Being an adult is actually a lot like being a kid, according to Rachel Carlson of BoozeHound Baked Goods. We’re still always hungry, naps are still essential and eating dessert first is just as fun, especially with no one to stop us. For Carlson, this connection between childhood and adulthood is the foundation of her business. Her Portland bakery takes the best part of being a minor — cookies, cakes, crème brûlée and more — and combines them with booze, one of the many great perks of being an adult.
As a newcomer to the Rose City, Carlson had always loved to bake and saw her boozy baking company as the perfect opportunity to make connections in the city’s innovative food and drink scene. Many of the treats Carlson creates draw inspiration from cocktails, and use local spirits such as a boozy ice cream “sammies,” made from New Deal Distillery Mud Puddle vodka infused ice cream between fudge cookies with fresh mint and cacao nibs.
The name BoozeHound? It’s a nod to her boozy treats and her dog Walter who moved with her from Oklahoma to Portland in 2016.
Other menu items include the “Big Ass Cookie,” made from bourbon butterscotch, sea salt and chocolate chips; creamy crème brûlée made with a local booze infusion (infusion rotates regularly to feature Portland’s best spirits) and the Big Ass Crispy (bourbon, brown butter and sea salt), among others.
You can find BoozeHound Baked Goods at a pop-up retail shop soon with details feeding through the bakery’s Instagram, but also at Two Stroke Coffee, Kainos Coffee and Java Hound Coffee, or at a featured event. Recently Calson brought her crème brûlée made with New Deal Coffee Liqueur to the distillery and it was served alongside the A.M. Gold cocktail by New Deal Distillery, which you can make at home.
A.M. GOLD
Makes 1 drink
1 ounce Deal Distillery coffee liqueur
1/2 ounce bourbon cream liqueur, like Headframe Spirits Orphan Girl bourbon cream liqueur
1/4 ounce amaretto
2 ounces Stumptown Cold Brew
Add all ingredients to a cocktail shaker. Fill with ice and shake until cold. Strain into your glass of choice and fill with fresh ice.
