I hope you enjoy our monthly Progressive Eats posts as much as I do; working with a group of peers is fun and maybe gets the recipe adrenaline going a bit more than usual and I like that...maybe even sometimes need that. This month Megan from the blog Stetted has asked us to do a recipe that includes beer, wine or spirits so of course I decided I wanted to include both. I've wanted to make the Chocolate Stout Cake from Barrington Brewery in Barrington, MA for the longest time; as in since 2002 when I first saw it in Bon Appetit magazine. How it constantly got away from me is a mystery but it did and yet I never forgot about it; especially since discovering to my surprise just how much I love Guinness Stout Beer. I decided to finally use the recipe (which has been duplicated like a bazillion times on the web) for these cupcakes today but switched gears in several ways. And except for the snafu I'll be sharing with you, it seems to have all been good. How much did I switch gears? Well, this delicious chocolate cake with chocolate frosting magically turned into Guinness Chocolate Cupcakes with Irish Whiskey Frosting and maybe just a drizzle of Salted Caramel Irish Cream. Oh yes I did!
I mentioned a snafu. The story of my life when baking. I've lived in Colorado for 30 years; the land for which those small notes were always included on box cake mixes for 'high altitude baking.' I had no idea what it meant but as I became a better baker and did more from scratch I had to learn. The bottom line is this - in our thinner air, baked goods will rise faster as they bake. Without some adjustment, they will often get to maximum volume but not yet be baked and they have nowhere to go but back down. Cakes with sinkholes are not uncommon. Cupcakes will fall and spill outside the edges of their wrappers too and it's not a pretty sight.
For the most part I'm made it work and then a couple of years ago I met Keeghan Gerhard, a local restaurant owner and pastry chef and one you might recognize from his long time serving as a judge on the Food Network 's Last Cake Standing. We were at the bar of his restaurant and he was making dinner for us and it was nice; just chatting more than any kind of presentation. I asked him for his advice on cooking at high altitude and he said that he thought the many revisions he had seen were for the most part not necessary at Denver's altitude but he did recommend one thing that made a huge difference. Raise the oven temperature 10 degrees and start checking doneness 10-15 minutes earlier. Made sense; that extra heat would bake the cake quicker and have it be less inclined to fall and crater. Worked great for almost everything and if something still had an issue? I doubt I will ever conquer every baking situation (can you say Angel Food Cake) but I have long thought of myself as a master fixer upper. :)
So what happened today? For some reason I had an epic fail. These cupcakes both flowed outside the liners and also sunk in the middle. I did one tray at a time and after the first misstep I removed some of the batter from the liners and tried again. Nope, not gonna work; same thing happened but to a lesser degree. What the heck? I did remember Chef Gerhard mentioning that this change would be good for Denver and I had this funny, in the very back of my mind suspicion. Since I'm further southwest now that I've moved to the city of Castle Rock, could that be the difference? Oh my...maybe; we're 1,000 feet higher! Guess I'll have to do some further testing to find my baking sweet spot but it might include temp, time and leavening changes. Doesn't this sound like a blast? Don't answer that question but know why I never chose to do a baking blog. While I love to bake I knew it would problematic occasionally and I just don't need the stress. What did I do today? Well if you look closely you might notice the cupcakes have been trimmed of their flying saucer edges and well you can't see the divot but who doesn't love more frosting right?
Rest assured; this won't happen to you. I use tried and true recipes for everything I post; whether my own favorites or those from popular sources and I just make those adjustments as I prepare the dish in my kitchen since I want to share these recipes for more than just a few states. And you know what the real truth is? I've found that making things work has become one of my strong suits and few people that I share goodies with have any idea that I consider them a problem; they still have the expected taste and texture with sometimes more frosting...I mean, how bad could that be right?
These were absolutely fantastic. The beer doesn't have a strong taste as much as it serves to complement the chocolate. Which is what I always expect espresso to do so I threw a bit of it in there too. The frosting and drizzle together are pretty sweet but the cake is not; it's closer to bittersweet so I thought they were perfect. Another confession? I like to drizzle but I'm also taking photos and it adds a nice flourish to cupcakes. If you're not a drizzler? OK by me. :)
Be sure you check out my friends posts after the recipe too; a virtual plethora of boozy recipes, I'm sure you'll find something you love. Cheers!
Boozy Cooking - Dishes with Beer, Wine or Spirits
Appetizers
Soups
Main Course
Desserts
Welcome to Progressive Eats, our virtual version of a Progressive Dinner Party. This month's theme is Boozy Cooking and is hosted by Megan Myers, who blogs at Stetted. For our Boozy Cooking dinner, we all created recipes using beer, wine, or spirits.
If you're unfamiliar with the concept, a progressive dinner involves going from house to house, enjoying a different course at each location. With Progressive Eats, a theme is chosen each month, members share recipes suitable for a delicious meal or party, and you can hop from blog to blog to check them out.
We have a core group of 12 bloggers, but we will always need substitutes and if there is enough interest would consider additional groups. To see our upcoming themes and how you can participate, please check out the schedule at Creative Culinary or contact Barb for more information.