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Wolf Creek Pairing Series: 6 Layer Toffee Coffee Cake

2/21/2014

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This series explores the beer pairing options available at the Wolf Creek Restaurant and Brewery.  My tasting partner for this session was Jason Hendrick, founder of Everybody's Hungry and my co-host on pints&pairings.  

Feel free to comment on any of these pairing suggestions, especially if you had another beer pairing in mind.

The Dessert

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The desserts at Wolf Creek are always in rotation so you may not have the opportunity to try this exact dessert.  This is a 6 layer cake with coffee cream dividers and a healthy dose of toffee bits sprinkled on top.  The cake is served with side of whipped cream and fresh fruit.

If this dessert isn't available the beer pairings below will work with other desserts that have a coffee and/or toffee focus.

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Jason's suggested beer pairing for this dessert is Wild Angles, a rich Belgian-style dubbel that is lightly hopped and full of sweet malt flavors. Wild Angels' subtle caramel-like flavors -hiding just behind the sweet malt flavors- resonate with the toffee topping of the dessert while the Belgian yeast profile (a touch spicy) helps to cleanse the palate and add an interesting complexity to the cake. 

While this beer pairs well with the cake it doesn't pair so well with the berries and cream. 

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My pairing suggestion is the Howlin' Hefeweizen, a traditional style German wheat beer full of clove spices and banana. You will want to let the beer warm up just a bit before you power through this pairing so order it ahead of time or warm it up in your hands.

When the beer is cold this pairing doesn't work as well because the banana and cloves are masked by the cold and the esters are still being held in suspension and the elevated carbonation levels cleanse the palate too quickly.  As the beer warms and looses some of its carbonation, the beer will coat your palate more and will allow the banana and clove notes to mingle with the dessert as you chew and add a new layer of complexity to this dessert.  

The Howlin' Hefe is also a great pairing for the berries and cream.  The bananas and clove add another flavor component to this dessert making it more interesting than it was before, which is what a good beer pairing should do.

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Beer Pairing Advent #16: Fruit Cake

12/16/2013

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Today's advent surprise is fruit cake!  You know, that 5 pound loaf full of nuts and dried fruit that sits alone, on the counter for several months, just begging to be put out of its rejected misery.  

Click here for more beer pairing advent entries.

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Photo from Simply Gourmet.
I won't go on and on about the bad fruit cake especially since I found this tasty looking one at Simply Gourmet.  This cake is full of the spices and just a little bit of booze!  

However, if you aren't the baking type may I suggest the best commercial fruit cakes I have ever had.  Hawaiian Happy Cakes are rich, flavorful and moist. All good things right?
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Full Sail's Wassail is one of my favorite winter seasonals.  I enjoy drinking it, cooking with it ... did I mention drinking it?

Wassail's carmel notes will resonate with the candied fruit and dark dried fruit (and molasses if used) found in the fruit cakes.  Wassail's pleasant alcohol warmth will resonate with the brandy (used in the recipe from Simply Gourmet) and the crisp hop character will help cleanse the palate after each bite. 
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WOLF CREEK PAIRING SERIES: Beer Cake

12/16/2013

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This series explores the beer pairing options available at the Wolf Creek Restaurant and Brewery.  Every other month, I will be posting beer pairing suggestions for three different Wolf Creek menu items.

My tasting panel Dream Team includes Jason Hendrick, founder of Everybody's Hungry and my co-host on pints&pairings; and Lisa McKinnon, a staff writer for the Ventura County Star.  Lisa and Jason are serious foodies and bring wonderful palates to the panel.  

Feel free to comment on any of these pairing suggestions, especially if had another beer pairing in mind.

Dessert Pairing: Beer Cake*
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The dessert menu is always changing so you'll want to act fast or you're likely going to miss this opportunity.  

This is a dense, super rich, flourless chocolate cake, but what makes this cake so special (like it needed anything else) is that Wolf Creeks's newest seasonal beer, Winter Wonderland was incorporated in the recipe. You can see that the cake comes with fresh whipped cream and berries which also open up all the pairing opportunities, as you will soon read.


*Please excuse this bad instagram photo, for some reason I didn't get a picture with my DSLR. 


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Perhaps the best discovery of the night was made when Jason tried the whipped cream by itself with the Howlin' Hefeweizen. Howlin' Hefeweizen is traditional style German wheat beer full of clove spices and banana.  Pair them together and BOOM, banana cream pie!  

The Howlin' Hefeweizen is also the perfect pairing with the side of berries that also comes as a side to the Beer Cake.


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Lisa really enjoyed how the Midnight Howl resonated with the dark chocolate flavors in the cake. Midnight Howl is a black IPA, with a crisp, citrus hop flavor, pronounced bitterness and subtle roasty notes. The citrus hop flavors resonate with the sharp bitter chocolate flavors creating a deeper, more complex chocolate flavor.

While we were enjoying all the different combinations that this wonderful dessert can provide, Lisa reminded us of a really important tasting rule. Well, its really more of a guideline, but you know what I mean.  While we were picking apart the cake and enjoying the individual components and the various combinations, Lisa reminded me of an important tasting technique. If you are trying to find the perfect pairing don't be afraid to break down the elements on your plate and try each one separately.  This is a great way to discover the individual flavors of the dish and how a beer can impact each element.  This technique works really well with a full set of tasters in front of you.


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One of the great things about this dessert is it is made with beer. This particular version of beer cake is made with Winter Wonderland, a winter seasonal filled with nutmeg, cinnamon and sweet malt.  The spices in this beer make it a great pairing or any holiday dessert.  Winter Wonderland is the perfect pairing for this dessert because it is incorporated into the recipe. Expect all kinds of resonating flavors in this pairing but most of all sit back and enjoy how the spices, both in the beer and in the cake complement the dense chocolate flavors.

If you can't get the BEER cake made with Winter Wonderland, these pairing suggestions will still work because most of these pairing suggestions play off the cake's rich chocolate flavors. 


Alternate Pairing Option
Full Moon Stout, a medium roasty, light quaffable beer, is a great pairing alternative for this dessert especially if you love chocolate.  The roastiness of this beer resonates with the chocolate flavors of the cake, making them taste like a dark chocolate (think 70% cocoa) momentarily before the beer cleanses your palate.  
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