Another St. Patrick’s Day has come and gone, and all you’re left with is a stale loaf of soda bread, a hangover, and a fridge full of Guinness. After the night you had, the prospect of drinking more beer is probably nightmare fuel, so it’s time to find something else to do with all that leftover stout. And what better way to free up that fridge space than with something sweet?
That’s why VinePair tapped Ileene Cho, the executive pastry chef at NYC’s The Noortwyck, to share her recipe for stout caramel. This thick, decadent sauce is a central component of the restaurant’s signature dessert: a mille-feuille with a creamy banana diplomat, chocolate namelaka, and stout caramel layered between thin tuile wafers and topped with caramelized banana ice cream and shaved pecans. Cho first designed the dish for the restaurant’s opening in 2022, and it’s since taken off as a crowd favorite. But why add stout to the already perfect creation that is sweet and salty caramel?
“I was thinking about the balance of the pairing for the banana and the chocolate,” says Cho. “The stout adds some bitterness, off-setting the sweetness of the banana and chocolate.” In the case of a mille-feuille, beer brings extra complexity, but there are so many more applications for stout caramel.
“You could pretty much put it on anything,” Cho says. “Drizzle it over a pint of ice cream, make brownies with it, or use it to dress a cake.” From enjoying it with a spoon on your couch to using it to impress at a dinner party — this recipe has range.
Plus, you don’t have to wait for St. Patrick’s Day to roll around to make this caramel — it can be a year-round indulgence. If you don’t already have Guinness on hand and opt for a different stout, Cho suggests Left Hand Brewery’s Milk Stout.
Check out the recipe below to make stout caramel at home. Or, if you’re not baking-inclined, just head to The Noortwyck to try the original yourself.
Stout Caramel
Serves: About 2 cups
Ingredients:
- ⅖ cup sugar
- ½ cup glucose syrup
- 7 ounces stout beer
- 3 ⅓ tablespoons cream
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ⅓ cup butter
- ⅓ ounce cocoa butter
- 1 ounce 35-percent Dulcey Valrhona chocolate
Directions:
- In a pot, add the stout, cream, ⅔ of the glucose syrup, and salt.
- Heat until mixture reaches a boil, remove from heat, and set aside.
- In a separate pan, mix the sugar and the remaining glucose syrup and heat until the mixture becomes a deep amber color.
- Deglaze the pan slowly with the warm stout mixture and continue to heat until it hits 225 degrees F.
- Mix in the chocolate, cocoa butter, and butter.
- Remove from heat and cool before using.
