Yes, it's great in chocolate cake! I make this one at least once a week (we like cake): http://www.food52.com/recipes... You can sub the Guiness with coffee. Or make coffee ice cubes - your iced coffee drinks won't get weak and watery. Or mix the leftover coffee with sugar, then freeze in a shallow container and make coffee granita. Run a fork across the top of the frozen mixture to loosen up the ice. Or add a splash of cream to the coffee/sugar, then freeze, and you've got Cappuccino Granita.
All Very good answers. The only other thing I can think of is to add it to a soup or sauce that could use a little more complexity. My exerience is that Coffee added to savory sauces and soup will lend notes of a subtle smoky background.
I got carried away to dreamland reading everyone else's replies that I forgot about lacquered ribs--I did a search on here but didn't find it--didn't someone once submit a recipe for ribs that use coffee, molasses and soy sauce?
There's a wonderful apple cake recipe I have that uses 1/2 c of black coffee (so with a 1/2 pot you can make a 13x9 version, or more). The coffee is combined with butter, sugar, flour, baking soda, cinnamon, vanilla, 1 egg and 2 c chopped apples. The topping consists of brown sugar and cinnamon. The result is a very moist, very flavorful cake. The coffee is a subtle presence; not something you'd immediately pick out but if you didn't use it, the cake would be missing a dimension.
You could go savory as well - make a marinade for pork or beef with chilis, coffee, peanut butter, a little brown sugar or honey, lime, cilantro ... then low and slow and you'll have some falling apart goodness for tacos or a sandwich (in your lunch pail?) or just to eat for dinner!!
pierino is a trusted source on General Cooking and Tough Love.
added over 2 years ago
I love this question! I use a measure of strong black coffee when I cook things like red beans and rice. It can be kind of a secret weapon which, in cooks' terms adds a "bottom" or "fond" flavor. It works like anchovies in a way. It gets buried in there but elevates everything else. By the way, I liked the granita reply too.
Thanks to one and all for the inspired suggestions! Lots of good stuff here already, and I bet more to come. So far, I rank the chocolate cake and red beans/rice as my fave replies, with granita a close runner up. I'm not a fan of iced coffee, but I do like frozen coffee treats. Just came up with a smoothie made of coffee, drinking chocolate, almond milk & frozen banana. Need to play with proportions, but I think it has potential for great a.m. caffeine/calcium/potassium breakfast cocktail!
Red eye gravy! The sublime use for leftover coffee. And I recently had redeye gravy over shirmp and grits in New Orleans -- it was wonderful! I've also seen a recipe that used coffee and ancho chiles to braise a beef roast; haven't tried it, but it sounded outstanding.
Great answers everyone!
I've got a cookie recipe that won 2nd place at the Wisconsin State Fair a few years back that everyone likes.
Czarny Diabals
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
2/3 cup extra dark (special or bittersweet) cocoa powder
½ cup (1 stick) of butter (no substitutions)
½ cup brown sugar, packed
½ cup baker’s sugar
1/3 cup brewed espresso, cooled
¾ teaspoon vanilla
1 egg
12 ounces of Ghirdelli 62% cocoa chips
Step-by-Step Instructions
Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees. Into a large bowl, sift flour, baking powder, salt and cocoa
powder together. Set aside.
In another bowl, cream butter and sugars together. Add cooled espresso and vanilla and beat
until thoroughly creamed. Add egg and beat mixture again.
Add sifted “dry” mixture to the “wet” mixture and stir until blended. Add cocoa chips and mix
again. Your batter should be thick and “cake-like”.
Lay parchment onto a heavy aluminum baking sheet. Using a teaspoon, scoop the batter and
shape into round medallions. Place onto baking sheet. Bake until top of cookie begins to slightly
separate, or appear “cracked”. About 10 to 12 minutes. Cool on baking sheet about 5 minutes.
Transfer to wire racks to cool completely.
Note:
Czarny Diabal is Polish for “black devil”. In Polish folklore the Devil is often depicted as a black,
scaly beast with horns, fangs and a pitchfork. My husband’s Polish family would often hurl the
epitaph of “Czarny Diabal” at folks in annoyance. Bad drivers, kids cutting through yards, shady
dealers. You get the idea.
These cookies have ancestry in Devils Food cake. My goal with these cookies was to create
a cookie that is not too sweet, has the “ker-pow” of coffee and real chocolate, with a more
sophisticated taste than Devil’s Food.
pierino is a trusted source on General Cooking and Tough Love.
added over 2 years ago
Re: Devil's Food. How do the angels get to sleep when the devil leaves the porch light on? Cool recipe. I'm always fascinated by the history behind food.
After I brown the meat for my chili, I add a 1/2cup of coffee bring to a quick simmer then pour it into a bowl to rest before adding it back to my vegetables. With the amount of heat I add it adds some depth to my spicy chili. (NO BEANS)
Strong coffee is my "secret ingredient" in molasses cookies and gingerbread. Substitute it in recipes which call for water or regular milk (but not for buttermilk, which has a different chemical structure, causing specific reactions with the leavening agents). ;o)
freeze the coffee in ice cube trays to use for your frozen coffee drinks (or for not-diluted iced coffee if your tastes change). it can also be on hand to defrost for the other ideas like sauces and cakes.
substitute it for water in a chocolate cake. coffee + chocolate = perfection!!!
Perhaps a sorbet or a granita?
Mrs. Larkin is a trusted source on Baking.
added over 2 years agoYes, it's great in chocolate cake! I make this one at least once a week (we like cake): http://www.food52.com/recipes... You can sub the Guiness with coffee. Or make coffee ice cubes - your iced coffee drinks won't get weak and watery. Or mix the leftover coffee with sugar, then freeze in a shallow container and make coffee granita. Run a fork across the top of the frozen mixture to loosen up the ice. Or add a splash of cream to the coffee/sugar, then freeze, and you've got Cappuccino Granita.
I'd refrigerate it to make iced coffee.
All Very good answers. The only other thing I can think of is to add it to a soup or sauce that could use a little more complexity. My exerience is that Coffee added to savory sauces and soup will lend notes of a subtle smoky background.
Barbara is a trusted source on General Cooking.
added over 2 years agoWhen we were little, my grandmother used to heat milk and add a little coffee and a lot of sugar. We called it coffeemilk. It was delicious.
I pick mocha cake with mocha frosting. Chocolate and coffee ranks right behind mashed potatoes and gravy on my Top 10 list of pairings.
I got carried away to dreamland reading everyone else's replies that I forgot about lacquered ribs--I did a search on here but didn't find it--didn't someone once submit a recipe for ribs that use coffee, molasses and soy sauce?
There's a wonderful apple cake recipe I have that uses 1/2 c of black coffee (so with a 1/2 pot you can make a 13x9 version, or more). The coffee is combined with butter, sugar, flour, baking soda, cinnamon, vanilla, 1 egg and 2 c chopped apples. The topping consists of brown sugar and cinnamon. The result is a very moist, very flavorful cake. The coffee is a subtle presence; not something you'd immediately pick out but if you didn't use it, the cake would be missing a dimension.
Abbie is a trusted source on General Cooking.
added over 2 years agoYou could go savory as well - make a marinade for pork or beef with chilis, coffee, peanut butter, a little brown sugar or honey, lime, cilantro ... then low and slow and you'll have some falling apart goodness for tacos or a sandwich (in your lunch pail?) or just to eat for dinner!!
Barbara is a trusted source on General Cooking.
added over 2 years agoyou could make coffee jelly. Substitute the coffee for teh black tea in this recipe of Merrill's:
http://www.food52.com/recipes...
pierino is a trusted source on General Cooking and Tough Love.
added over 2 years agoI love this question! I use a measure of strong black coffee when I cook things like red beans and rice. It can be kind of a secret weapon which, in cooks' terms adds a "bottom" or "fond" flavor. It works like anchovies in a way. It gets buried in there but elevates everything else. By the way, I liked the granita reply too.
It would go perfect in a raspberry (or plain even) tiramisu!
Mrs. Larkin is a trusted source on Baking.
added over 2 years agooh, yeah! here's Jenny's recipe: http://www.food52.com/recipes...
Thanks to one and all for the inspired suggestions! Lots of good stuff here already, and I bet more to come. So far, I rank the chocolate cake and red beans/rice as my fave replies, with granita a close runner up. I'm not a fan of iced coffee, but I do like frozen coffee treats. Just came up with a smoothie made of coffee, drinking chocolate, almond milk & frozen banana. Need to play with proportions, but I think it has potential for great a.m. caffeine/calcium/potassium breakfast cocktail!
Red eye gravy! The sublime use for leftover coffee. And I recently had redeye gravy over shirmp and grits in New Orleans -- it was wonderful! I've also seen a recipe that used coffee and ancho chiles to braise a beef roast; haven't tried it, but it sounded outstanding.
Great answers everyone!
I've got a cookie recipe that won 2nd place at the Wisconsin State Fair a few years back that everyone likes.
Czarny Diabals
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
2/3 cup extra dark (special or bittersweet) cocoa powder
½ cup (1 stick) of butter (no substitutions)
½ cup brown sugar, packed
½ cup baker’s sugar
1/3 cup brewed espresso, cooled
¾ teaspoon vanilla
1 egg
12 ounces of Ghirdelli 62% cocoa chips
Step-by-Step Instructions
Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees. Into a large bowl, sift flour, baking powder, salt and cocoa
powder together. Set aside.
In another bowl, cream butter and sugars together. Add cooled espresso and vanilla and beat
until thoroughly creamed. Add egg and beat mixture again.
Add sifted “dry” mixture to the “wet” mixture and stir until blended. Add cocoa chips and mix
again. Your batter should be thick and “cake-like”.
Lay parchment onto a heavy aluminum baking sheet. Using a teaspoon, scoop the batter and
shape into round medallions. Place onto baking sheet. Bake until top of cookie begins to slightly
separate, or appear “cracked”. About 10 to 12 minutes. Cool on baking sheet about 5 minutes.
Transfer to wire racks to cool completely.
Note:
Czarny Diabal is Polish for “black devil”. In Polish folklore the Devil is often depicted as a black,
scaly beast with horns, fangs and a pitchfork. My husband’s Polish family would often hurl the
epitaph of “Czarny Diabal” at folks in annoyance. Bad drivers, kids cutting through yards, shady
dealers. You get the idea.
These cookies have ancestry in Devils Food cake. My goal with these cookies was to create
a cookie that is not too sweet, has the “ker-pow” of coffee and real chocolate, with a more
sophisticated taste than Devil’s Food.
pierino is a trusted source on General Cooking and Tough Love.
added over 2 years agoRe: Devil's Food. How do the angels get to sleep when the devil leaves the porch light on? Cool recipe. I'm always fascinated by the history behind food.
Tom Waits fan Mr P?
Kayb has it right. Red-eye gravy is fantastic - and the stronger the coffee the better. I make this one often:
http://www.foodnetwork...
After I brown the meat for my chili, I add a 1/2cup of coffee bring to a quick simmer then pour it into a bowl to rest before adding it back to my vegetables. With the amount of heat I add it adds some depth to my spicy chili. (NO BEANS)
AntoniaJames is a trusted source on Bread/Baking.
added over 2 years agoStrong coffee is my "secret ingredient" in molasses cookies and gingerbread. Substitute it in recipes which call for water or regular milk (but not for buttermilk, which has a different chemical structure, causing specific reactions with the leavening agents). ;o)
Tiramisu
Oh, count on me making coffee-spiked molasses cookies this weekend! Thank you, AntoniaJames.
freeze the coffee in ice cube trays to use for your frozen coffee drinks (or for not-diluted iced coffee if your tastes change). it can also be on hand to defrost for the other ideas like sauces and cakes.