It’s no secret I am a fan of Cismontane Brewing Company. They brew wonderful craft beers in Rancho Santa Margarita (or “RSM” to locals). I always love making the trip just to get beer from them.

I came across their Sour Blonde Ale Oxalis Pes Caprae in Total Wine the other day and thought to myself “this would go great in a cake with fresh fruit.” So, I scooped up the beer and then went on the hunt for a recipe that matched the inspiration. I happen to have several recipe books that I never really use but have a burning desire to test recipes and one book in particular is the Thomas Keller’s Bouchon Bakery book. The recipes are really complex and challenging but beautiful so I took on the task and hoped it would turnout.

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cups + 1 1/2 tablespoons AP Flour

1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder

3/4 cup + 1/2 tablespoon eggs

3/4 cup + 2 1/2 tablespoons granulated sugar

1/4 cup + 1 1/2 tablespoons glucose or corn syrup

2.6 oz or about 6 tablespoons of unsalted butter

2 tablespoons + 1 teaspoon whole milk or heavy whipping cream

1/4 cup + 1 tablespoon beer

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare a quarter sheet pan or a cookie sheet that has raised sides so it’s about 1-2 inches deep. Spray the whole pan with cooking spray. The recipe recommends using a silpat, but my cake stuck to the silpat so I just recommend either using parchment paper or spraying it only. Set prepared pan aside.

2. Sift flour and baking soda in a bowl and set aside. Heat the butter and corn syrup or glucose on the stove and whisk until melted and combined. Take off the heat and add whisk in the milk and set aside to cool.

3. Break eggs into a measuring cup to get the appropriate amount of eggs. I think I used about 5-6 eggs. I had about 1 cup of eggs, then I whisked them to break them up and then using a second measuring cup poured the 3/4 measurement and added the extra 1/2 tablespoon. Put the eggs in a stand mixer with the whisk attachment and add the sugar and whisk on medium speed for 5 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and then whisk on high for another 5 minutes. This created a very light pale batter with a ton of air and doubled in size.

4. Whisk a quarter of the sugar/egg mixture in with the butter mixture to temper the butter mix. Then add the beer to the butter mix and then fold in 1/2 of the butter mix to the egg mix. Then fold in half of the flour mix to the egg mix, then the rest of the butter mix into the egg mix followed by the rest of the flour mix. This is to prevent the flour from getting clumpy and whisking will add to much glucose and kill the air you created in the egg mix.

5. Pour the batter into your prepared trey and be sure to spread evenly to all corners. Bake in the center rack for 20-25 minutes, and I rotated once in the middle of the baking process. The edges should be golden and the color light brown. Allow to cool before removing from trey. Cut into small rectangles and top with fresh fruit.

This cake tasted sweet and light with hints of floral notes which is probably from the beer. It’s almost like angel food cake and madeleine cookies had a cake baby. It was a lot of work but it was tasty.

Serves: about 10

Lasts: 1-2 days or frozen can last for a few weeks

Season: Any

Level: Intermediate