Easy (after) dinner recipes: Cake, ice cream and more for beer lovers

It’s Friday. You’ve made it. Have your beer and eat it too with these tempting after-dinner treats:

Beer ice cream: It’s the best of beer and ice cream, need I say more? This dessert can’t get any easier to make, as it uses only four ingredients and makes a base that comes together in minutes. Have a little patience and give this treat time to chill, and you will be rewarded.

Beer zabaglione: Whisk some egg yolks with a little sugar until they take on a bright, velvety sheen, then drizzle in a little beer -- I prefer a Belgian ale. Place the bowl over gently simmering water and keep beating, and in just minutes you have a light and airy custard, faintly sweet and enticingly smooth, no special equipment or waiting time necessary.

Beer cake: Richly flavored with aromatic spice and beer -- the author recommends a dark, full-flavored beer -- this cake works well as a dessert, breakfast or snack for any time of the day. You can find the recipe below.

BEER CAKE

Total time: 1 1/2 hours | Serves 12

Note: Adapted from “Piri Piri Starfish.” Kiros writes: “Use a lovely dark, full- flavored beer that will show up well in your cake. I used acacia honey and you can use other nuts instead of walnuts, if you prefer.”

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter, softened
3/4 cup superfine sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 eggs
1 tablespoon milk
7 ounces (3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons) dark beer, such as stout
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
1/2 cup honey
2 2/3 cups cake flour
1 heaping teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Pinch grated nutmeg
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

1. Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour a 9 1/2-inch springform or cake pan.

2. Beat the butter, sugar and vanilla until creamy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each, until fully incorporated. Beat in the milk, beer and lemon zest, then whisk in the honey. The batter will look separated at this point, but will come together when the dry ingredients are added.

3. Sift together the flour, baking powder, soda, cinnamon and nutmeg, then whisk into the wet ingredients.

4. Gently fold in the nuts and lightly spoon the batter into the pan. Bake 35 to 40 minutes if using a regular cake pan, or 45 to 50 minutes if using a springform, until dark golden and a skewer poked into the middle comes out clean. Leave in the pan to cool for 10 minutes before turning out.

Each serving: 363 calories; 5 grams protein; 50 grams carbohydrates; 1 gram fiber; 16 grams fat; 8 grams saturated fat; 83 mg. cholesterol; 167 mg. sodium.

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