"hat" news and stories

Was it a merger over a decade in the making? A case of admiration run to its financial endgame? Maybe it's just a coincidence or purely about numbers. Regardless, it's a fitting tale of intrigue for "Fruit Beer Month" none-the-less as we dig in to discover how an oft forgotten cousin of the plum -- the apricot -- has shaped the modern beer market...

As reported by both companies, it's now official: Independent Brewers United, parent company of Vermont-based brewery Magic Hat, is acquiring west coaster Pyramid Breweries, thus merging not only two of America's largest craft brewers, but also the two breweries best known for beers with apricot flavored products.

Certainly, the merger creates a powerhouse combination of East and West Coast craft breweries, but scratch the surface of these new suds-buds and it begins to paint an interesting picture...

My husband and I were watching Who Wants to Be a Millionaire the other day and there was a question that stuck with me. What type of hat is named for it's distinctive shape? The answer turned out to be a pork pie hat. I had never heard of such a thing and couldn't figure out what made it "distinctive" enough to be named after pork or even pie. Once I looked it up online (what did we do before Google? Lived in oblivion, I suppose), I recognized it right away. I now understand the correlation between the hat and shape of a particular meat pie but I still couldn't get the silly name out of my head. So, naturally, I decided to make a cake.

I started by taking a 6 inch round, cutting it in half and standing each on its side with the bottoms together to make the body. I used my smallest mixing bowl for the head, some mini-cupcakes for a nose and feet and a pyrex ramiken for the pie. The entire thing needed a little carving here and there. The edges of his back were rounded out some, the head cut off a bit to make the neck shorter and the bottoms of the feet flattened so they would snug up next to him better. I inserted a toothpick to help hold his nose in place and went to work making him pink. It takes longer than you think to cover a pig in hot pink buttercream icing using a star tip. If I did it again, I'd probably just ice it and flatten it out to make it easier but I do like the texture contrast between the pig and the smooth fondant of the accessories.

More piggy after the jump.