Chocolate stout cake and beef & ale pie: Julie Van Rosendaal's beer recipes

You may not realize it, but one of the most secretly versatile ingredients in the kitchen could already be sitting in your fridge, right under your nose.

Beer, most commonly seen as an ingredient in British cuisine, can be used in gravies, pies, soups and stews, as well as sweeter dishes like cakes. 

Julie Van Rosendaal joined the Calgary Eyeopener on Tuesday to talk about how to use beer in your cooking and to share her favourite beer recipes.

Beef & Ale Pie

Although Guinness is arguably the most recognizable stout out there, any dark ale or stout will make a fabulously rich sticky pie. If you're the type to store bacon drippings in the fridge, use them to brown your beef. The aged cheddar is optional, but delicious. Serve with peas on the side. 

• 2 1/2 lb stewing beef, cut into 1-2-inch pieces
• salt and freshly ground pepper
• olive oil or bacon fat
• 1 large purple onion, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 3 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
• 1 bottle or can dark ale or stout
• 1 cup beef or chicken stock (plus extra if needed)
• 2 Tbsp. tomato paste
• 1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
• 2 sprigs fresh thyme
• 1 large carrot, diced
• 1 cup grated extra old white cheddar (optional)
• 1 sheet puff pastry, thawed
• 1 egg, lightly beaten

Preheat the oven to 325 ̊F.

Pat your beef dry with paper towel and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Set an oven-proof Dutch oven over medium-high heat, add a drizzle of oil or dab of bacon fat, and brown the meat in batches, transferring to a plate as you go. Add extra oil in between if the pan needs it. 

Once the meat is browned, add the onions to the pan and cook for a few minutes, stirring to loosen any browned bits in the bottom of the pan. Return the beef to the pan, add the garlic and shake over the flour, stirring to coat everything well. Add enough stout and stock to just barely cover the meat. (If not, add a little more stout, stock or even water.) Add the tomato paste and Worcestershire sauce along with a couple sprigs of thyme (or pull off the leaves and add them to the pot), cover and cook in the oven for 1 1/2 hours. 

Remove the pot from the oven, stir in the carrots and return to the oven for another hour, or until the meat is very tender. Remove from the oven and turn the heat up to 400 ̊F. If you like, scrape the meat mixture into another baking dish. Sprinkle with cheese. On a lightly floured surface, roll the pastry out about 1/4-inch thick, making it slightly larger than the size or diameter of your baking dish. If you're going to drape the pastry over the edges, brush them with beaten egg. Drape the pastry overtop, sealing it around the edge of the pan. (Alternatively — if there's too much space between the top of the meat and the top of the pan — tuck the edge of the pastry haphazardly down around the edge inside the pan.) Brush the top with beaten egg and if you like, score the top lightly with a sharp knife.  

Return to the oven for 20-30 minutes, or until the pastry is deep golden. Serves 6.

Chocolate Stout Cake with Stout Frosting

Nigella Lawson's Guinness chocolate cake is perhaps the most popular version - it's large, high and dense, the sort of cake that's often baked in a Bundt pan to ensure it's cooked through and doesn't wind up damp or sinking in the middle. I've rounded down the butter and upped the cocoa; if you like, bake it in two 8 or 9-inch layers, in a Bundt pan or as cupcakes. She makes hers with cream cheese frosting, but I find it even better with stout-laced frosting, which comes across as caramel-like; between the cake and frosting, you'll use just about exactly one bottle.

• 1 cup dark stout (such as Guinness or Wild Rose oatmeal stout)
• 1/2 cup butter, cut into pieces
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 cup cocoa
• 3/4 cup sour cream
• 2 large eggs
• 1 Tbsp. vanilla
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/4 tsp. salt

Frosting: 

• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 3 cups icing sugar
• 1/4-1/3 cup dark stout (such as Guinness or Wild Rose oatmeal stout)

Preheat the oven to 350 ̊F. Butter a 9-inch springform pan and fit a circle of parchment in the bottom. (Alternatively, grease a Bundt pan or two 8 or 9-inch layer cake pans.) In a large saucepan, heat the stout and butter over medium-high heat until the butter melts. Remove from the heat and stir in the sugar and cocoa. Set aside to cool slightly. 

In a small bowl or measuring cup, stir together the sour cream, eggs and vanilla. Whisk into the chocolate mixture (make sure it has cooled enough that it won't cook the egg), then whisk in the flour, baking soda and salt. Pour into the prepared pan and bake for 45 minutes to an hour — less for a Bundt cake and longer for the springform pan — or 30 minutes in two layer cake pans, or until the cake is set and springy to the touch. Let cool for 15 minutes before loosening the sides of the pan or inverting the cake onto a wire rack to cool completely. 

To make the frosting, beat the butter and about half the icing sugar until smooth; add the remaining icing sugar and 1/4 cup stout; beat until creamy and smooth, adding a little extra sugar or stout until you have a spreadable frosting. Spread over the top of the cooled cake. Serves 12-16.

With files from Julie Van Rosendaal and the Calgary Eyeopener