Add beer to your baking for a unique twist

Integrating beer into your baking can add a completely new dimension to a range of items on your menu, both in terms of flavor and quirky appeal to diners.

In the fall 2018 issue of Sift Magazine, which is published by King Arthur Flour, cookbook author Lori Rice shared some of her top tips on baking with beer and also recommended some particular recipes that will appeal to all sorts of palates.

Which beers to use

The term ‘beer’ encompasses many different types of beverages, from brown ales and stouts to porters and pilsners. It can therefore be something of a challenge to work out what types of beer are best suited to which dishes and types of baking.

According to Ms Rice, porters and stouts are the best places to start if you’re new to baking with beer, offering notes of cocoa and coffee flavor that result from the fact it’s brewed with dark roasted malt.

Often higher in alcohol content, stouts lend themselves well to particularly sweet dishes such as caramel tarts, owing to their intense, bitter flavor, while porters are better-suited to chocolate and malted flavors.

Amber and brown ales can be just as effective for baking as porters and stouts, according to Ms Rice, particularly in cookies, pies and sweet sauces that benefit from their nutty taste with hints of caramel. Alternatively, paler beverages such as lagers and wheat beers can complement cakes that contain hints of citrus or coriander.

Once you have settled on your choice of beer and are ready to start baking, there are a number of tricks you can use to increase your chances of getting the best results.

It’s best to use freshly opened, room-temperature beer that has been poured and left to sit for five minutes, which allows the foam to dissipate and releases some of the carbonation. It’s the carbonated element of beer that helps with leavening baked goods and can also improve the texture of breads and cakes.

It’s best to use beer with full-fat dairy products, since the acidity is likely to curdle other ingredients that are low in fat.

Another recommendation is to serve beer-based desserts when they are as fresh as possible, since the flavor of the beer can change over time.

Beer-infused baked favorites

There are many dishes that give you an opportunity to try beer in your baking, such as these bacon, beer and potato chip cookie bars recommended by Life, Love and Sugar, which throw together a host of ingredients including pretzels, caramel, chocolate chips and peanut butter chips.

This quirky dessert option could be perfect for adding something unique to your menu and grabbing the interest of people who are keen to try new flavors.

Samuel Adams, the flagship brand of the Boston Beer Company, has created this recipe for peach cobbler that uses the brewer’s pale ale and cherry wheat beers in both the filling and the topping. The inclusion of the beer helps to stop the overall dish from becoming too sweet.

If you’re looking for something more suitable for summertime, why not try adding some beer ice cream to your menus, or test out these delicious looking chocolate Guinness mousse cups, which are sure to go down well with lovers of ‘the black stuff’.

Yet another great option is a milk stout caramel tart, which uses the bitter flavor of the beer to balance the sweetness of the caramel. The creamy milk stout and caramel filling is encased in a sugar cookie crust and dusted with flaky sea salt for decoration and extra flavor.

Of course, there are plenty of savory dishes that also make good use of beer, from beef stews brought to life with generous glugs of ale, to fried chicken made with beer batter.

Whatever option you choose to go for, throwing beer into the mix is sure to add a unique and appealing element to your menu.