Saturday 21 April 2012

Weekend cooking - coffee desserts



Let me count the ways I love coffee - no, wait - it's pointless. I am a coffee-holic. I love to smell, taste, cook with coffee - and that goes for all types of coffee! In desserts, I like using coffee because it cuts the sweetness and provides for new ideas and flavours. Here are my two favourite recipes involving coffee:


Coffee and walnut muffins


A very old staple in my recipe book, these muffins are just too easy not to make them every week (and they taste double so good!):

- 1 and 3/4 cups flour (I use instant, no need to sift)
- 1/2 cup each of butter in cubes / chopped walnuts
- 3/4 cups milk
- 1 egg
- 1/3 cup light brown sugar
- 2 tbsp instant coffee powder
- 1 tbsp baking powder
- 1 tsp vanilla extract (or vanilla paste)
- 1/4 tsp salt

Mix everything - pour in oil-sprayed muffin tray, or in paper cups. Bake for about 30 minutes at 190oC. Leave to cool and enjoy!


Coffee mousse (recipe from the Dagelijkse kost cooking show)


A new recipe which is bound to become a favourite in no time: although I had to use all my mixing bowls, it took practically no time to prepare and the only thing that remained was to wait for the mousse to thicken: 

For the mousse:

- 3 eggs, separated
- 90gr sugar
- 150ml espresso coffee
- 150ml whipped cream
- 2 leaves gelatin (I used powder gelatin, about 7gr) 

For the whipped cream:
- 300ml whipped cream
- 60gr sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract (or vanilla paste)


Now, the difficult part:
If you're using gelatin leaves, soak in water before mixing with coffee - with the powder, you can mix immediately - in both cases, leave coffee to cool. Then comes the whisking: in order to use my hand mixer once, I mix in the following order: first the egg whites, until I have a nice meringue (one mixing bowl). Next comes the whipped cream, which should not be super-whipped (the recipe calls for a "yogurt" consistency) (second bowl). Lastly, the egg yolks with the sugar, which need a couple of minutes of whisking, just to combine the two (third and last mixing bowl). This bowl should actually be the larger one, because everything else will get in there: again, in order: coffee, whipped cream and egg whites (you know how to integrate the egg whites? first a small part to beat relentlessly into the mixture, and then the rest, "folding" it? don't worry - any way this is managed, it always tastes good in the end). Pour in glasses and leave in refrigerator for about 1-2 hours.
For the whipped cream: whisk everything, pour on top of mousse:  You now have a Latte Macchiato dessert!




This post is my entry into Weekend Cooking, a weekly event hosted by Beth Fish Reads.





16 comments:

  1. I am totally in your camp when it comes to coffee. One of my all-time favorite flavors. I'm drinking coffee while typing this!

    Those muffins sound so good & fast. Mousse is also easy to make, even though it does (as you said) use every bowl in the house. I've never had a Latte Macchiato mousse, but I think I'm going to have to give it a shot.

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    Replies
    1. Please do, they're both out of this world!

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  2. the coffee mousse sounds delicous!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. ... and it tastes so much more!

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  3. Sounds and looks great. It's a shame I just can't have cakes or desserts.

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  4. Yay for coffee!!! I am a shameless addict! Even as a kid my fav ice cream flavor was coffee, so I know I'd like these! Thanks for sharing. :)

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    Replies
    1. I fully understand what you're talking about!

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  5. Thanks for the coffee ideas :). Not a coffee drinker, but like experimenting with it in baking, so the muffins are something I'd like to try.

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    Replies
    1. Glad you're trying new ideas!

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  6. I too am a coffee addict, those recipes look amazing. I'll have to try them!

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  7. I love coffee, black with no sugar please! I'm taking a note of the recipes for the future, I've just started a healthy eating regime - sadly.

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    Replies
    1. good for you! these are only small treats...

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  8. I love coffee but can't stand anything coffee flavoured... Weird!

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    Replies
    1. You're missing out on all the fun!!!

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