Chocolate Porter Pumpkin Soup

When Julie and Carrie announced that this month's Spiked! Recipe Challenge ingredient would be fall beers, I knew exactly what I would make.  Pumpkin Brown Ale Soup.  I've made a soup based on one we had at Mesa Grill in Las Vegas several times before, and just knew that the addition of a lovely fall brown ale would be perfect.

Here's the thing.  When we went to our local grocery store?  Hardly a fall beer in sight.  They had a pumpkin ale, which we figured would get lost in the robust spicy flavors of our soup, but nothing else.  Not even an Oktoberfest!  Apparently, San Diego has not quite hit fall.

We did come across this lovely chocolate porter which struck me as perfectly fall flavored.  And a perfect match to my soup!

Chocolate Porter Pumpkin Soup

Ingredients:

• 2 cups enriched chicken stock or low sodium canned chicken broth
• 2 cups Chocolate Porter (or other flavorful dark beer)
• 3 cups pumpkin puree (not flavored pie filling)
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon allspice
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 2 tablespoons maple syrup
• 2 tablespoons chipotle puree
• Salt and freshly ground pepper
• 1/2 cup heavy cream

Directions:

Bring 2 cups of the stock to a boil in a large saucepan over high heat. Whisk in the pumpkin puree,  cinnamon, ginger, allspice, nutmeg, honey, maple syrup and chipotle puree.

Simmer for 5 minutes.  Then add the Chocolate Porter.

Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Strain the soup to remove any solids.  {This is a super-important step for a velvety smooth soup!}

 Add more stock, if the soup is too thick.  Set aside 1/2 cup of the soup.

Whip the cream to soft peaks and gently stir in the soup.


This is just beautiful when served in a glass.  Distribute the soup in glasses, leaving room at the top for the cream mixture.  {Don't worry if the sides are a bit messy - you can wipe them later before you serve it}

Carefully spoon the cream mixture on top of each serving.  It should look a bit like the foam on top of a hearty glass of ale!

I love this pumpkin soup - and the addition of the chocolate porter was wonderful!


I hope you enjoy this homage to fall flavor.  Be sure to check out all of the Spiked! Recipe Challenge recipes here!

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