Did you know today is National Cake Day? No? You’re not alone. Every local baker we contacted was oblivious to the existence of this “food holiday.” But exist it does. After looking around online, however, the origin of this day is still a mystery to us as well, but there is plenty of information about cake’s history, which dates back to ancient times. The word cake is derived from Old Norse “kaka.” Cake then was more like gingerbread due to the availability of refined ingredients. In Ancient Greece and Egypt, cakes were rather heavy and flat and eaten at the end of a meal with nuts and honey. Baklava anyone? During the Great Depression, it was necessary to provide easy, relatively cheap food to millions of Americans who were living in poverty, and the boxed cake mix was born. In modern day Peaks and Pints, cake is a beer flight. Drop by our Proctor District bottle shop and enjoy Craft Beer Crosscut 11.26.17: A Flight of Cake.
Icicle Brewing Dark Persuasion
6.5% ABV, 22 IBU
Icicle Brewing Co. sits in the Bavarian theme park known as the city of Leavenworth, which seems perhaps the most appropriate place for a brewery. Owner Oliver Brulotte, who has deep family roots in Washington’s hop farming history, basically launch the Wenatchee Valley’s craft-beer boom. The brewery draws their water from nearby Icicle Creek, a run-off from surrounded by numerous mountain ranges including the Stuart Range and Wenatchee Mountains. And, Icicle Brewing makes a liquid German chocolate cake, Dark Persuasion. Seriously, this stout tastes exactly like German chocolate cake, with strong chocolate and coconut notes, a touch of vanilla and a smooth finish.
Founders Sumatra Mountain Brown
9% ABV, 40 IBU
Founders Brewing’s magnificent, coffee-forward Sumatra Mountain imperial brown ale is smooth, rich and roasty with nutty and caramel flavors. This full-bodied ale receives its depth from a team of malts including Chocolate and caramel malt for sweetness, flaked barley for dense foam, a bit of chocolate malt for its deep color and aromatic and Munich malts to add even more depth. Sumatra coffee, along with German and Perle hops, are also among the ingredients. Add a medium body and creamy texture on nitro and you have a balanced coffee cake.
Ecliptic Bourbon Barrel-Aged Third Orbit Imperial Porter with Cherries
9%ABV, 50 IBU
If you have ever eaten a drunken cherry chocolate cake, then you’ll enjoy Ecliptic Brewing’s Bourbon Barrel-Aged Third Orbit Imperial Porter with Cherries. Brewed to celebrate the Portland brewery’s third anniversary this imperial porter is a blend of seven malts, 22 pounds of cherries per barrel plus Columbus, Amarillo, Chinook and Cascade hops for a fabulous roast-y almost oatmeal like flavor that leads to some dark chocolate and smoke before a mild cherry sweetness mixes in with a faint tartness to set this apart from the rest before ending with a mix of milk chocolate and camp fire.
Evil Twin Imperial Mexican Biscotti Cake Break
10.5% ABV, 60 IBU
Jeppe Jarnit-Bjergsø contract brewed at Westbrook Brewing in South Carolina before moving his Evil Twin Brewing to New York City. As he brewed his Biscotti Break imperial stout with vanilla, almond and coffee he drank Westbrook’s Mexican Cake imperial stout with cocoa nibs, vanilla beans, cinnamon sticks, and fresh habanero peppers. Then one day Biscotti Break met Mexican Cake and they knew it was much more than a hunch. Soon they became the Imperial Mexican Biscotti Cake Break, an imperial stout brewed with coffee, cinnamon, almonds, cocoa nibs, vanilla and habanero peppers. The result? An even bigger beer. Two dessert beers meeting in one glass could be overwhelming. Not in this case. As the beer warms, cinnamon chocolate and vanilla start to pop. Subtle elements of the two beer threads are far from a challenge to find in each sip. The only thing subtle here is the pepper.
Sierra Nevada Trip In The Woods Ginger Bigfoot
11.4% ABV, 65 IBU
Doesn’t a bourbon spice toffee layer cake sound prefect for National Cake Day. The combination of chocolate, nuts, ginger, brown sugar and the spice from the bourbon are a party for the taste buds and perfect for celebrating today. Let’s drink it! Sierra Nevada’s Trip In The Woods Ginger Bigfoot is all that, plus vanilla beans, coconut, candied oranges, and, of course, a hop bite to help balance out the sweetness. Sierra Nevada Bigfoot, introduced in the winter of 1983, is considered to be the referential barlerywine, presenting the style at its theoretical best. This barrel-aged version was introduced in 2013 in celebration of the 30th Anniversary of their popular barleywine and it’s extremely drinkable.
