It’s National Devil’s Food Cake Day! Devil’s food cake is a wholly original American creation and a truly classic confection; the earliest known recipe appeared in The Janesville Gazette in 1905. Devil’s food cake is richer, darker and fluffier than any regular chocolate cake can ever be — it has been called the chocolate version of an angel food cake. And it’s all thanks to the use of cocoa powder and the extra dose of baking soda it calls for. Recipes use hot or boiling water as the primary liquid. While chocolate cake usually calls for melted chocolate, devil’s food cake relies on the rich flavor of cocoa powder — and sometimes coffee — for its robust, chocolaty taste. The extra dose of baking soda not only raises the ph levels giving this cake its deep dark color, but also makes it just a little bit fluffier in texture. A delicious chocolate frosting usually accompanies the cake. But you don’t need to bake an entire cake (from scratch or a box) to indulge. Just order Peaks and Pints beer sample flight Craft Beer Crosscut 5.19.17: A Flight of Devil’s Food Cake.
Two Beers Cold Brew Coffee Brown
5.2% ABV, 18 IBU
This past winter Two Beers Brewing Co. re-released its Cold Brew Coffee brown Ale with a new highly caffeinated partner, Anchorheaf Coffee. Starting with a base of chocolaty brown ale, the beer is run through a second fermenter containing 18 pounds of course ground coffee beans per batch for four hours before sitting on the beans for another 20 hours. A chocolaty brown ale infused with locally roasted beans from the popular small batch roaster, this Seattle-inspired beer is crisp, refreshing and subtly sweet with a cold brew kick.
No-Li Brewhouse Rise & Grind
6.1% ABV, 22 IBU
No-Li Brewhouse continues its transition from longtime Spokane brewer to a major player in the Northwest craft beer scene. Its award-winning Rise & Grind smells like a bag of freshly roasted coffee and some semi-sweet chocolate chips. The coffee flavor on this beer is full on black coffee. Layers of freshly roasted Gemelli coffee gives the beer the flavor of bitter dark roasted coffee, a bite of acidity, and just the slightest touch of chocolate sweetness on the finish. Potent, strong and flavorful.
Ballast Point Victory At Sea
10% ABV
Victory at Sea’s story begins in 1992, when a homebrewer named Jack White, recognizing the dearth of good supply shops nearby with which to augment his hobby, opened Home Brew Mart near Mission Beach in San Diego. Another homebrewer, Yuseff Cherney, soon joined him, and together the two moved the brews they were making in their back yards to the back of the shop. In 1996, Ballast Point was born. Victory at Sea smells like breakfast — Aromas of cappuccino gelato and medium-roast coffee with milk meld with subtle background vanilla notes as well as bits of sourdough and brown sugar. In the flavor, Victory at Sea switches to dessert. Bitter medium-roast coffee flavors play at the sides of the tongue while chocolate, vanilla and caramel build at the front. Toast and molasses make appearances as well, and alcohol heat rolls down the throat, noticeable but not overpowering.
Gilgamesh Vader CDA
6.4% ABV, 60 IBU
The Salem, Oregon brewery teams up with neighboring The Governor’s Cup Coffee Roasters for this Cascadian dark ale aged with lightly roasted coffee beans, tawny malts and gradient hop flavors. The brew smells strongly of hops, and hits with a heavy vanilla front. Dig deeper to find espresso bitterness, caramel, malted sweetness, and a hint of dark fruit. We found ample Darth coffee and cocoa up front. It’s a well-balanced, easy drinker.
Evil Twin Imperial Mexican Biscotti Cake Break
10.5% ABV, 60 IBU
Evil Twin Brewing contract brewed at Westbrook Brewing in South Carolina before moving to New York City. As Evil Twin founder and Danish expatriate Jeppe Jarnit-Bjergsø 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; therefore we feel good about including it in our devil’s food cake beer sample flight.
