A few weeks ago, Pure Project’s Log Cabin Day provided a special opportunity for San Diegans to get reacquainted with all the delicious ways you can use beer in cooking. This event, which started at 9 a.m., showcased Pure Project’s outstandingly delicious line of adjunct stouts, the star of which was their breakfast-friendly Bourbon Barrel Aged Log Cabin Stout made with cocoa and maple syrup.
In addition to the 2019 Log Cabin, the brewery also tapped an array of other hearty (high ABV) stouts, including a Log Cabin with coffee, and other excellent malty brews laden with adjuncts like hazelnuts, chocolate, cinnamon, and strawberries.
A number of fun beer-infused recipes were prepared by the food vendors, including a maple syrup flavored with Log Cabin that accompanied French toast sticks, carnitas that’d been marinated in IPA from Eat Your Heart Out! food truck, and a lineup of premium ice creams from Scoops On Tap that had each been crafted with one of Pure Project’s beers. Flavors included Log Cabin with Coffee, Chocolate Coconut made with Nine Nights, Strawberry Magic, and Romeo + Julius Orange and Vanilla made with Pure Project’s iconic vanilla cream ale brewed with organic oranges.
cooking with beer french toast
French toast sticks drizzled with Log Cabin Stout maple syrup were on the breakfast menu for Log Cabin Day
Log Cabin Day inspired me to do more with beer in the kitchen, especially when it comes to desserts. To inspire you, here are three fairly simple beer-centric recipes from Log Cabin Day to try at home.
Log Cabin Stout Ice Cream
From Scoops on Tap
Makes about 1 quart.
cooking with beer ice cream
Scoops on Tap created numerous ice creams with Pure Project beer, including Log Cabin Stout with Maple Bourbon Butter Caramel Sauce, Romeo + Julius Orange and Vanilla, and Strawberry Magic
2 1/4 cups heavy cream
6 tablespoons Dutch process cocoa powder
1 cup sugar
Pinch of salt
1 cup whole milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 ounces maple syrup
2–4 ounces Log Cabin Stout, or your favorite stout
Swirl of maple bourbon butter caramel sauce (recipe follows)
Crushed praline waffle cones (recipe follows)
In a blender, add the heavy cream, cocoa powder, sugar, salt, whole milk, vanilla extract, and maple syrup. Blend until well combined, about 2–3 minutes. Chill the mixture thoroughly in the refrigerator. Once chilled, add the stout and mix. Freeze the mixture in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions.
Once frozen, use a rubber spatula to remove the ice cream from the ice cream machine into the container you are going to store it in. As you add the ice cream to this container, swirl in the caramel sauce and the crushed praline waffle cones. Seal and keep frozen until ready to enjoy!
Praline Waffle Cone:
2 waffle cones, crushed
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon smoked sea salt
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line a small ungreased baking pan with sides with waffle cones. Melt butter and sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat until it comes to a boil. Allow it to boil for 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and stir in salt and vanilla. Pour the mixture over the top of the waffle cones evenly, spreading to coat.
Bake for 12–14 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool. Break apart.
Maple Bourbon Butter Caramel Sauce:
1/4 cup unsalted butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/4 teaspoon salt
1–2 ounces bourbon
In a small saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter. Stir in the brown sugar until combined. Add the cream and mix until fully combined, and continue stirring until the mixture comes to a boil. Continue boiling and stirring about 2–5 minutes.
Remove from heat and add the maple syrup, salt, and bourbon. Stir until completely incorporated and the salt has dissolved. Let cool completely before covering and refrigerating. Sauce should be cold when swirled into ice cream.
Log Cabin Slushie
This awesomely delicious frozen concoction was created by Pure Project brewer Winslow Sawyer. It’s like a Frappuccino on steroids.
cooking with beer slushie
Brewer Winslow Sawyer created Log Cabin slushies for the event
1 growler of Log Cabin Stout, or other cocoa and maple stout (about 2 1/2 bombers)
2 pints organic vanilla ice cream
3 ounces organic maple syrup
1 ounce instant coffee
Let freeze 2 hours in a slushie machine or freeze and churn in an ice cream machine. Sprinkle the top of each serving with instant coffee.
Murk of the Beast IPA Carnitas
From Eat Your Heart Out!
Prep time: 3 days
14-pound pork shoulder butt
16 serrano peppers, coined
4 oranges, julienned
2 large yellow onions, julienned
16 ounces dark brown sugar
8 ounces kosher salt
6 ounces black pepper
4 ounces ground cumin
1 can Sprite
1 gallon Murk of The Beast IPA (room temp)
Cut the pork into fist-size pieces and place them in a large tub or hotel pan. Add the peppers, oranges, yellow onions, brown sugar, and seasonings. Mix thoroughly. Add the can of Sprite.
Cover with plastic wrap and let the pork sit in the marinade for 48 hours.
Put the pork and marinade into a large pot and cover with the IPA. Heat slowly on medium low, covered, for 5–7 hours.
Pork should pull apart easily with a fork. For optimal taste, allow pork to cool in this liquid. Pork liquid can be saved for your next batch of carnitas or used when reheating.
Now You’re Cooking With Beer
Pork shoulder marinated in Pure Project’s Murk of the Beast IPA for 48 hours forms the basis for the beer-friendly carnitas from Eat Your Heart Out! food truck
