In paid partnership with Mustan Virran Panimo 

Contains sponsored links

I teamed up with Savonlinna based craft brewery Mustan Virran Panimo and created a holiday cake recipe for you! This Loaf Cake is lush, sweet, and robust, a total charmer, you’ll see. It gets its dark appearance from dates, brown sugar, and vibrant spices. Santa Olaf Christmas Ale is the glue that brings all the flavors together.

Winter is a good time for experimenting with different flavors and in this recipe, I wanted to see how allspice and Christmas ale work together. I knew the cake would be a success when I had the spiced date-beer-oil-syrup mixture bubbling on the stove; the scent was heavenly. Just like gingerbread dough on steroids. You can imagine I had to taste it, once a spoonful, maybe twice.

Ingredients

• organic dates
• strong coffee
• Santa Olaf Christmas Ale
• high-quality extra virgin olive oil
• organic maple syrup
• natural coconut sugar
• vanilla bean
• ground cardamom
• ground cloves
• ground ginger
• freshly ground allspice
• cayenne pepper
• sea salt
• organic all-purpose flour
• baking soda

Beer and I, we have a history

My appreciation for craft beer started to rear its head while I was living in the US. I remember that all it took was one unforgettable road trip across the West Coast, I was sincerely impressed by how endearing the whole craft beer scene there was. Craft beer, mountains, craft pizza. Craft everything. Like an entire community celebrating slow and unique, detailed craftsmanship.

After returning to Finland I was happy to witness the passion and presence of craft brewing also here in Savonlinna, and to me, Mustan Virran Panimo represents a fresh way of beer; old school and trendy bottled in skillful branding. Yet the most intriguing part of it is the history and legends of this city that fuels their brews:

Black Brook Brewery (Mustan Virran Panimo) is a small craft brewery located in Savonlinna, an old city in eastern Finland. Brewery has been established to honour the old brewmasters of Olavinlinna, a legendary medieval castle standing on an island in front of the city. Castle used to have it’s own brewery back in 1500’s, where the brewmasters made various beers to people of the castle.

My childhood home was on the opposite shore of this castle and the stories and legends that now sport these finely crafted beer labels are familiar to me. They hold a value, and that value is my connection to Mustan Virran Panimo. It’s about hometown love and the decision to support the small-town business and a team that is willing to go the extra mile for quality. Cheers to that! When I choose my collaborations, it all boils down to the gut feeling about the brand and its products.

Now you can drink your beer and bake it too

Why did I choose to use this, Ale, in my recipe? The look of the bottle is half of the battle; obviously, the man with the beard has something to do with it, and the mahogany shaded insides are just as delightful. Being familiar with the brewery’s style, I chose Santa Olaf, knowing that it would enhance the taste of the ingredients in the batter and, on the other hand, wake up the spices when paired with the cake. What I find interesting about food pairing is the learning curve. Just like cooking, it should aim to be light and inspiring.

Santa Olaf is an American style Christmas Ale that has level-headed nuttiness and hints of coffee to it. The right amount of bitters, 30 on International Bitterness Units scale, and medium-bodied fullness make it pleasant and approachable also for the palette of a beginner. The amount of carbonation is just right to create a beautiful, slowly fading top when poured into a glass. The contrast of the dark liquid and cloud-like foam looks so tempting, the second best thing after the refreshing and light mouthfeel it leaves behind. Santa Olaf Christmas Ale has an aftertaste that lingers crisply instead of being overwhelming or flat. Gently, it takes away your thirst yet leaves room in the experience for you to thoroughly relish the spices.

Start by rinsing the dates and add them into a pan with olive oil, coffee, beer, sugar, maple syrup, and spices. Heat the mixture and then let it simmer on lower heat until the dates are soft. Remember to stir occasionally. At this point, your kitchen will start to smell Christmassy! It shouldn’t take more than five to seven minutes for the dates to soften up. When the base of the batter is ready, set it aside to cool.

Now it’s the perfect time to set the oven to 175 Celcius and have a taste of Santa Olaf, as the bottle is already open, and it is unnecessary to waste it. If you wish to speed things up, which I can’t blame you off, move warm date spice mixture from the hot pan into a medium-sized bowl.

Next, blend it smooth with an immersion blender. Add half of the flour and baking soda and gently mix it in, be mindful with the stirring, we don’t want the cake to get tough. When the mixture looks even, add the second half of all-purpose flour and mix. Now, the cake is ready to be baked.

Prep the loaf tin by brushing it with olive oil and coat it with breadcrumbs. Bake the cake in the middle rack of the oven for thirty minutes and then place a strip of parchment paper to cover it for the next 30 minutes. This trick will protect the top from getting too dark. The scent will let you know when the cake is ready, and to be sure you can do the toothpick test.

Let the cake sit and cool before serving, although it is hard to wait, it’s worth it. Dust it with some powdered sugar and serve with chilled Santa Olaf Christmas Ale, lean back and enjoy Holiday chill. Tip: I sprayed some orange infused extra virgin olive oil on a thick slice of the cake, and it was delicious!

The coolest thing about this pairing is the multilayered tasting experience; together, these two create a domino effect of flavor. When you take the cake out of the oven, you’ll smell the harmonious union of olive and allspice. First, the scent is very peppery instead of sweet, but when you taste, it’ll all start to make sense. The first bite releases the burst of cardamom and delicate vanilla followed by soft heat from ginger and cayenne. You will notice when you alternate between beer and cake, new spice combinations arise, and, probably, only one slice won’t do. Luckily holidays are the perfect time to treat yourself a little; it is all vegan after all.  

Take a look at the array of Finnish craft beer and find your picks at Mustan Virran Panimo.

I wish you all a hoppy Christmas and flavorsome new year 2020! May all your dreams come true!

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