The main reason for these stout brownie pops was, as you may have guessed, the stout. Chris and I frequently taste stouts – being one of last year’ s most popular styles in the US, it seems that every tasting room we go to has a stout to offer, even if the brewery specializes in IPAs or lagers.
The process entails baking a brownie using a stout as the liquid in the batter, trying not to eat the whole thing, making a cream cheese and stout sauce, adding some crunch by way of crushed almond slivers (totally optional), forming bite sized pops to dip in melted chocolate, decorating them and letting them set in the fridge. Quite a few steps, true, but nothing complicated.
My favorite part was by far the decorating step, since I got to use these dry red rose petals we had in the pantry. This was the very first time in my life to use/eat rose petals.
One of Chris’ talented former colleagues spent a few months perfecting the culinary arts in South Korea last summer. She brought us some amazing dried herbs and spices, among which the rose petals. Thanks Ashley! They are delicate both appearance and flavor wise and sooo beautiful as a decorative touch.
Now I have to tell you about the mess. There was a small mess, of which I took a picture and a huge one, which nearly brought to me tears and ended the picture taking. Oh well, that’s what happens when you are a rookie.
After the decorated pops had set I arranged some of them as a cute bouquet next to the cake stand. Opened another stout and started looking for a good angle. A few pictures in, the stout started losing its head, so I decided to give it a quick stir with one of the pop sticks. Clearly, I gave it one stir too many.
I cleaned up, rearranged everything and not even a minute later, managed to knock down the backboard of my make shift ‘set’. It fell on the glass of beer and the bottle containing the bouquet of stout brownie pops. The beer spilled all over the cake stand and the bottle fell on the floor, smashing the pretty and perfectly delicious pops! I just stood there amazed at how much good beer and desert was lying all over the place!
You will be happy to know that the first thing I did when I finally did move was get myself a clean glass and pour a new beer inside. I then ate two pops and drank about half of the beer. This act caused me to peacefully accept that the perfect shot was not going to materialize. But as long as I was eating the perfect stout brownie pops and sipping on a great ale I had little to complain about.
Recipe for Stout Brownie Pops
Stout Brownie Pops
Stout brownie core and a chocolate mantle. Pair with a stout or a porter.
Ingredients
- 1 cup + 2 tbsp stout
- 1 cup flour
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 egg
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup cocoa powder
- 1 stick butter, melted
- 1/2 cup crushed almonds or other nuts, optional
- 3 tbsp cream cheese
- 5 tbsp confectioners sugar
- 1 cup melting chocolate chips, preferably semi sweet
- 2 tbsp coconut or vegetable oil
- crushed nuts, coconut shavings, rose petals, sprinkles etc. for decorating
Instructions
- Start by warming up the stout over medium heat for about 5 min. Set aside.
- Heat oven to 325°F.
- Line a loaf pan with parchment paper.
- Using a hand mixer cream together melted butter, sugar and beaten egg.
- Add cocoa powder, flour and salt. Mix well.
- Add 1 cup beer and mix again.
- Transfer mixture into lined loaf pan and bake for 35 minutes.
- When done let cool off.
- Crumble the brownie in a large bowl and set aside.
- Using a hand mixer beat together cream cheese, 2 tbsp of stout and the confectioners sugar.
- Add the sauce to the crumbled brownie and if using, add the crushed nuts.
- Using your clean hands, form a dough and shape small, bite sized balls.
- Arrange them on baking sheets and place inside refrigerator to firm up.
- Meanwhile, melt the chocolate chips with 2 tbsp of coconut oil or vegetable oil. Melt it by placing the chips and oil into a glass bowl and set the bowl inside a pan with simmering water. Stir until you have a smooth chocolaty mixture.
- Working one pop ball at a time, place on pop stick and dip into melted chocolate. Slowly turn for any excess chocolate to drip and place onto a sheet pan (Silpat lined will make your life easier).
- Sprinkle or dust with your choice of nuts or confectionery.
- Place in refrigerator for about 30 minutes or until chocolate has set.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 30 Serving Size: 1 gramsAmount Per Serving: Calories: 163Total Fat: 9gSaturated Fat: 4gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 4gCholesterol: 16mgSodium: 77mgCarbohydrates: 19gFiber: 1gSugar: 13gProtein: 2g
Marvellina | What To Cook Today says
We’re like you guys. We can go weeks without sweets, in fact, we hardly ever order any dessert when we dine out because hardly ever any room left for dessert 🙂 Love that there were some rose petals on there too! such a great presentation. I’m glad you were able to make the best of what you had despite the little mess 😉
CraftBeering says
Oh, good times! Thank you very much Marvellina! I need to make stout brownies soon, the thought has now entered my mind:)
CraftBeering says
Thanks Annie! This was a fun experience – spilling the beer and all, still had enough pops left to enjoy:)
annie@ciaochowbambina says
Wow! I love the creativity here! Your photos are so inviting and I love the use of coconut shavings and rose petals… So beautiful!