What, did you think the Hot Knives had gone on vacation or something? No, Digest blog, while you were comparing peanut butters and dreaming of becoming a competitive eating blog like your younger brother True Fan, our Angeleno friends Evan George and Alex Brown have been slaving, quite literally, over a hot stove, endeavoring to bring more killer breakfast combos, beer-food symbiosis, and DIY flair into your kitchen. Curious? A cursory peek at their excellent blog should have you salivating. For a more visceral experience, check out this short video we made when we last visited our heady homies in Los Angeles. Evan and Alex walk us through a Taiwan-inspired scallion pancake recipe (reproduced here in full text), show off their "killer apps," and introduce the world to the soy-meat triage. Bon Appetit!

Beer Cakes

Recipe by the Hot Knives


2 envelopes dry yeast

2 cups flour

1/2 cup, plus 1 tsp white sugar

1.5 teaspoon baking powder

1 tsp. salt

2 cups, plus one splash Stone Levitation Ale

3 Tbs. warm vegan butter

1.5 cups diced scallions

1/2 cup minced parsley

1. Activate the yeast by mixing 1/8 cup warm water, a splash of beer, and one Tsp. of sugar in a small bowl. Stir, cover, and set aside for ten minutes.

2. Combine all dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Gently whisk in the Levitation and the vegan butter.

3. Check your yeast. If it looks like a baby blob out of control, whisk it into the batter. Add Scallions and parsley and cover. Let the batter sit for ten minutes.

4. Heat a large skillet and grease it with vegetable oil. Dump 1/3 cup globs of batter onto your pan, flipping them when they start to bubble on top.

5. Serve with maple syrup, alongside other breakfast treasures.

Lost? Watch the video for a full rundown of how a good beer-cake brekky should go down!

Beverage: Stone Levitation, and lots of them

Soundtrack: Moondog, "Coffee Beans"