We’ve been planning a trip down to San Diego for my sisters 25th birthday for months. A few weeks ago it finally happened. Can you tell I’m excited? We don’t get to go out of town too much, so I was really looking forward to this trip!
The plan was to get down there early on a Saturday, spend the day hanging out, going to Seaport Village, just exploring San Diego sans the kiddies. Our plan had changed a little, due to my sister having to work half a day on Saturday, so now, my husband Brandon and I had time to kill.
I’ve always wanted to go down to Stone, and do a little beer tasting and tour the brewery. My wish came true! And we had a blast! We got down there early, booked a brewery tour for noon (please note, if you plan on doing this, you must get down there early to book the tour. They do not allow online/phone reservations, only in person)
Took the tour (which was super affordable, $3 per person and $1 of that fee will go to charity– this includes the tour, 4 beer tastings and a take home souvenir glass) tasted beer, and had lunch in their beautiful gardens. I highly highly suggest visiting Stone. It was absolutely stunning having lunch in their serene gardens. My husband described the feel of these gardens as modern organic. SO peaceful. We could’ve stayed there all day.
So after Stone, we met up with my sister and brother. We stayed at a great little hotel right on Mission Bay called The Dana. Walked around Seaport Village for a bit, and then off it was to Old Town, to celebrate my sister’s birthday at Cafe Coyote Mexican restaurant (you know- the one that makes those oh so addictive fresh tortillas right there in front of you? That’s the one)
The next day we got up early, rode our bike on the Mission Bay bike path, had breakfast, then returned home. It was such a wonderful and much much needed weekend!
Here’s my sister Julie with her hubby Calvin-
Now this brings me to my recipe for Chocolate Stout Cupcakes, with all the beer tasting going on, and multiple beers my hubby got as Christmas gifts this year, I’ve had a new appreciation for beer (usually I’m a red wine kind of girl). All these beers inspired me to make a dessert with, you guessed it– BEER!
Here’s what you need:
1 cup stout beer
2 sticks butter, softened
¾ cup cocoa powder
2 cups flour
1 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 ½ cups sugar
1 ½ tsp baking soda
2 eggs
¾ cup sour cream
Here’s what you do:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a large bowl, sift the flour, sugar, and baking soda together. Set aside.
Add the eggs and sour cream to a mixer, and mix together on a medium speed. Add butter, mix. Add the beer and cocoa, mix. On a low speed, mix in the sifted dry ingredients. Add in the chocolate chips and stir in by hand.
Spoon the batter into cupcake tins lined with baking cups. Bake for approx 19 minutes. Cool on wire racks before frosting.
Now, you can leave these cupcakes plain, just as they are. They are now known as chocolate stout muffins, haha =)
But, I ended up frosting mine. I made a dark chocolate, merlot buttercream. You heard me right- Merlot. Yum. Told you I loved red wine, didn’t I?
Here’s what you need for the frosting:
3 cups powdered sugar
3/4 tbsp cocoa powder
1 stick softened butter
5 tbsp of merlot
Here’s what you do:
Cream butter in mixer, slowly add in the powdered sugar and cocoa powder. Add in merlot.
Frost the cupcakes- very lightly. This has a very strong, rich flavor. Recipe yields approx 3 dozen adult friendly cupcakes.
I noticed this book at the Stone Brewery gift shop, and it made me laugh. Very appropriate for this post!! Now you can have both beer and wine in this cupcake!
Hope you enjoy friends, and a very Happy Happy New Year to you and yours!
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