Misty Birchall of PubCakes recently gave us some of her new Craft Beer Cake Mix and asked that we bake it up. As of today she’s got four days left on her Kickstarter campaign to help cover the costs of the California State Health Permits and other issues surrounding the shipping of the mix; according to a CityBeat article, Birchall hit her funding goal of $2,500 in under a day with some fun rewards on offer. She’s already set to deliver over 500 bags of cake mix once the clock runs down.
I decided to go with the ManzaNeed It cupcake, which uses Manzanita Gillespie Brown Ale. Other local beers that Birchall promotes on her recipes page include Karl Strauss Tower Ten IPA, AleSmith Wee Heavy, Mission Brewery Amber Ale, and Alpine Beer Co. Nelson IPA (all of which go with the Vanilla Ale Cake Mix); Ballast Point Wahoo Wheat and Green Flash Le Freak (Belgian Spice Cake Mix), Societe Butcher Stout and Green Flash Double Stout (Chocolate Stout Cake Mix); and Ballast Point Black Marlin Porter and the aforementioned Manzanita beer (Cocoa Porter Cake Mix).
Even as an inexperienced baker I had no issues making some decadent cupcakes, with the bonus of some beer left in my bomber. Unsolicited reactions to the rich dish included “[bite] wow…wait…[bite]…yea, that’s good” and “okay, these are moist.”
In the next week or so I’ll be making the vegan version — which substitutes eggs and butter with canola oil and vinegar — of the Cup o’ Hefen cupcake.
Birchall has worn a lot of different hats over the years and after subleasing the kitchen from Treehouse Coffee, she attempted to fund a full cupcake and beer shop with Kickstarter, but was unsuccessful. Yet she has remained undeterred in her mission to spread the love of beer-infused desserts to the masses. “I truly believe that everything happens for a reason, and I am so excited about the Craft Beer Cake Mix,” she said. “This way, I get to share my beer cupcakes with so many more people.”
Currently she’s baking in a kitchen space down in Barrio Logan for an hourly rental fee, and eventually wants to sell the cake mix in stores — she’s been contacted by some grocers and boutique shops in places like New York — and online. But if you’re not interested in getting into the kitchen yourself, you can find the real deal PubCakes at the North Park Farmers Market every Thursday from 3 – 7 p.m. and the Hillcrest Farms Market every Sunday from 9 a.m. – 2 p.m.