We offer three novelty items here that go very well with heavier beer and will give great life to any beer-chocolate tasting.
Original Texas Chocolate Sin Cake
(from Murchie’s Cafe, Houston, 1989)
Line a 9-inch spring form pan with baked brownies
Add filling:
4 cups chocolate chips
3/4 cup strong coffee
Let the mixture cool and add:
6 egg yokes (see below for whites)
3/4 cup Amaretto liquor
Whisk until very smooth and fold into 6 stiffed whipped egg whites.
Glaze if you wish.
Alan Sprints Beer Chocolate Truffles
Alan Sprints (owner-brewmaster of Portland’s Hair of the Dog Brewery; famous for his heavy beers, Adam and Fred) devised this original recipe, which reflects a “short cut” used by many professional chefs: use a commercial sponge cake. Break it up into little pieces and blend them in a blender with enough melted chocolate to form a chocolaty mass. Use about 1 pound (2 packages) of Bakers Chocolate. When such a mass forms, add about 6 ounces barley wine or whatever beer is to be matched with this recipe.
Form balls. Be careful not to use too much beer, or you will have to add more cake, and more chocolate, and more beer and more cake and more chocolate, and more(.
Crush some British dark crystal malt (80-plus L from your local homebrew supplier) in a blender or coffee mill, and roll the truffle balls in the crushed crystal malt. Separate and discard most of the husks if you can. Alternately, roll in cocoa powder.
Chill, and store in a refrigerator.
Hot Pepper Fudge
This is simple. Take ANY good fudge recipe; leave out the walnuts (or other nuts) and the vanilla (or other) flavoring, and add 1 slightly less than level US teaspoon of ground cayenne pepper.
You don’t have a fudge recipe?? Here’s an excessively simple fudge recipe adopted from the label of Eagle brand Sweetened Condensed Milk. It is merely ordinary fudge, not fine fudge.
3 cups (18 ounces or 1-1/2 packages) semi-sweet chocolate chips, such as Ghirardelli or Nestle
1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk (e.g., Eagle brand, NOT evaporated milk)
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 scant teaspoon (just less than level) ground cayenne pepper
Procedure:
1. In a double boiler or heavy saucepan over low heat, melt chips with the sweetened condensed milk. When the chips are fully melted, stir in the cayenne pepper until thoroughly mixed.
2. Spread evenly into a wax paper lined 8- or 9-inch square pan.
3. Chill 2 hours or until firm. Turn fudge onto a cutting board; peel off the wax paper and cut into 1-1/2 inch squares. Store covered in a refrigerator. Fudge does not store well at temperatures above 70 degrees F.
Makes about 36 squares. (Serves 36 people in this case).
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