Angenette and 2 roads No limits or Stony Creek Juiced IPA

The New Year’s Eve Angenette challenge

Angenettes or angenettis have been a cookie around my families table since my great grandmother was making them in New Haven back in the 1920s. The recipe card my aunt uses is from my Grandmother and has seen its day.

Which beer will reign supreme? On New Years Eve in 2017, I brought a few cookies and some of both beers to a party and my friends and I tasted both to decide which paired the best. This made for a really fun time, everyone got a small glass of both and a cookie. We talked about the beer, we talked about the cookies, we talked about life and how to enjoy it, a good time was had by all. Beer and cookies together make any get together a little better.  

The Beer:  This was our first pairing comparison. I had 2 beers that I thought would go well with an angenette. The first is 2 roads No limits, a hefeweizen with a light crisp citrusy finish. It has a low abv, a medium foam and a very refreshing finish. This was by far the group favorite

The other was Stony Creek’s ‘Ripe and Cranky’ Orange Juiced IPA. This is a big bitter well hopped IPA. Its cirtusy aroma and medium body leads to a dry bitter finish that is a bit sharp. Not an overwhelming IPA but definitely bitter and medium bodied. Not too hoppy but a sharp citrusy bitter finish for sure.    

The Cookie: An angenette or (Angenetti) is a traditional Italian cookie that is usually eaten at Easter time. However, my family always has these cookies on Christmas. My Aunt makes them and organizes them into a Christmas tree on a big platter. We all (escpecially my wife) look forward to them every year.

The cookie is soft and cakey, it has orange juice in the batter so it has a subtle citrus to the dough. (some recipes call for anise which makes for a very different tasting cookie, lots of licorice instead of citrus) The icing has lemon and is very sweet. The round cookie coated in the icing is a fantastic cookie, it goes well with an beverage, tea, coffee, or a variety of beers.  

The Winner!

The pairing: Interestingly, even though the No limits beer was favored by most as a solo beer over the IPA, it was a consensus that the IPA was a better partner for the cookie. The citrus of the cookie paired well with the citrus of the beer and the sweetness of the icing cut down the bitter sharp finish and made what was once an average IPA an outstanding one.

The Ripe and Cranky reigned supreme on the New Year’s Eve Angenette challenge.