#sbw2016

A Food/Beer Pairing Tribute to Sac Beer Week: Oso Furioso + Tiramisu

“Let them eat cake!” … or tiramisu?

What better way to end winter than with a delicious, barrel-aged dark lager and a decadent dessert?

Our Brewers Cut program is filled with great barrel-aged beers but the Oso Furioso has certainly warmed its way into many Davis hearts, both brewers and patrons alike. Named for our Dock Store manager’s Xbox gamertag, this doppelbock hibernated for a month in High West bourbon barrels, blanketed with cinnamon sticks, cacao nibs, locally-roasted Pepper Peddler coffee, as well as smoked ancho, bird's eye, and chipotle chiles. Emerging as this year’s second release in the Brewers Cut series, the Oso roars a 9.0% ABV that is complemented with deep aromatics that range from graham crackers to french toast and a robust mouthfeel from the rich chocolate. Toasted marshmallow along with roasted coffee flavors are followed by a fun unexpected surprise ending from the blend of smoked chili peppers giving this beer it's signature finish.

The pairing options are endless! Roasted meats, tart fruits, an earthy Camembert, or even a funky and pungent Limburger… My mouth is watering just thinking of all the possibilities!

But I just bought a new electric handmixer and all I want to think about right now is baking.

Sacramento Beer Week is all about celebrating differences in the brewing community. Colors ranging from the palest straw, the richest amber, to a roasty midnight dark and flavors ever-expanding with new hop cultivars, adjuct experimentation, and barrel aging. So to complement the complexity of the Oso Furioso and pay tribute to this festival of diversity, I went with a cross-cultural tiramisu. A classic coffee-flavored Italian dessert with a tres-leches creme filling and a chocolate-rich, Irish whiskey brownie base.

There’s three main layers in this dish. Let’s start with the brownies. You’re going to need:

5 ounces Ghiradelli unsweetened cacao powder

12 tablespoons butter

½ cups brown sugar

1.5 cups granulated sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

15 tablespoons Jameson Whiskey

4 whole eggs

1 cup flour

½ teaspoons salt

Preheat your oven to 325°F. Melt the butter over a pot of boiling water. Mix in the cacao powder (if you like things extra chocolatey, feel free to add semi-sweet chocolate chips to your heart’s desire!) until it’s all melted and evenly blended. In a separate bowl mix your sugars, then add the butter/chocolate and blend. Add the vanilla and about 8-9 tablespoons of the whiskey, blend in the eggs one at a time and then fold in the flour and salt. Pour into a 9x13” dish (don’t forget to grease the pan!) and place in the oven for about 50 minutes. Once you pull out the brownie cake, pour the remaining 6-7 tablespoons of whiskey over the top and let it cool.

I also found this rad and delicious recipe ror the tres-leches spicy chocolate sauce and the cream filling on foodnetwork.com

For the Spicy Chocolate Tres Leches, you’ll need:

1/2 cup half-and-half

1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1/4 cup sweetened condensed milk

1/4 cup evaporated milk

1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1/4 cup coffee liqueur

Mix everything in a mini pot and bring it to a simmer over medium heat. Set it aside and let it cool while you’re working on the cream filling.

and for the mascarpone cream filling, you’ll need:

1 cup heavy whipping cream

1/3 cup powdered sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup mascarpone cheese, at room temperature

In a large mixing bowl, start beating air into the whipping cream for 3-4 minutes with a mixer before adding the powdered sugar. Once the sugar is added, continue mixing until the consistency is almost fluffy, then add the cinnamon, vanilla extract, and mascarpone and blend evenly.

Now, layer!!

Start with the brownie, then the tres-leches chocolate sauce, top it off with the cream filling.

And repeat: brownie, sauce, filling. Dust with cocoa powder and garnish with fresh raspberries.

If you’re feeling a little old-fashioned, you can also replace the higher brownie layer with lady fingers for that authentic tiramisu touch.

What I really like about this pairing is the decadence. Indulge your senses with the rich chocolate aromas, smother your your tastebuds then allow the Oso to cut through the heavy creaminess of the mascarpone. Warm your experience with the subtle heat from the cayenne pepper in the tres leches sauce that flirts blushingly with the chili in the barrel-aged doppelbock. Treat yourself, winter is almost over.

Cheers,