Tag: espresso

Product Review | Classico ‘Espresso Coffee Machine’ from Tecnora #perfectcupofcoffee

“Black as the devil, hot as hell, pure as an angel, sweet as love.”
Charles Maurice de Talleyrand

Classico 'Espresso Coffee Machine' from TecnoraOur recent trip to Sydney was brought even more alive with good cups of coffee from the crack of dawn to late into the night. They know how to brew a good cup. Oh those flat whites, lattes, cappuccinos, short blacks. Never ending delight sitting at cafes just looking at the variety of choices on offer, and how much folk Down Under enjoy a good brew. For those who have known me for long, you know that coffee is my first love. For those who don’t know me, welcome to my world flavoured by coffee. Coffee and me are inseparable. The mere aroma of coffee in the air is uplifting, seeing a barista at work, invigorating. Add it to dessert, and it’s nirvana!

Well homecoming had a pleasant surprise waiting for me, an espresso coffee machine standing tall on the counter. I still remember a coffee maker that I had bought from the UK years ago. For some reason I never used it as it involved filters and a 1000 bits and bobs that made life more work, less coffee! Cut to now, I took a little while getting used to this new machine from Tecnora. I’m a bit lazy {read plenty} on reading small print and instructions. That I had to do eventually, and soon I was brewing perfect little cups of coffee.The Classico ‘Espresso Coffee Machine’ is a neat machine, the colours stylish in steel and black. Sleek with classic good looks, it blended seamlessly onto my kitchen counter with the Thermomix, the air fryer and the blender. It is lightweight, quick off its feet and quite simple to use. Switch it on, push a few buttons and it surprises you with how snappy it is. It’s also really simple to wash up, with a handy removable drip tray. Easy clean is what I love!The sweet guys from Tecnora also sent me a bag of fine ground coffee beans to get me going. I also have some stash of Coorgi coffee that I love, some vanilla flavoured coffee, and a few more sachets as a lot of people gift me coffee. I made a rather nice rustic bake the other day, a Wholegrain Fresh Peach and Cherry Tray Bake. It paired beautifully with a shot of espresso. Do keep an eye out for the recipe.

The same day, I was doing a product shoot for UnTied, and the classic espresso cuppa turned out to be the perfect missing piece to complete my shot! I loved the way the frames worked!!

Now that I have about mastered the perfect espresso shot, I have a few plans for more coffee madness. In the pipeline are affagato, espresso panna cotta, espresso coffee cake, probably Vietnamese iced coffee. My mouth is already watering as I share my plans.  Do you guys like coffee? What is your best way to enjoy it? Coffee in desserts? Tell me, tell me, tell me!

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Also find me on The Rabid Baker, The Times of India

Espresso Panna Cotta … sweet dreams are made of these

“I am starting to think that maybe memories are like this dessert. I eat it, and it becomes a part of me, whether I remember it later or not.”
Erica Bauermeister

Espresso Panna Cotta … this is what sweet dreams are made up of, and made up of everything I absolutely LOVE. Love a good panna cotta, love coffee and of course expresso. Did a fingerlicking spoon licking good buttermilk panna cotta for Fit Foodie recently, and then remembered this deliciousness which was lurking in my drafts. Time it saw light of day …

Did I say some time back that we had barely seen desserts or bakes of late? Well seem to be making up for the ‘unsweet’ patch, as far as blogging goes at least. This panna cotta was actually inspired by super talented Bart posting some espresso meringues with a chocolate sauce on a food photography FB group. Then along came my sweet friend Gloria’s Affagato which made my heart skip another beat! ’twas time for espresso…

… and the next best thing was an Espresso Panna Cotta. Smooth, silky, seductive with coffee written all over it, how can dessert be so indulgent. My Indian coffee or Bru Panna Cotta is an all time favourite, yet the Espresso Panna Cotta now threatens to knock that off the perch. I love doing panna cottas, and have done loads from buttermilk, to saffron, to mango… and more. ‘Making‘ seems a lame term for a dessert so simple which comes together in a matter of minutes. Then it’s all down to a good chill!

[print_this]Recipe: Espresso Panna Cotta

Summary: Espresso Panna Cotta. Smooth, silky, seductive with coffee written all over it, how can dessert be so indulgent. A topping of a ganache like dark chocolate adds oomph to it!

Prep Time: 5 minutes
Total Time:20 minutes
Ingredients:

  • 600ml low fat cream
  • 100g brown sugar
  • 2-3 tsp espresso powder
  • 120ml milk, luke warm
  • 2 tsp gelatin powder
  • Dark chocolate topping
  • 70g dark chocolate
  • 70g low fat cream

Method:

  1. Sprinkle gelatin over luke warm milk and let stand for five minutes.
  2. Place the cream, espresso and sugar in a heavy bottom pan and gently bring to a simmer, but not a full boil. Stir often.
  3. 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.
  4. Let the mixture stand for about 10 minutes, then distribute among your serving bowls/molds/ramekins/goblets.
  5. Allow to set for 6-8 hours/preferably overnight. 
  6. Gently heat the chocolate and cream in a heat proof bowl in the microwave {or double boiler}. Cool to room temperature, then pour over the set espresso panna cotta.

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Also find me on The Rabid Baker, The Times of India

Espresso Coffee Cream Cake … Happy Birthday to me!!

“Oh good look its coffee o’clock :))…”
Linda@goodshoeday via twitter

How sweet that tweet was, music to my very ears! I saved it the minute I tripped across it ages ago. I’m a 100% coffee person, and it easily wins hands down as my most favourite flavour in sweet stuff; {garlic holds first place for savoury}. The PAB family is a coffee happy one too, and I am glad the kids are big enough to enjoy the odd coffee doused cake. Year after year, when it comes to my birthday, I always have this coffee cake plan in my head, and the day before, I leave a coffee cake sponge to mature beautifully in the fridge. This year was complete madness! My sis is over  from the US with her kids, leaving me hair-brained with no time to plan. So I trashed all plans to bake me a cake…

Mr PAB came back from work, asked if I had baked me a cake {I ALWAYS DO … because I like to}, and I shook my head in  negative, in despair and tiredness. He said he’d go and get me one first thing in the morning. Just then the lad said he and his sister would bake me one the next morning…”You just sleep late Mama,” he ordered with a twinkle in his eye! {Words like that are enough to give me sleepless nights!}

I shot out of bed very early in the morning in sheer fright. My kitchen in their hands, a mess that would be unbelievable, one that I would not be able to shriek about … party pooper, yes that’s me. I was in the kitchen in a heartbeat, and back to my books. First stop was Ottolenghi: The Cookbook, but that didn’t have a coffee cake recipe. Coffee coffee coffee…that was the only mantra in my mind, with a cuppa coffee in my hand! Then I leafed through Indulge, which I reviewed for Blogger Aid a while ago. The options seemed far too involved given the time frame… I had to get the cake into the oven before the kids woke up!

My next stop was this beautiful cake decoration book by Roland Mesniers – Basic To Beautiful  Cakes that I had won at an event hosted by the Daring Kitchen. My Cinnamon Buttercream Autumn Cake cake got me this gorgeous book which landed at my doorstep, with a sweet note from the ‘daring ladies‘,  Lisa of La Mia Cucina and Ivonne of Cream Puffs in Venice! In January this year, I was inspired to bake this Strawberry Bavarian Cream Cake from the book.

I reached for the index and got to the coffee pages pronto. A Coffee Genoise Sponge – holy yum! This was just the thing.

About the sponge, the author writes, “Mrs Clinton’s Coffee Genoise … Mrs Clinton loved coffee desserts in every form. The Mocha Cake in my book Dessert University was a favourite. Espresso sorbet, served with a cinnamon whipped cream, was another. I turned to this recipe for Coffee Genoise again and again because it is so versatile, and because the genoise, flavoured with instant espresso powder, takes on a strong, pure coffee flavour.”

Just reading the introduction had me walking on clouds, dreaming of coffee nirvana, making me forget everything else but coffee! Pure Coffee Flavour? YES PLEASE! It was even better that my sis had got me a jar on instant espresso powder. I also got a heavy duty angel cake tin {Ahn, I got it, I did!!}, bags of spices from whole foods, chocolate chips, almond meal … never-ending delights, just how I like my goodie bag !  The espresso gave me pure delight, and I had the bowl of water on simmer in no time.

It’s a simple and versatile sponge to make, largely fuss free. It rises thanks to air beaten into it over simmering hot water. Be careful not to release the beaten air as you fold the flour in. The melted butter adds just the right luxury to the crumb… not heavy at all, but moist. It’s a cake we went FAST! Mr PAB didn’t look particularly pleased with the smallish size.

The cake was inspired by a series of bakes I did for a project a short while ago; {will write more about that when and IF it sees light of day}. For the project I made a Kiwi-Strawberry Cream Cake, a Espresso Coffee Cream Cake and a Deep Chocolate with Burgundy Cherries Cake. For two of the cakes I used my trademark scrolls, this time in the lace border again, as it seems to have caught on as my signature style, and I love doing it!

I have to shout out a big thank you to this crazy girl Nachiketa from Crazy Over Desserts, who drove miles down to visit me late at night on my birthday with a cake baked especially for me. A coffee-cinnamon cake, with a chocolate ganache, rum soaked raisins within. A gorgeous cake, with a beautiful card made by her little niece just for me.

SIMPLE COFFEE GENOISE
Adapted minimally from Roland Meisner’s Basic to Beautiful Cakes, pg 190
4 large eggs {I added and extra yolk because the eggs were a medium size}
1 cup sugar
1 tbsp instant espresso powder
1 cup flour
Pinch of salt
1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled
Method:
Preheat the oven to 190C. Line the bottom and sides of a 8″ spring form round tin. Grease and dust with flour.
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.
Take off water and continue to beat till the mixture cools down, about 5-7 minutes. Add the espresso and beat in again for a minute.
Fold the flour through gently, in 3 goes, lightly till it’s mixed through well. Be careful not to release the beaten in air.
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.
Turn the batter into the prepared baking tin, and bake for 30-35 minutes, till a tester comes out clean.
Filling:
1 tbsp coffee dissolved in 3 tbsp water with 1 tbsp sugar
400ml low fat cream
2 tbsp powdered vanilla sugar
1 tsp coffee essence {or 1 tsp instant coffee}
Method:
Whip together till medium peaks form.
Brush each side of the cake with the coffee syrup, and sandwich with the filling. Resrve any remaining cream for garnishing the top.
Topping:
300ml low fat cream
2-3 tbsp vanilla powdered sugar
1 scant tbsp instant espresso powder
Dark chocolate for garnishing
Method:
Whip together until stiff peaks form. Frost the sides of the cake first, and then the top. Garnish as desired.
♥ Thank you for stopping by ♥

~

A reminder for this months MONTHLY MINGLE. If you are BAKING WITH FRUIT this month, do send it in to Monthly Mingle posted HERE. You have until November 23rd, 2010.

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Also find me on The Rabid Baker, The Times of India

Related link: Low Sugar Coffee Cream Cake

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