand Island dressing, which you can see dripping down his hand. Also, all of these pictures were taken with Jon's phone and don't begin to illustrate how good everything is!



The onion rings were so crispy and delicious! It's a huge serving and even when we were full, we kept eating them! We did bring the left overs home and later on, a couple minutes in the toaster oven and they were still perfect!


I love their House Saland & French Onion Soup. I get it every time I go. At most places I try to try something different every time. Not here. I have my favorites and stick to them!

Yum! Hot melty cheesy French Onion Soup!


And my favorite favorite favorite... Jerk Wings!!! Every single time I drive by, I say, "I want some Jerk Wings" They come in as the #7 wings on their scale of 1 - 10. I think Erik the Red is #10... the hottest. But the Jerk Wings are so deliciously different, I always get them! They're not really 'saucy' like other hot wings. They are always piping hot and crispy!


And because I LOVE their Jerk stuff so much!! I got an order of Fried Pierogies w/Jerk Sauce to go! Into the toaster oven with the onion rings... Snack Time is ON!


We were talking to Kristin about drinks made with beer and she was wondering how a Hoegaarden would taste in a glass that had been swirled with Raspberry Schnapps. So she pulled out 3 glasses and poured some Raspberry Schnapps into each one. She swirled it around, dumped it and poured in the Hoegaarden. Wow! They were tasty! Even a non-beer drinker like me liked it!

So my last pic of the day... from the kinda blurry camera phone is ummmmm... I don't think we named it! But you can see the slight tinge of pink from the Raspberry Schnapps.


Their website is currently down... but you should definitely stop by for wings & beer! You won't be disappointed!

Birmingham Bridge Tavern
2901 Sarah Street
Pittsburgh, PA 15203
412-381-2739