Kilt Lifting Pecan Logs

While reading up on Scotch Ales I got a little craving for Moylan's Kilt Lifter, an nice wee heavy ale that warms the soul and make studying much more enjoyable! I was almost down to my last little bit when I thought to myself how fantastic this would be with pecans and it struck me! I wonder if I can make some sort of pecan candy with the beer! So I toyed with the idea of making turtles and I remembered how much my mother loves pecan logs but always complains about how sweet they usually are, so I tried my hand at making some. The sugars in the basic caramel really bring out the rich maltiness of this beer and the way the hops play upon the meatiness of the hops is an herbal mouth-dance not to be missed. A word of caution: Sugar get's hot (Don't give me that look) I gave myself a nice welt while trying to taste it so please be careful!

1/4 cup butter
large buttered platter
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
1 cup Scotch Ale
1/2 cup corn syrup
1 can Condensed Milk
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups pecans

1. In a small pot place butter, sugar, beer, corn syrup, milk, and vanilla extract.
2. Place pot over medium heat and stir consistently until thick and forms a firm ball when dripped in cold water (may take an hour this is not a simple process).
3. Pour Caramel onto a large chilled pre-buttered platter and place in the refrigerator until just still warm (about 5 minutes).
4. Separate into three balls.
5. Place Pecans into a dish
6. Roll caramel balls into logs and press into the pecans until coated to your liking for each ball/roll.
7. Let Pecan Rolls fully cool to room temperature, and Enjoy!
(A variation to this is to pour rows of caramel over the pecans and roll into logs but do not do this unless you have silicon gloves to prevent burning...trust me this stuff is sticky and HOT!!

Posted in: Cooking with Beer,Recipes