Brown ale cake balls

Brown Ale Cake balls
Yield: 20

Cake Ball Ingredients
1 1/3 flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup whole milk
1/2 cup brown ale (I used our homebrewed brown ale)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
2 tbsp wheat liquid malt extract (or use molasses)
1 egg, at room temperature
1/2 cup vanilla buttercream

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and position the racks toward the center. Combine flour, baking powder, salt and cocoa in a bowl; set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter until fluffy. Add sugar and beat for an additional 3 minutes. Add egg, beating until well combined.

 Measure out the milk, beer and vanilla and stir to combine. On low speed, add flour mixture and liquid mixture alternatively, beginning and ending with the flour mixture.

Pour the batter into the cake pan. Bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out clean. Cool for 15 minutes in the pan, then pop it out onto a platter and cool for an additional 30—if the cake crumbles when you pop it out of the pan, don’t worry. You’re going to be crumbling it anyway, and more surface space for cooling is a good thing. Finally, to prep the cake for the cake balls, either refrigerate it for 2-3 hours, or put it in the freezer for 20 minutes.

Place wax paper on a cookie sheet with edges. Trim any hard edges off the cake and crumble it into a bowl. Gradually add the frosting, mixing together with your hands to ensure that the frosting is evenly distributed.

Scoop out the batter with whatever you want to make a uniform shape: melon baller (small), tablespoon, cookie scoop. Chill.

Originally my intent was to bake cupcakes, but due to the carbonation in the beer, the cakes did not cooperate. Instead of tossing them, I broke them down to make cake balls for our BeerCamp Philly meeting. The treats were full of beer flavor and well-received by our fellow homebrewers.