Coffee

Coffee. We wake up with it, sip it all day, and drink it after dinner. But coffee is more than a beverage. For years, professionl chefs have used coffee to boost the flavor of meats, sauces, and desserts. While I’m not a professional chef, I’m a competent cook and have fixed buffet dinners for 70 and romantic dinners for two.

In fact, I was a food writer before I became a health writer. Like many other writers, I love coffee. I love coffee so much I decided to add it to some classic dessert recipes. Results? Coffee improved the flavor of all of them.

The coffee in Molten Mocha Cake gives this gooey dessert an added depth of flavor. Coffee Ice Cream sauce is a celebration of coffee flavor. Cinnamon and nutmeg give Pioneer Cookies lots of flavor, but coffee brings our the flavor of the spices. Fudgy Pudding, a rich, dark, and creamy dessert, is comfort food at its best.

Read the recipe before you start cooking. Notice that I’ve swapped healthy ingredients for less healthy ones when possible. Splenda for sugar. Applesauce for shortening. Skim milk for whole. Whipped topping for cream. Don’t worry, these desserts are still delicious and satisfying.

Buy the best coffee – ground, instant, or instant espresso – you can afford. Use fresh coffee only, not sludge that’s been sitting around since the birds got up. Drip coffee should be made with one tablespoon of coffee for every two cups of water. Get out the mixing bowls, the measuring stuff, the necessary ingredients, and start cooking. Then sit back and enjoy a coffee dessert with a cup of “Joe.”

MOLTEN MOCHA CAKE

Cake:

1 cup regular flour, 1/3 cup granulated sugar, 1/3 cup Splenda,
2 tablespoons cocoa, 1 teaspoon instant coffee, 2 teaspoons baking powder, 1/8 teaspoon salt, 1/2 cup water, 2 tablespoons unsweetened applesauce

Topping:

1/4 cup cocoa, 1 teaspoon instant coffee, 2/3 cup light brown sugar, 1 3/4 cups hot coffee

Combine cake ingredients in a medium-sized bowl. Pour into a one and a half quart casserole dish that has been coated with cooking spray.

Combine topping ingredients in the same bowl. Gently pour this mixture over the cake batter. Bake in a 350 oven for 45 minutes. Cook cake 10 minutes before serving. Serve plain or garnish with whipped topping or sugar-free frozen vanilla yogurt. Yield: 6 servings.

COFFEE ICE CREAM SAUCE

1/4 cup granulated sugar, 2 teaspoons cornstarch, 1/4 cup strong coffee (room temperature), 1/4 cup skim milk, 1/4 cup fat free half and half, dash of salt, 1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Combine sugar and cornstarch in a small saucepan. Using a whisk, add coffee, milk, half and half, salt (but not vanilla) to the cornstarch mixture. Cook over moderate heat, stirring constantly, until the sauce is smooth and thickened. Remove from heat and add vanilla. Let sauce cool. Serve over sugar-free vanilla or chocolate frozen yogurt. Yield: 6 servings.

PIONEER COOKIES (A SOFT, CAKE-LIKE COOKIE)

1/2 cup butter-flavored Crisco, 1/2 cup brown sugar (light or dark), 1/2 cup calorie-free brown sugar, 1 large egg (room temperature), 1 3/4 cups all purpose flour (pre-sifted kind),
1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon baking soda, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg, 1/4 cup strong coffee (cold),
1/2 cup dried currants or cranberries, 1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Cream Crisco, brown sugar, and egg until fluffy. Combine dried ingredients (excluding fruit and nuts) in a large bowl. Add to creamed mixture in small batches, alternating with the coffee. Fold in fruit and nuts. Drop dough by heaping teaspoons onto prepared cookie pans. Bake at 400 degrees for 10-12 minutes, or until cookies are puffed and golden. Yield: 4 dozen.

FUDGY PUDDING

1/4 cup cornstarch, 1/3 cup Splenda, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1 1/2 teaspoons instant coffee, 2 cups skim milk, whipped topping (sugar-free)

Combine cornstarch, Splenda, salt and instant coffee in a small saucepan. Slowly add milk to this mixture. Cook over moderate heat, stirring constantly, until pudding is smooth and thick. Remove from heat and cover with plastic wrap. Chill pudding until set. Serve with whipped topping and a few sprinkles of instant coffee. Yield: 4 servings.

Copyright 2005 by Harret Hodgson. For more information on her work please go to www.harriethodgson.com.

Harriet Hodgson has been a nonfiction writer for 27 years and is a member of the Association of Health Care Journslists. She was a food writer for the former “Rochester Magazine” in her hometown of Rochester, MN. Her latest book, “Smiling Through Your Tears: Anticipating Grief,” written with Dr. Lois Krahn, is available from http://www.amazon.com

Author: Harriet Hodgson
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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Coffee has been a popular beverage for many years. Looking back at history, coffee lovers are in very good company. Following are examples of famous historical personalities who enjoyed drinking coffee and helped promote this beverage among their fellow citizens and observers. Who knows? Perhaps coffee contributed to the inspiration that gave way to so many wonderful works of art, poetry, literature and music from the Age of Enlightenment!

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750). Famous 18Th Century composer, harpsichordist, violist and violinist. Renowned for ecclesiastical and secular works for choir, orchestra and solo renditions. Bach liked coffee so much he immortalized it in his “Coffee Cantata” by writing for this musical piece “How sweet coffee tastes! Lovelier than a thousand kisses, sweeter than Muscatel wine!” and he also wrote” Without my morning coffee, I’m just like a dried up piece of roast goat.”

Alexander Pope (1688-1744). 18Th Century English poet, satirist, who said about coffee, “Coffee, which makes the politician wise, and see through all things with his half-shut eyes.”

Franois-Marie Arouet, better known by the pen name Voltaire, (1694-1778). Writer and philosopher famous for his wit. Built a reputation as a coffee lover by allegedly drinking 40 cups of coffee a day mixed with chocolate. Voltaire said about coffee, “Nothing would be more tiresome than eating and drinking if God had not made them a pleasure as well as a necessity.”

Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790). One of the Founding Fathers of the United States. A leading author, printer, satirist, political theorist, politician, scientist, inventor and diplomat. Benjamin Franklin had high standards for his coffee, “If this is coffee, please bring me some tea; but if this is tea, please bring me some coffee.” Another quote from Benjamin Franklin: “Among the numerous luxuries of the table…coffee may be considered as one of the most valuable. It excites cheerfulness without intoxication; and the pleasing flow of spirits which it occasions…is never followed by sadness, languor or debility.”

Jean Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778). Philosopher, writer and composer of the 18Th century enlightenment age. Rousseau said about coffee, “Ah, that is a perfume in which I delight; when they roast coffee near my house, I hasten to open the door to take in all the aroma.”

Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826). The 3rd President of the United States of America. Principal author of the Declaration of Independence. Thomas Jefferson deemed coffee “the favorite drink of the civilised world.” Jefferson enjoyed the coffee houses of Williamsburg and Paris. He served coffee often at the President’s house, Poplar Forest, and Monticello.

John Paul Jones (1747-1792). He was the first well-known United States naval fighter in the American Revolutionary War. He was a frequent patron at the Procop, opened in 1686. This is one of the oldest cafs and restaurants in Paris still in operation. Procop was the meeting place for intellectuals, writers, poets, artists, revolutionaries and other “enlightened” personalities. Procop served coffee, a somewhat exotic beverage at the time. John Paul Jones was known for saying, “I have not yet begun to fight!” After such exclamation, he would often drink coffee with delight.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832). German writer and polymath. Goethe was a person known for his expertise in a significant number of different subject areas. Goethe was a personal friend of Friedlieb Ferdinand Runge who was able to isolate relatively pure caffeine from coffee beans in 1820. Goethe had an interest in decaffeinated coffee to reduce insomnia symptoms. Goethe, who was an enthusiastic coffee drinker, once said, “Enjoy when you can, and endure when you must.”

Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821). Masterful soldier, tactician, superb administrator, Emperor of the French, said about coffee, “I would rather suffer with coffee than be senseless.”

George Gordon Byron, also known as Lord Byron (1788-1824). British poet and leading figure in Romanticism who said about coffee, “Tis pity wine should be so deleterious, for tea and coffee leave us much more serious.”

Benjamin Moseley (1789-1819). English Physician who said about coffee, “The use of coffee will probably become greatly extended – - as in other countries, it may diffuse itself among the mass of the people, and make a considerable ingredient in their daily sustenance.”

Ready for a cup of delicious Vanilla Hazelnut flavored gourmet coffee?

Timothy (“Tim”) S. Collins, the author, is called by those who know him “The Gourmet Coffee Guy.” He is an expert in article writing who has done extensive research online and offline in his area of expertise, coffee marketing, as well as in other areas of personal and professional interest.

Come visit the author’s website: http://www.ourgourmetcoffee.com

Copyright – Timothy S. Collins. All Rights Reserved Worldwide

Author: Timothy S. Collins
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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