Mmmmmm........

One thing a beer chick likes is chocolate. One thing a beer chick likes better than chocolate is whipped cream. One thing a beer chick likes better than whipped cream is whipped cream made with 12% abv Belgian-style dark ale brewed with cocoa nibs & toasted pecans! What?

So...it was MLK day and I was teaching a beer and food pairing cooking/drinking class at Sur la Table at The Grove in Los Angeles with my writing partner and fellow beer chick Hallie Beaune. Everything was going along swimmingly and according to expectations. There were potatoes marinated in Scottish ale and rosemary, fresh beer braised bratwurst on a bed of apples and sauerkraut, beer battered coconut shrimp, German chocolate oatmeal stout brownies - you know, the usual.

Well, turns out, somebody forgot to grease the pan for the brownies and suffice it to say, they didn't look so good. That's when genius Sur la Table staffer Autumn made the most amazing beer infused whipped cream to "distract the eye" from the ragged edges and bottom of the still very good tasting brownie. She used The Bruery's 2 Turtle Doves beer and she whipped it up in two seconds!

Wanna add beer to your desserts? (Or just eat a bunch or whipped cream straight from the bowl?) Aside from just pouring the beer on top, here's the fastest simplest way to do it. Simple, yet so effing good!

2 TURTLE DOVES INFUSED WHIPPED CREAM

Ingredients:
-2 Cups Heavy whipping cream, cold
-1/4 Cup powdered sugar, sifted
-1 tsp pure vanilla bean paste
-1/8 Cup 2 Turtle Doves Belgian Ale
(or another Chocolate Stout or Russian Imperial Stout or Belgian Strong Dark Ale)

Directions:
Add the cream, sugar and vanilla and with a standing mixer with whisk attachment or electric hand mixer, beat ingredients (you can use a hand whisk; it just will take longer). Start slowly and then increase the speed so its as fast but not splashing out of the bowl. When the cream just starts to thicken, slow the speed of the mixer and slowly add the beer in a steady stream. Slowly increase the speed of the mixer again and continue whipping until the cream forms soft peaks. (Warning: Autumn did tell me that if you whip the cream for too long it could curdle...just sayin.)