Summer's here ! It's official - despite whatever Chicago weather decides to do from here on out. About a month ago, I checked out Maplewood's lounge for the first time. It's an awesome/tiny space, but the beer is all delicious. The "Cuppa Oreo" was probably my favorite takeaway from that day - tied with Mr. Shakey Strawberry. Needless to say, I'll be back soon for more beer and to try the food. To follow that, I went to my local beer store (shout out to Capone's) and they were doing tastings of Maplewood. It was there that I fell in love - and his name is "Son of Juice".
This IPA is all the magic. It's my new go to at the bar; It's the safe option after too many drinks, or even just a perfect,casual, post-work beer. I also know I'm late to the game, so no need to tell me. Since it isn't extremely hoppy - it works nicely with the lemon in this recipe and doesn't overpower. The lemon comes through full shine - and you of course should dust powdered sugar on top before serving.
I had everything already in my pantry to make these except the lemons - so this is an easy go-to for a last minute crowd-pleaser! My coworkers and some friends got their hands on these because I leave for vacation tomorrow; There were no complaints there. If you're looking for a boozier bar, feel free to add more beer but ratio out the cornstarch appropriately so it holds structure appropriately. (IE: Current recipe is 1/4c beer to 2TBSP cornstarch - keep that ratio as you add beer)
Ingredients
Filling:
3 eggs
1 cup sugar
¼ cup flour
2 tbs corn starch
1/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
¼ cup Maplewood Son of Juice (Or another IPA of your choice)
Powdered sugar for dusting
Crust:
1 cup flour
1/3 cup powdered sugar
8 tbs unsalted butter (don't want a salty crust)
pinch salt
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350 °
Combine ingredients for the crust in a food processor and pulse until blended. This will look chalky/dry - but will be fine once you bake.
Press crust mixture into a greased (DO NOT FORGET TO GREASE) 8x8 pan and press down until evenly flattened. Chill in refrigerator for 15 minutes.
Bake crust for 30 mins. once oven is at temperature or until golden brown. I took them out once the edges got brown. Remove from oven an cool for 15-20 minutes or until no longer hot to touch.
In a separate bowl, combine the sugar/flour/corn starch/and eggs. Whisk until smooth.
Add in the lemon juice followed by the IPA of your choosing and stir until all ingredients are fully incorporated.
Pour on top of crust and bake for 35-40 minutes. Keep an eye on these in the oven - but once the center firms up, you're good to go. Allow to cool before refrigerating (I put mine in the fridge and had a hard time getting them loose from the pan - so remove for a bit before serving for prettier plating - haha )
Happy baking and drinking !