Beer ingredients in cooking

[TimT]

Today I was thinking of making a cake or some other sweety with a big bag of malt crystals I have that I will probably not use in brews (got it when I hadn't yet moved off making can kits). I was wondering whether anyone had any recipe suggestions?

I'm thinking the maltiness and sweetness might go quite nicely in a gingerbread or pudding.

On a related note, I'm interested in hearing suggestions and feedback about use of common brew-recipe items.... in non-brewing recipes.

I know malt crystals are also sprinkled over milkshakes (used to be quite common, now quite hard to find cafes who will do this - a pity, it's delicious). Here's a recipe for malted loaf. And another for malt biscuits. And plenty more where that came from in google.

I was also wondering about using Irish Moss - in a jelly, or even a panacotta. Anyone tried this?

And has anyone used their hops outside of brewing?

 

[indica86]

A friend had a beer degustation at her restaurant and had hop bread. She used flowers, I didn't manage to get there as I was 3,500kms away.

 

[OneEye]

Home made doughnuts with an IPA or Stout glaze. YUM

Just mix your chosen beer with icing sugar and voila! Beer glaze!

 

[TimT]

Just made a gingerbread with malt crystals, as a variation on a recipe for a traditional gingerbread I already had. I subbed malt crystals for brown sugar, mead for milk, and honey for treacle:

Just over 1 cup self-raising flour
3 teaspoons ginger
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup malt
2.5 tablespoons margarine
2 tablespoons honey
1 egg
2/3 cup mead
Sultanas

1) Sift flour, ginger, and cinnamon together - mix in malt. Add sultanas and mix them in too. (Note - I just chucked my sultanas in with the mead at this point and let them plump up a bit and get a bit of meady flavour while I did other stuff - I mixed them in last).
2) Melt margarine and honey, add to it egg and mead.
3) Mix all ingredients together.
4) Bake at 160 degrees celsius for approximately 30 to 40 minutes.

The malt has a milder taste than brown sugar; the mead more of a zing than the milk; the honey more of a complexity than treacle. This has long been one of my favourite gingerbread recipes so we'll see how these variations work out.

 

[TimT]

Just mix your chosen beer with icing sugar and voila! Beer glaze!

More of a fan of the traditional doughnut with cinnamon sugar, me, or as a variation, jam doughnut with cinnamon sugar. (If they're hot, naturally).

We made an icecream out of beer dregs once - from the fermenter into the icecream maker! Crazy times. But, do you know, it worked out quite well.

 

[TimT]

Made the malt loaf today! Very simple recipe, quick rising and super-simple to do. I only have two quibbles with it; the amount of water in the recipe wasn't nearly enough (this was partly because I used dry malt extract, not liquid malt extract, but even if I subbed in liquid malt extract in the quantities given in the recipe more water would have needed to be added); and the quantities were rather small (this recipe could be fairly easily doubled if folks wished).

I made one change: added raisins. Not just for flavour, but also to add a bit of nutrient for the yeast.

The texture is pretty light and fluffy and veeeeeeeery close to hot cross buns; matter of fact - I think I might save it up for just that purpose this Easter....

 

[Droopy Brew]

Funny, I was brewing the other night, licking out the remains of a can of malt extract when I had a light bulb moment. Quickly lifting my head from the can and wiping away the ring of malt on my forehead I thought- 'this is just the shit to use in Asian cooking'.
Instead of palm sugar a bit of malt extract would be great to give stir frys that touch of sweetness.
It could also be mixed with Soy sauce to make up a home made kekap manis and hopped malt could be used in place of tamarind and palm sugar for that bitter sweet flavour profile.

Next time rather than risk the lacerated cheeks on the side of the can, Im going to scrape out the dregs and put in a tuppaware container for some experimentation.

 

[mattymoo]

Some interesting experiments on using hops in cooking from these guys.

http://nordicfoodlab.org/blog/2013/12/hop-into-it

 

[TimT]

Hop *butter*? Nice piece though.

 

[DU99]

check this guys cooking

 

[Droopy Brew]

On the flip side of my Asian cooking brain wave. I wonder- has anybody tried using Kekap Manis as a beer addition? Probably not economically viable but be interesting to see if anyone has experimented.

 

[TimT]

You mean.... soy sauce?????

Woah.

Dude. Just....

Woah.

Might go well though in a cock ale.

 

[Droopy Brew]

Wow- Ive shocked Tim T with an ingredient! :icon_vomit:

Never thought Id see the day I out weirded you. :blink:

Yes indeed Soy sauce- sweet soy sauce to be exact- 76% Palm Sugar, water, salt, soybeans (2%) and wheat.

I reckon it can be done and Im sure there will be some adventurous (or very drunk) soul that has thought- **** it why not.

 

[TimT]

I shall strive to live up to my reputation for weirdness. I shall go on a personal journey of transformation to greater weirdness: I call it '2014: A Space Oddity'.

 

[wynnum1]

Tiramisu using malt and chocolate



http://www.stayathomemum.com.au/recipes/desserts/smashed-malteaser-tiramisu/

 

[TimT]

YUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUM.

One icecream vendor in Melbourne, I'm pretty sure, uses malt in their icecream. A beautiful flavour, and I want to do that soon, too.

 

[TimT]

Aww. It's just malteaser Tiramisu, the typical cheat you find on the net. Thanks, though.