June 30, 2014

Lola the Baker- The Kitchen Hop

It was a given that with the advent of the craft beer scene, bakers and cooks would eventually begin to work with the beverage to produce unique food. Enter Lola the Baker. This custom bakery in Miami is quickly gaining recognition for its cupcakes made using craft beers. Flavors like Flan, using Kentucky Bourbon Barrel Stout, and Chocolate Peanut Butter, using Left Hand Milk Stout, evoke the flavors of these recognized beers in order to create flavors catering to adults. You can special order your beer cupcakes from Lola the Baker, or you can find her at various food events throughout the city. At the most recent Kitchen Hop, I was able to sample Lola the Baker’s Vanilla Macchiato and Banana Flambé.

The Vanilla Macchiato is a Breckenridge Vanilla Porter cupcake topped with espresso frosting and topped with an espresso bean. Not only is this cupcake inspired by adults’ love for beer, but also our love for coffee. The cake itself has an added roasted maltiness with an unexpected hint of chocolate that comes from the beer. The espresso frosting is a nice change of pace from other coffee frostings at other cupcake stores, since I have found that this flavor is hard to execute. Instead of being espresso flavored, these frostings are usually devoid of any coffee notes and just stay extremely sweet. Luckily, Lola the Baker manages to make her frosting deliver on the coffee flavor, rounding out the final cupcake nicely as a whole.

The Banana Flambé is Lola the Baker’s most recent addition to the craft beer cupcake list. This cupcake, made with Wells Banana Bread beer and topped with a flambéed marshmallow meringue, is inspired by a classic combination of bananas and marshmallows. The beer is not meant to overpower the essence of the cupcakes, and this base is a perfect example of that. The beer here just adds natural sweetness and nuttiness reminiscent of Banana nut bread, letting you appreciate the dessert for what it is. The meringue is sweet enough and the flambéing gives a charred effect that evokes childhood around a campfire. Overall, both of these cupcakes were successfully executed.

Although Lola The Baker is becoming known for her beer cupcakes, she also offers non-alcoholic cupcakes, cookies, cake pops, and even treats for canines. They cater to parties, events, and local festivals, so if you’re planning something, now you have a new option to your next party a success.