Now you've got your delicious Well Grounded Coffee, what can you make with it?
An Italian Dessert - Tiramisu
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Tiramisu means "pick me up" in Italian and if ever a dessert comprising of booze and coffee soaked ladyfingers, layered with mascarpone cream and dusted with cocoa powder could induce a feeling of being "picked up", it would be this one.
Yet another one of those once-popular restaurant dishes from the 70s and 80s, Tiramisu was relegated to "plastic pot sealed with foil lid and placed on the supermarket shelf" status, which happens to be where I first discovered this Italian delight. Although several years past its halcyon restaurant days, the Tiramisu deserves to be given another chance. It is surprisingly simple to make and never fails to please coffee or trifle lovers. Like that other Italian classic dessert, Zuppa Inglese, Tiramisu is like a hassle-free trifle with its sponge fingers and eggy custard-like sauce. Unlike trifle though, it eschews the fruit element in favour of caffeine rich ingredients. The only thing that you need to prepare in advance is some espresso, the rest of the dish takes no longer than 15 minutes.
Of course, the waiting comes with the refrigeration of the Tiramisu and it is crucial, not only to set the raw custard but to improve the flavours, that it sits in the fridge for at least 12 hours. The traditional recipe might use Zabaglione between the sponge layers but this simpler method is just as delicious. The alcohol combined with the coffee can also be altered to suit what you have available. Coffee liqueur is again traditional, but I used Creme de Cacao (a remnant from the days when I used to make cocktails - Maraschino Liqueur anyone?) instead. You could use dark rum, or hazelnut liqueur, maybe even brandy.
One of the characteristics about the Tiramisu is the strong coffee and alcohol flavouring punctuating the soft, billowy cream - not a dessert for children!
TIRAMISU
serves 4-6
Ingredients: 12 Savoiardi Biscuits or Ladyfingers
2 Free Range or Organic Eggs, separated
250g Mascarpone 3 Dessertspoons Vanilla Sugar to taste
125ml Freshly brewed but cold Espresso Coffee
125ml Coffee Flavoured Liqueur (or alcohol of your choice - not a cream based drink though)
Cocoa Powder for dusting
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METHOD:
In a large, clean, grease-free bowl, whisk the egg whites until very stiff.
In another bowl, whisk the mascarpone cheese with the egg yolks and sugar until well combined.
Fold in the egg whites.
Mix together the alcohol and coffee in a shallow dish.
You are now ready to start assembling the Tiramisu.
Spoon a third of the Mascarpone mixture into your dish. First dipping them one at a time in the coffee/alcohol mixture, turning them quickly so that they don't disintegrate, layer six of the Savoiardi biscuits on top of the cream.
Top with another layer of cream, then the remainder of the sponge fingers.
Spoon over the final blanket of the creamy sauce, then dust generously with cocoa so that the cream is completely obscured.
Cover gently and refrigerate for at least 12 hours.
To serve, remove from the fridge, uncover and dust with another layer of cocoa and some shaved chocolate if desired. Enjoy!
COTOFFEE MUFFINS
I prefer sweet muffins above all else and whilst scouring the cupboards, I found a handful of soft toffees. I had thought about making toffee chocolate muffins but I was all out of chocolate. So, what else goes really well with toffee? Paprika? No. Chicken Livers? No. Coffee? Absolutely! I grabbed Pauls secret stash of coffee beans (must try harder to hide them), ground some up in our coffee machine that was an unexpected anniversary present from my mum and inhaled their heady aroma for a while. There are some smells in the world that make things seem OK, that seem like natural mood boosters and, along with the smell of cakes or bread baking or chicken roasting, freshly ground coffee is one of those smells. The rest of the batter is straightforward, butter and sugar blended together, then eggs, then the ground coffee and flour. This coffee mixture is then dolloped into muffin cases and an unwrapped toffee (or 2!) is pressed into the centre of each. As they bake, the kitchen is filled with the scent of toffee/coffee which from here inwards will be clumsily referred to as cotoffee.
When eagerly removed from the oven, they look unassuming, almost boring. Split them open and a puddle of thick toffee spills over the moist bespeckled sponge. It is hard to restrain yourself from biting straight in but needs must and third degree burns on the lips and tongue are never pleasant. You have been warned!
Sachertorte
I have an ongoing love affair with gateaux, particularly those from Vienna. I have yet to try them at Demels or indeed any coffee shop in Austria (much less Vienna) having never visited there but this doesn't stop me lusting after their tender, multi-layered cakes, the flaky pastries interlaced with stained glass preserves or the tall cups of coffee topped with frothy clouds of whipped cream. For now, I must make do with reading the pertinent Foods of the World book, devoted to Vienna or the tattered issues of Gourmet Magazine from the late 60s which serialised Lillian Langseth-Christensens Old Vienna Cookbook.
Now, whilst I love to look at these seemingly superhuman feats of patisserie, I am not the best or most patient baker. I don't have much time to devote to churning out trays of cookies or muffins and even if I did, we don't have a large family to devour them. That said, my work colleagues are always willing and able guinea pigs (albeit a little too critical at times) so I decided to bake a cake that I have found alluring and beautiful ever since I first saw its thick, glossy dark icing and woodly dense interior: the Sachertorte.
The original recipe, first invented at the Hotel Sacher, is a closely guarded secret.
It is a cake that arouses such passion in people that Demels and the Hotel Sacher had some intense legal wranglings over the decoration and naming of the cake. Eventually the Hotel Sacher won the court case and the right to call the cake, Sachertorte, identified by its chocolate seal. Demels now refer to their version as Demels Sachertorte. Seems like a case of "You Say Tomato and I Say, er, Tomato" if you ask me but family reputations are built and destroyed upon such trifles (or rather, gateaux).
The cake itself is famous for its deeply dark texture, an apricot jam filling and the glossy dark mantle of chocolate icing, this is a chocolate cake for adults. The recipe I made used ground almonds instead of flour, two whole bars of the blackest chocolate, and over 300g of sugar! This being in addition to 6 eggs and several freshly ground coffee beans. The eggs are separated, the whites whisked to snowy white stiffness and the yolks made frothy with the sugar. The two are then combined and baked for an hour (although, I took mine out of the oven maybe 10 minutes earlier as it would have dried out too much otherwise).
The taste of the cake is as rich as you might expect but with the unexpectedly tart apricot jam flavour. I don't normally like fruit with chocolate but this was a whole new taste experience for me. Apparently the cake should be stored for a week when, like a vintage wine, it matures and deepens in flavour. Of course, this is impossible.
After making the cake, I wondered why it had taken me so long - it is so easy and makes a perfect coffee cake or dinner party dessert, served, as the Viennesse, with whipped cream.
LORNA WINGS SACHERTORTE
Serves at least eight.
Ingredients:
200g Excellent Quality Dark Chocolate
1 1/2 Teaspoons Ground Coffee (freshly ground if possible)
6 Free Range or Organic Eggs (5 separated)
150g Ground Almonds 310g Granulated Sugar (not caster)
6 Tablespoons Apricot Jam Icing: 100g Excellent Quality Dark Chocolate
40g Unsalted Butter
METHOD:
Preheat oven to 180c. Butter and line a 9″ Springform Tin (I actually used an 8″ tin because that's all I have but it didn't effect the cake). Gently melt the 200g chocolate in a double boiler.
In a large bowl, whisk the 5 egg yolks and remaining whole egg with the sugar until pale and fluffy, like homemade mayonnaise.
In a separate bowl, whisk the egg whites until stiffly peaking. Add the almonds, molten chocolate and ground coffee to the egg yolk mix and combine well.
Gently but firmly fold in the whipped egg whites until throughly combined. The mixture will seem very grainy.
Pour into the cake tin and bake for about an hour (it may be done sooner).
Halfway through cooking or when the top has set, cover with some foil. This cake burns easily because of the egg whites.
When cooked, remove from the oven (the top may crack or sink, again due to the high egg content). Don't worry because you can always do as I did - turn it upside down!
Leave to cool on a rack. Once cool you can begin the icing.
Melt the Apricot Jam in a small saucepan over a gentle heat.
Unmould the cake, and decide which side up you are going to ice it. Brush over the now liquid Apricot Jam thickly over the top and sides. This is not merely going to help the icing stick but will be an important and surprisingly delicious layer of the cake.
In a double boiler, melt the 100g chocolate. Once liquified, add the butter and stir until melted. It might look as if it's going to seize up but keep stirring over the gently heat and it will become runny, like double cream. Pour over the cake, spreading fairly quickly over the top and sides until it is coated all over. With the back of a spoon, make a circular pattern. You can pipe the familiar Sacher moniker on the cake with a little melted chocolate if required.
Leave for a week or a day until you cut it if you can bear it! This cake lasts superbly due to the high quantity of ground almonds in it and makes a wonderful treat for your gluten intolerant friends who often miss out on lovely gateaux.
Recipe from Green and Blacks Chocolate Recipes
COFFEE ICE CREAM
Well, a series of Coffee recipes just wouldn't be the same without Coffee Ice Cream!
Ingredients:
60ml/4 tbsp dark roasted ground coffee
600ml/1 pint Full Fat Milk
200g Brown Sugar
6 Organic/Free Range Egg Yolks
475ml Whipping Cream
Method:
Place the ground coffee into a jug.
Heat the milk until almost boiling. Pour over the coffee and leave to steep for about 4 minutes.
In a bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and brown sugar until light and fluffy.
Pour the coffee milk over, whisking all the time.
Strain the coffee custard through a sieve into a clean saucepan and cook over a low heat for 1-2 minutes until it just coats the back of a spoon. Do not boil or you will have coffee scrambled eggs!
Leave to cool.
Now, if you are using an Ice Cream Maker, pour the whipping cream into the coffee custard, whisk well and then freeze as per the instructions for your machine.
If you are making the ice cream manually, whip the cream and fold into the coffee custard, then pour into a shallow freezer dish.
Freeze for one hour then turn out and whisk thoroughly to disperse ice crystals. Freeze again and repeat the turning out and whisking.
Finally freeze for 3-4 hours before it is ready to serve.
Enjoy!
Coffee Creme Caramel
Ingredients:
600ml/1 Pint Milk (I used full fat but semi-skimmed works too)
45ml/3tbsp Ground Coffee, placed in a measuring jug
50g Caster Sugar
4 Eggs
4 Egg Yolks
For the Caramel Sauce:
150g Caster Sugar
60ml/4 Tbsp Cold Water
Method:
Prepare 6 Ramekins (each holding 1/4 pint/150ml) by placing in a large, deep roasting dish. Place these in the oven whilst in warms up.
Preheat the oven to 160c/325f/Gas 3.
Make to caramel. Gently heat the Caster Sugar and Water in a small heavy bottomed pan until it turns a rich mahogany colour. This can take upto 20 minutes but you do need to patient and work with a low-ish heat. Do not stir.
Once the syrup looks like it is taking on colour, remove the roasting dish containing the ramekins from the oven.
Divide the syrup between the 6 ramekins and leave to one side.
To make the custard, heat the milk until nearly boiling. Pour over the coffee grounds and leave to steep for about 5 minutes.
In a bowl, whisk together the eggs, yolks and sugar until light and creamy. An electric whisk is best for this job but not necessary.
Place a sieve over the and strain the steeped coffee milk into the eggy/sugar mixture. Whisk well.
You might find it easier to transfer this mixture now to a jug. Divide the coffee custard between the ramekins, pouring on top of the cooled sugar syrup.
Using hot water, fill the roasting dish so that the water comes two thirds of the way up the sides of the ramekins.
Place in the oven and bake for 30-35 minutes or until they ever so slightly wobble when touched gently with your finger.
Leave to cool then refridgerate for at least 3 hours.
To turn out, work a palette knife around the edge of the creme caramels and gently tap out onto plates or bowls. If, like me, you didn't strain it properly, when you turn it out, your custard will be surrounded with an amber coloured moat, flecked with coffee. This doesn't affect the flavour at all.
Enjoy!