Tag: coffee

Chocolate Cake & Coffee Patisserie Cream Trifles … a coffee high!

“To me, the smell of fresh-made coffee is one of the greatest inventions.’
Hugh Jackman

Chocolate Cake & Coffee Patisserie Cream TriflesChocolate Cake & Coffee Patisserie Cream Trifles. The deep, sensual aroma of coffee steeping won me over! Are you devastated by the smell of fresh bread or cookies baking? Or onions in gently frying in butter? Roasting garam masala? Fruit stewing with vanilla beans? Or maybe coffee beans roasting? Fresh herbs? Freshly plucked tomatoes? I absolutely am. It’s an olfactory explosion of sorts.

When I was young I often woke up to the delicious smells of onions frying, a chocolate cake baking, a clarified butter/pure ghee dal tadka … but the most vivid memory was of the smell of wet earth after the first monsoon showers. To this day, the smell of wet earth takes me back to those childhood days when we used to race out to play in the rain. Pure nostalgia!Now more than ever before, my world is ruled by food aromas. Does your nose lead you to the kitchen? At home here, all day long, you’ll find folk following their nose into my kitchen. It’s the most happening place in the house. I baked a chocolate cake 2 days ago. Yet this coffee pound cake was on their mind. ‘Why didn’t you bake another coffee cake?’. The  teens pestered me! Annoying? Yes!I’m an out-and-out coffee sort of person! The family is too. Fresh coffee beans roasting … nirvana. Takes me back to days down south. Every house would roast their own coffee. Ours did not, but the neighbours generously shared the aromas. What a beautiful heady feeling to wake up to. Instant upliftment.

I’m also a vanilla sort of person, mostly paired with fruit. The fragrance of splitting a plump vanilla bean and scraping the insides makes my day. That morning was good! Once the thermomix got down to making the creme patisserie {7 minutes is all it takes}, I had ample time to sit and take in the fragrance. My hands smelt so good.

Try reducing fresh strawberries and vanilla bean for a compote. The whole house smells beautiful. Seriously … never underestimate the power of smell. Walk into a good coffee shop and if you’re like me, you’ll fall into a trance! 
So to cut a long story short, I was MAD that my chocolate cake didn’t go down well. I counselled myself a little. I knew what went wrong. I had tweaked a good recipe and added more baking soda than necessary. Extra baking soda always plays spoil sport. Note to self : BEWARE in future!I almost trashed the cake yet knew the crumb was light. It was a good cake basically, so trifle was on my mind. I love it when cake obliges with neat little squares. Two minutes later, I was in coffee creme patisserie mode. Time to win the coffee lovers back! Pastry cream that smelt like heaven, felt smooth as silk. Asked the daughter to check for sweetness. She couldn’t wouldn’t stop spooning it into her mouth! Just one last spoon, she begged!

Trifles are great make ahead desserts. Also a lovely way to use up leftover cake. We love fruit trifles and we loved these Chocolate Cake & Coffee Patisserie Cream Trifles too. Deep coffee flavours, great pairing with chocolate, nice play of textures. The cake cubes soaked in a coffee syrup. A swirl of whipped cream might have completed the trifle. So tell me dear reader, is your life is ruled by good food aromas? What are the smells that awaken your senses? Are you convinced that if something smells divine, it must taste even better? Do you eat with your eyes first? And do you believe, like me, that the sense of smell, sight and taste are all interlinked to make our world more delicious?

Food,  ingredients, aromas, the folk, the garden, the venue, memories, the ambiance … the entire connect weaves a delightful ‘spread’!
~For Indiblogger and Ambipur  … ‘Smelly To Smiley!’ ~

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Recipe: Chocolate Cake & Coffee Patisserie Cream Trifles 

Summary: We loved these Chocolate Cake & Coffee Patisserie Cream Trifles too. LOVED! Deep coffee flavours, great pairing with chocolate, nice play of textures. The cake cubes soaked in a coffee syrup. A swirl of whipped cream might have completed them! Serves 6-8.

Prep Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes plus cooling time
Ingredients:

  • Chocolate buttermilk pound cake {recipe adapted from here}
  • 175g whole wheat flour
  • 50g cocoa powder 
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp baking soda
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 100g unsalted butter, room temperature{or 70g butter + 30g olive oil}
  • 200g vanilla or plain sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 100ml buttermilk 
  • 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
  • Coffee Cream Patisserie 
  • 75g granulated sugar
  • 200ml low-fat cream
  • 300ml milk
  • 40g plain flour
  • 30g instant coffee 
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/2 vanilla bean, scraped
  • 1 tsp coffee extract
  • Coffee syrup
  • 150ml water
  • 1 tsp sugar
  • 2 tsp coffee powder
  • Chocolate shavings to garnish {or/and whipped cream} 

Method:

  1. Chocolate buttermilk pound cake {you will have leftovers}
  2. Preheat the oven to 170C.Line the base and sides of a 7″ round tin.
  3. Sift the flour with the cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Reserve.
  4. Cream the butter and sugar. Beat in eggs one at a time, followed by the vanilla extract.
  5. With beater on low add the flour and buttermilk alternately in three lots.
  6. Bake for 50-60 minutes till the tester comes out clean.Cool in tin for 25-20 minutes, then gently remove from tin.
  7. Cool completely, this cut into squares.
  8. Coffee Cream Patisserie {Thermomix recipe}
  9. Place all ingredients in bowl of thermomix and process to mix on speed 6 for 1 minute.
  10. Turn the TM to 90C, speed 4 and set for 7 minutes. {You can add the vanilla bean shell if you like. I did}
  11. Strain in a bowl and allow to cool. Stir often to avoid a film getting made on top. Cover with cling wrap, the plastic touching the surface, and chill until the cake cools.
  12. Coffee syrup
  13. Place all ingredients in a pan and simmer until the sugar dissolves. Allow to steep and cool until needed.
  14. Assembling trifles
  15. Place a handful of cake cubes in the base of serving glasses/bowls. Drizzle liberally with coffee syrup. Top with coffee pastry cream. Repeat again.
  16. Finish with a few cubes of chocolate cake {drizzled with coffee syrup} and chocolate shavings. {Pipe over whipped cream if desired}.
  17. Chill for about 2 hours before serving to allow the flavours to mature. You can assemble these a day ahead.
  18. Note: You can make the Coffee Cream Patisserie by the traditional stove top method too using the above ingredients.

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Layered Coffee & Cream Cake … coffee genoise with coffee cream swathed in a dark chocolate ganache

“Only one thing is certain about coffee…. Wherever it is grown, sold, brewed, and consumed, there will be lively controversy, strong opinions, and good conversation.”
Mark Pendergrast

Layered Coffee & Cream Cake. It was that time of the year again. June already here and almost gone. With it, another birthday. Before you know it, the years gallop by. From what was a tiny knee kissing, naughty toddler, to an even naughtier, much taller, cookie & brownie monster cum food loving teenager, time does fly! How they change, the challenges they offer, and yet the smile that seems to make things easier!

Sometimes I wish we could have hung on to those days where life seemed simpler. Then again, teenagers are mixed packages. You never know when the next surprise is going to hit you. In many ways, the challenges keep us on our toes. And in even more ways, quite exhausted.

Nothing can prepare you enough…. nothing! That said, there are good times galore too! Who could have thought ‘he‘ would write poems? Now he has a blog that pops out a poem, sometimes few and far between, but does! I would have never expected him to play mother to the dog. He does.

My first choice of cake for his summer birthday is always a fruit based one. With summer threatening to singe us as the earth is literally on fire, stone fruit are true saviours. The colours, the lure, the juiciness …  You will find a abundance of stone fruit recipes here on PAB.

Unfortunately we flew in really late from Calcutta the evening before his birthday and the loads of laundry took its toll. There was no way I was going grocery shopping. Thought I’d do a Bittersweet Fallen Chocolate Gateau but that wouldn’t offer an element of surprise. I like the air of expectancy around birthday cakes at home. Makes it so much fun!

The lack of time made me think coffee. Cake of any kind, flavour, texture is welcome. Chocolate was my first choice but the Camisoni coffee extract helped me decide. The deep heady aroma of coffee that emanated from the bottle sent me packing to make a coffee genoise. Coffee is something we all LOVE!A four egg cake is never enough for birthdays. Keeping in mind ‘forever hungry for seconds’ teenagers, I whipped up two coffee flavoured genoise sponges. My love for coffee has been inherited by both the kids. Often their natural choice for dessert when we go out is anything with coffee!

What shall I say about the end result? It was so good that we couldn’t get enough of it. It got over before we knew it. Seconds yes, but there was no chance for thirds {as the birthday boy rued!}. If I had had the energy and the ‘get up and go‘ the next day, IF, I would have happily whipped up another.

I’ve done the genoise sponge before for my birthday a few years ago. That is one of my favourite cakes, an Espresso Coffee Cream Cake. A while later there came about another delicious combination with coffee genoise sponge and chocolate quark. The latter sounded strange when I made it, but tasted great!

So here we go, sharing some deliciousness with this coffee laced cake. And in case you’ve missed it, Camisoni has a giveaway of their extracts on Passionate About Baking. Do stop by for a minute if you’d like to be part of it.

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Recipe: Layered Coffee & Cream Cake

Summary: If you love coffee, then this Layered Coffee & Cream Cake is the cake for you. Deep, divine, addictive coffee flavours of the coffee genoise and coffee cream combine with a dark chocolate ganache, promising to make this an unforgettable experience.
Prep Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 40 minutes
Ingredients:

  • Simple Coffee Genoise {Make 2 X 4 egg cakes}
  • 4 large eggs
  • 200g sugar
  • 2 tbsp instant coffee powder
  • 1 tsp Camisoni premium coffee extract
  • 220g plain flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • Pinch of salt
  • 1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled
  • Simple sugar syrup
  • 1/4 cup water
  • 2 tbsp sugar
  • 1 tbsp instant coffee powder
  • Filling
  • 400ml low fat cream
  • 50g icing sugar {as per taste}
  • 1 tsp Camisoni premium coffee extract
  • Dark chocolate ganache
  • 150g dark chocolate
  • 150ml low fat cream, room temperature
  • Dark chocolate shards for garnishing

Method:

  1. Coffee Genoise Sponge
  2. the oven to 190C. Line the bottom and sides of 2 X 8″ spring form round tin.
  3. In a large bowl, beat the eggs with the sugar over a bowl of simmering hot water for about 5 minutes till thick and mousse like.
  4. Take off water and continue to beat till the mixture cools down, about 5-7 minutes. Add the coffee extract and beat in again for a minute.
  5. Fold the flour through gently, in 3 goes, lightly till it’s mixed through well. Be careful not to release the beaten in air.
  6. Take a cup of this batter in another bowl, and mix the melted cooled butter through it. Now gently fold this back into the rest of the batter.
  7. Turn the batter into the prepared baking tin, and bake for 30-35 minutes, till a tester comes out clean.
  8. Cool completely on racks, then slice into two horizontally.
  9. Total 2 X 4 egg cakes=4 layers
  10. Syrup
  11. Place ingredients in a small pan and stir until sugar dissolves. Cool.
  12. Filling
  13. Whip ingredients together till medium stiff  peaks form. Taste and adjust sweetness if required.
  14. Assemble
  15. Brush each layer with the coffee syrup, and sandwich with the filling.
  16. Give the whole cake a thin layer of ganache as a base coat. Let it set for about 30 minutes.
  17. Frost with the remaining ganache and garnish with chocolate shards etc.
  18. Chill for about an hour or overnight. The flavours mature nicely over time.

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Dessert / No bake | Bru Coffee Panna Cotta … for hectic days of endless work

“Only one thing is certain about coffee…. Wherever it is grown, sold, brewed, and consumed, there will be lively controversy, strong opinions, and good conversation.”
Mark Pendergrast

I love the theme for the latest Femina. It’s an issue celebrating the art of slowing down. Rat races and deadlines threaten to burn us out. I screamed a big hearty YES in my head, and then decided to get the better of life! Of course it didn’t happen. The Bru Coffee Panna Cotta did though! It gave me an opportunity to use the beautiful mason jars that Finla sent.

It was for a shoot for a magazine in China, they were doing a feature on fridges and lifestyles. Yours truly was contacted, and yours truly said YES! NEVER say yes to a fridge photoshoot! I was spring cleaning till kingdom came, discovering things I hadn’t seen in ages, scrub-a-dubbing forever … and cursing my poor foresight! At the time I really wished I hadn’t said yes!

On the brighter side, I have a sparkling clean fridge that looks almost as good as new, I now know every little crumb that lives in there. It’s so organised that it barely looks like mine! In there too was some Indian Coffee Panna Cotta that I made that day. I am on a coffee overdrive, what with the recent Coffee Vanilla Bean Layered Cake.

There’s been a chocolate overdrive of late too, but then, no one seems to be complaining! In the past few days I also made Whole-wheat Mocha Brownies for the kids. They were delicious. And on the trot yesterday, Whole-wheat Chocolate Lava Cakes in 4 and a half minutes in the Philips AirFryer. Some gadgets are such a blessing. 

Bru is my morning cup of coffee, my coffee connect! It’s instant, a mix of chicory and coffee, and I love its deep flavour. It’s been a favourite for years and years. Anything Bru works for me, the original Bru that is.  None of the new flavours appeal to me like the old rustic original!

A coffee panna cotta has been tempting me for long ever since Cookaroo posted one with an espresso syrup. What’s not to love about this quintessential Italian dessert of ‘cooked cream’? It’s one dessert where all flavours work magically and very few people would refuse a serving … the kids always want seconds and thirds!

So without further ado, here is one of my all time favourite desserts, a Bru Coffee Panna Cotta … make ahead, indulgent and deliciously coffee! For those who have known me over the years, sorry it’s coffee again. For those who don’t know me – nothing wins my palette over like coffee in dessert! My guilty pleasure, my relaxation. {And if coffee is not your thing, I have a whole string of other flavours ... Dark Chocolate & Orange, Saffron Caramel, Strawberry Tangerine Quark to tempt you with!} 

Oh, did I tell you that the sun is back? It is indeed. The horrid smog has finally cleared and ‘lazy creatures‘ are enjoying the morning sun!

[print_this]Recipe: Bru Coffee Panna Cotta

Summary: Whats not to love about this quintessential Italian dessert of ‘cooked cream’? It’s one dessert where all flavours work magically, coffee is one of my most loved versions. Serves 8

Prep Time: 5 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes  {plus chilling}
Ingredients:

  • 1ltr low fat cream, room temp
  • 115g vanilla sugar
  • 2.5 tbsp coffee powder
  • 2 tsp gelatin
  • 3 tbsp water

Method:

  1. Sprinkle gelatin over cold water and let stand for five minutes.
  2. Stir coffee into 30ml of the cream.
  3. Place the cream, coffee cream mix and sugar in a heavy bottom pan and gently bring to a simmer, but not a full boil. Stir often.
  4. Take off heat. Add 1-2 tbsp of this hot cream to the dissolved gelatin to loosen it further, and then pour the gelatin mix back into the hot cream through a sieve. Stir well.
  5. Let the mixture stand for about 10 minutes, then distribute among your serving bowls/molds/ramekins/goblets.
  6. Allow to set for 6-8 hours/preferably overnight. Serve with chocolate shavings.

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Coffee & Vanilla Bean Layered Cake …Happy Birthday to me

“Coffee smells like freshly ground heaven.”
Jesse Lane Adams

A Coffee & Vanilla Bean Layered Cake … this is what my dreams are made up of. Coffee in a birthday cake has become a quintessential part of my birthday, a flavour that inspires me like no other. A lot of friends express surprise, dismay and even chide me for baking on ‘my big day’ every year… yet this is what relaxes me the most – baking!

The teen did offer to bake for me the night before! She said she would begin baking after Grey’s Anatomy which continued late into the night. She offered to do a rainbow cake {her current obsession} but I wanted coffee. “How about rainbow coffee cake?” she asked. I was soon out cold after a hectic Diwali. She passed out soon too!

I tiptoed into the kitchen the next morning to get a head-start while the teens snoozed. Throw coffee into the cake batter and I can climb the highest mountain, sail the roughest sea and still come out good! This is a cake I look forward to baking, one with no plan in particular.

It’s a good relaxed feeling when you are bake for yourself. No disappointments, no one judges your slips and you get to enjoy the fruits of your own ‘labour‘! Therapy at your own pace, in your own time, in your own space!

Coffee is my favourite flavour in dessert, so my birthday cake is predictable. The tiramisu we did for the Daring Bakers sang to me. The tiramisu variants that the Olive churns out call my name. I thrive on cold coffee even in the winter.

I use generous doses of Bru instant coffee to get depth of flavour. Bru is one of India’s best known and oldest chicory coffee powders. We love that first mug every morning! It’s a blend we grew up on, the green packaging a nostalgic bit of our teenage years.

When we were young, coffee was forbidden. As teens, we took our first steps into the delicious world of coffee. Both our kids are true lovers of everything coffee, often the first flavour they reach for. Sometimes, chocolate comes second. 

A study from the University of North Dakota School of Medicine and Health Sciences found that a daily dose of caffeine may block the disruptive effects of high cholesterol that scientists have linked to Alzheimer’s disease. Coffee is now listed as one of many brain foods.

I am not advocating the benefits of coffee. Just saying that if you are a coffee lover, don’t miss the opportunity to enjoy a cake like this. Use your best loved coffee brand; indulge your palette!! This Coffee & Vanilla Bean Layered Cake is testament to it.

The flavours developed deeply and nicely. Alternate layers of vanilla bean and coffee sponge sandwiched with a light whipped coffee cream. I did contemplate a chocolate filling but the clock grew wings. Time flew away!  So I grabbed a huge bowl of chilled low fat cream and beat the daylights out of it. 2 tbsps of coffee later, junior teen dug a spoon in …. “Yummm. Can I finish whats left?”

I asked him to take a teeny video of me assembling the cake if he wanted the cream! Bribery works. Little hands, sometimes shaky, sometimes distracted, tired easily, we did get something on camera. Will process and post it soon. It was shot basically for the chocolate lace collar as I get a lot of mails asking me how I make it.

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Recipe: Coffee & Vanilla Bean Layered Cake

Summary: Light as air vanilla and coffee layers of cake sandwiched with delicious whipped coffee cream make for a perfect dessert. Make a day ahead if you like. The tastes mature beautifully!

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 40 minutes
Ingredients:

  • Vanilla Bean Sponge
  • 3 eggs
  • 75g raw sugar / bura {or powdered sugar}
  • 75g plain flour
  • 1tsp baking powder
  • pinch salt
  • 2tsp extra virign olive oil
  • 1tbsp 2% milk
  • 1/2 vanilla bean scraped
  • Coffee Sponge
  • 4 eggs
  • 100g raw sugar / bura {or powdered sugar}
  • 1/2 vanilla bean scraped
  • 1 1/2 tbsp instant coffee powder
  • 20ml warm water
  • 100g plain flour
  • 1tsp baking powder
  • pinch salt
  • 2tsp extra virign olive oil
  • 1tbsp 2% milk
  • Simple Coffee Syrup
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 1 tbsp instant coffee
  • 2tbsp raw sugar {or powdered sugar}
  • Coffee Whipped Cream
  • 800ml low fat cream, chilled
  • 150g raw sugar / bura {or powdered sugar}
  • 1 1/2 to 2 tbsp instant coffee powder {as per taste}

Method:

  1. Vanilla Bean Sponge
  2. Preheat oven to 180C. Line the base and sides of a 8″ round cake tin with baking parchment. 
  3. Sift the flour, baking powder and salt. Reserve.
  4. Beat the eggs with raw/powdered sugar and scraped vanilla bean in a big bowl over a pan of simmering water until tripled in volume and mousse like, about 7 minutes. {Thermomix: Butterfly insert, Speed 4, 37c, 7 minutes}
  5. Gently add the flour mix and fold through, followed by the olive oil and milk.
  6. Transfer batter to prepared tin and bake for 25-30 minutes in conventional oven until light golden brown.
  7. Cool in tin for 5 minutes, and demold and cool completely on cooling rack.
  8. Slice into 2 layers.
  9. Coffee Sponge
  10. Preheat oven to 180C. Line the base and sides of a 8″ round cake tin with baking parchment. 
  11. Sift the flour, baking powder and salt. Reserve.
  12. Stir the coffee into the warm water. Leave to mature flavours.
  13. Beat the eggs with raw/powdered sugar and scraped vanilla bean in a big bowl over a pan of simmering water until tripled in volume and mousse like, about 7 minutes. {Thermomix: Butterfly insert, Speed 4, 37c, 7 minutes}.
  14. Add the coffee  mixture and beat to incorporate.
  15. Gently add the flour mix and fold through, followed by the olive oil and milk.
  16. Transfer batter to prepared tin and bake for 25-30 minutes in conventional oven until light golden brown.
  17. Cool in tin for 5 minutes, and demold and cool completely on cooling rack.
  18. Slice into 3 layers.
  19. Simple Coffee Syrup
  20. Stir together all ingredients, heat gently if required. Cool and reserve in bowl. 
  21. Coffee Whipped Cream
  22. Make sure the cream is well chilled. {You can use whipping cream if available. Life just becomes a lot easier and quicker, but make sure you don’t over whip it and get butter}
  23. Whip the cream and sugar {reserve a little to add later once you taste the sweetness} to stiff peaks. Low fat cream available in India takes quite a while to beat up if the weather is warm. It sometimes even fails to oblige. Feel free to use whipping cream if you like.
  24. Assembling
  25. Divide the coffee cream into 2 bowls, one for filling and the second half for frosting.
  26. Place a layer of vanilla sponge on your cake plate/ dessert platter. Paint lightly with coffee syrup. Put a generous dollop of coffee cream and spread uniformly to the sides.
  27. Top with a layer of coffee sponge. Repaet until you use all layers, alternating between vanilla & coffee.
  28. Frost the sides and top of the cake with the remaining coffee cream. Pipe some rosettes on top if you like, garnish with chocolate flakes. Finish the cake with a piped chocolate lace border if desired.
  29. Chill until ready to serve. Leave out for about 30 minutes prior to cutting.

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Frozen| Vietnamese Coffee Ice Cream {Eggless} … quite the ‘Perfect Scoop’

“Ice cream is exquisite, too bad it’s not illegal!”
Voltaire

This very unusual and ADDICTIVE Vietnamese Coffee Ice Cream would be illegal if Voltaire had his way! It is beyond exquisite … silky, velvety, deep, sensuous and nothing like I’ve made or bought before. It calls your name as you read the Bible of ice creams, The Perfect Scoop, a brilliant piece of work by Monsieur Lebovitz. His style of writing is charming, humourous and addictive as are his recipes. Bookmarking seems futile as I want to try each recipe, one tempting page after another!Coffee HAD to be my first pick for several reasons, primarily because it is my ‘favouritist’ flavour of all time. I am a HUGE coffee addict with a natural affinity to anything ‘coffee‘. Vietnamese Coffee Ice Cream was also my first choice since the lovely lady who sent me the book from the UK, Jehanna @ The Cooking Doctor, included a bag of her favourite coffee in the precious parcel. The book itself had me singing, the coffee sent me into high pitched sopranos. Merci Jehanna!!Must be something in the air, the change of season, cooler weather around the corner, or then this coffee cupping session by the Indian baroness of coffee … filter coffee seems to be the only thing I want to use. My journey into the cup of coffee got more exciting all thanks to this hugely talented lady! It got even more exciting thanks to The Cooking Doctor!!

I also picked this eggless ice cream recipe as it uses ingredients easily available here in India {condensed milk and low fat cream}. Heavens knows how hard we try and overcome the non availability of whipping cream here, a daily culinary battle of sorts for many of us! A recipe that says ‘low fat cream’ is music to my ears. No substituting for once, and perfect scoops guaranteed! {I made this just over a month ago, hence the ‘melting moments’ as the weather was still warm}. Now I’m Ready For Dessert!!

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Baking & Feature| Journey into a ‘Mysore Royal’ cup of coffee … & royal coffee macarons

“Coffee is a way of life!”
Sunalini Menon, India’s coffee ambassador

Regular readers of my blog need no introduction to my all time favourite flavour … COFFEE! It’s my first love in food that shows up in layered cakes, cookies, biscotti, panna cotta, ice cream and so much more. Coffee makes the beginning of my every morning bright, so you can imagine my excitement when I got an invite to meet India’s Coffee Baroness, Sunalini Menon.She was in Delhi to conduct an exclusive coffee cupping and food pairing session to unveil Café Coffee Days {CCD} latest premium coffee, Mysore Royal, that she had created for India’s leading coffee café chain. Walking into CCD that morning transported me into a space I love best. Give me a quite café any day, filled with lilting coffee aromas, the buzz of experienced baristas perfecting the much needed cuppa, the ambiance. 

Mysore Royale is an aromatic Arabica coffee grown on the ancient slopes of the Bababudan Mountains near Bangalore, the historic mountain which has seen the journey of the elixir of life, coffee. Bringing this unique majestic brew to life is credited to Ms Menon, the connoisseur, the artist. Speaking on this new blend, India’s coffee ambassador says, “With flavours of bittersweet chocolate, caramel and the whisper of rich, ripe fruits, with flecks of sweetness, Mysore Royal is a full bodied wholesome rounded cup with lilting brightness to make you feel like royalty.

The experience was mesmerising, nothing short of magical. Just the name transported you into smooth luxury, a blend that announced its class. What else would you expect from a label that entices you with bittersweet chocolate, caramel and hints of rich, ripe fruit owed to the enthralling diversity of the Rajgiri plantation. I don’t consider my self a ‘coffee literate’ person by any standards and hence my intrigue into the coffee cupping session that morning.The super talented, soft spoken, warm lady is a virtual coffee encyclopedia. She knows the coffee bean inside out {each layer of ‘the fruit’ it comes from}, each strain by the name or number, is well versed with coffees from Ethiopia, Uganda, Vietnam, Brazil, Columbia, knows leaf viruses that attack plants and equally well the inventors of different coffee making machines. Her journey into the coffee cup covered all that and more – the viscosity and the texture, blends, origins, plantations in India, fair trade representation, barista coffee competitions … and so much more!She demonstrated five different techniques of brewing Mysore Royal – Indian Filter {dabba filter}, French Press, Stove Top Espresso, Siphon and Electric Drip Coffee Maker, each altering the taste of the coffee, giving the taste buds a different treat. She’s been in this line for over 30 years and is responsible for putting Indian coffee on the global map.Talk tea and you think India. That seems to be about to change with the energy the lady has unleashed on the coffee front. Our greatest strength seems to lie in ‘gourmet‘ or ‘premium’ coffee. Sunalini also treated us to pairings with the coffee, spoiling us with crisp oatmeal honey cookies, light cheesecake, deep divine warm brownies, hummus surprise sandwiches among others … all from the café.I think this robust coffee will pair well with food like Lime Buttermilk Pound Cake, New York Style Bagels, Espresso Coffee Cream Cake,  Chocolate Almond Olive Oil & Whole Wheat Biscotti, Whole Wheat & Oat Chocolate Chip Cookies, Ulyana’s Almond Cake {fat free}, Stone Fruit Tea Cake and of course macarons! You could tell the magic worked on me. I was back home and brewing Mysore Royal for Mr PAB {a true coffee lover too} thanks to the goodie bag with tins of Mysore Royal and the French Press from Cafe Coffee Day.Six ‘brewing’ minutes later, the aromas of the coffee awakened our senses, then the kids asked for their share. I brewed some more with hot milk, then chilled it for them for the next morning. Slurp, slurp! ‘This is really good Mama‘, could be heard for long. “Is there more? Please???” A step further, change of season and coffee drinking days are here, so of course I had to pack in some coffee for Mactweets, as this month, we celebrate the equinox with Macarons de la Saison! What heralds this season for you? For me, the nip in the air signals for that cup of coffee. I made a quick  batch of Mysore Royal coffee macarons, picked the lilting flavours of bittersweet chocolate and coffee for the butter-cream within. NICE!! Paired beautifully with a well brewed cup of Mysore Royal. Coffee days are here again. With a blend that entices the palette with flavours of bittersweet chocolate, caramel and the whisper of rich, ripe fruits, would you be tempted to try some? I think we can tempt the firmest of tea drinkers to cross over and feel the magic that coffee has to offer!

Do you want to join us making MACARONS?

If you do, you are most welcome to join us  for the challenge. You can find all the information at our dedicated macaron blog MacTweets. We generally post the round-up by the end of every month, following which a new challenge is posted!

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