The Malty Mr. Stout

On Sunday I took part in a beer recipe contest at a local outdoor gear/beer shop. Both my husband and I cooked food for the contest, mostly just to have fun, but also to get our catering name out there. Charles made Schwarzbier pulled pork sandwiches for the entree category, and I made "Malty Mr. Stout" cupcakes for the dessert category, which were oatmeal stout cupcakes with malted milk frosting. We used local beers from two different breweries, and local & organic ingredients for our recipes.


The event had three judges from local food/beer establishments, and then there was voting by all the tasters & entrants. I am proud to say that my cupcakes won first place from the judges (which meant I got a $50 gift card to the store), and second place by popular vote (that was out of all the food, and there were at least 40 dishes). It was fun to taste all the unique takes on beer-cooked yummies, we got some free pint glasses, and we hung out with new friends.

About the cupcakes: The cake was a molasses/gingerbread cake which had oatmeal stout in the batter. It was very moist, and while the molasses flavor was strong, you could still taste the stout underneath. This made for a mellow cupcake on the sweetness factor. I went all-out on the frosting too, making Italian buttercream (which means you cook the cream, in this case malted milk, temper egg yolks with the cooked cream, and then mix it all together to make a custard. You also cook the egg whites and sugar and make a meringue). Of all types of icing, this is the best because it is not overly sweet, and not overly buttery, so it doesn't coat your mouth like store-bought icings do. Actually, it's like magic on the tongue. I sprinkled the cupcakes with chocolate malt barley I got from the local brewery. All in all, it was sweet success.