Coffee Cake

Our coffee cake recipe is so easy to make before you know it you’ll sitting down to a nice piece of coffee cake and a hot cup Vanilla coffee.

Coffee Cake Ingredients:

2 teaspoons instant coffee (mix in ½ cup of hot water)
2 cups of flour
2 teaspoons of baking powder
125 g butter
2 eggs
1/2 cup of  sugar

Coffee Cake Method:

To prepare the coffee cake start by combining the butter and sugar and mix well with an electric hand mixer. Next add the eggs to the mix and beat well.

In a separate bowl mix the flour and baking powder together so the texture looks light and it’s well combined. Slowly add the flour mix to the egg mix and fold it in gently with a spoon. When the mixture is smooth add the coffee mixture and combine the mix.

Use your electric hand mixer briefly to make sure the coffee cake mixture is fully combined. Prepare your cake tin or alternatively use a non stick pan. Bake in a moderate oven at 180 degrees celsius for 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown.

Let the cake rest and cool and decorate the cake with a coffee icing.
Coffee Cake Icing:

2 tablespoons of coffee (dissolve in a small amount of water)
1 tablespoon of  butter
1 cup of icing sugar

Add to a bowl the icing sugar, coffee mix  and butter. Stir the ingredients until you have a smooth paste like consistency. If the icing is looking a little thick or dry add small amount of water, but be careful as you don’t want to make the icing to wet.

Making the icing to wet will only make the icing run, and it won’t set on the cake. to spread the icing easily over the cake use a butter knife or stainless steal spatula. If the utensil starts to stick dip your knife every now and then into some hot water.

Once the cake is prepared with the coffee cake icing you can serve it as is or with a little cream on the side of the plate.

Coffee Bean Storage

Coffee Bean Storage

In your house is coffee bean storage important to you, if so how do you store them? Do you store them in the refrigerator or freezer? Perhaps you keep them in the heat sealed bag or do you store the coffee beans in a jar?

To give you the right storage techniques we have put together this guide to help you understand the importance of good coffee bean storage. By adopting these storage techniques you’ll maintain the flavor and freshness of your coffee. Along the way you’ll discover that green coffee beans and roasted coffee beans will require different coffee bean storage processes and what’s needed to prevent them from going stale.

Unfortunately coffee beans do have a shelf life and this is why it’s so important that correct coffee bean storage maintains the coffees original flavor. When coffee beans are exposed to air and moisture or are roasted the coffee starts to deteriorate and loose it’s flavor. This is what is referred to as coffee going stale. To slow down this process you can adopt good coffee bean storage techniques as well as roasting, grinding and brewing your coffee in small quantities. It’s always best to roast or buy roasted coffee beans in a small enough quantities that you can use over a 10 day period.

This is why coffee beans that haven’t been roasted tend to have a longer shelf life when they’re stored. These type of coffee beans are also referred to as green coffee beans. Green coffee beans can stay fresh up to a year or more under perfect coffee bean storage conditions.

To maximize freshness and shelf life, green coffee beans should be stored in a tightly sealed jar and preferably in a cool spot. Even after long time in storage a fresh and full flavored coffee can still be made without altering the original flavor of the beans.

If you would like to try out roasting your own green coffee beans you can purchase them online or from selected coffee shops that sell quality coffee beans. If this sounds like to much work forgo the roasting process and buy whole bean coffee that’s been roasted already for you. Read more »

Irish Coffee

Irish Coffee

To celebrate St Patrick’s day why not serve up Irish coffee and invite a few of your friends over for a coffee break with a warming effect.

Irish Coffee Ingredients

Coffee Serves: 1
Strong coffee
1 teaspoon of sugar
1 generous spoon of  heavy whipped cream
Shot of Irish Whiskey

Irish Coffee Recipe Preparation

When  you make a hot Irish coffee you can use any type of cup, mug or glass but for this recipe I recommend using a heat proof  glass because the Irish coffee looks amazing. Begin by making a strong brew of coffee using 2 teaspoons of instant coffee or make an strong coffee using your coffee machine.

While the coffee is brewing you’ll need to whip up the heavy cream. Make sure the heavy cream is whipped so it looks frothy  but and has thicker consistency. Just set the whipping cream aside and lets start building the Irish coffee.

Once you’ve made the coffee don’t waste any time as it you want it hot and strong. Begin by pouring the hot  coffee into the glass. Remember don’t overfill the glass as you’ll need some room for the the Irish whiskey and whipped cream.

Pour in the shot of Irish whiskey and the teaspoon of sugar and give the Irish coffee a light stir to dissolve the sugar and blend in the Irish whiskey. At this point if you don’t like whipped cream you can leave it out, but I must say it won’t taste the same.

Be careful to spoon on the whipped cream so it floats on top of the Irish coffee. You want the Irish coffee to have two distinct layers, the coffee and the cream. Because this recipe only serves 1 you’ll need to adjust the Irish coffee recipe according to the number of people you’re entertaining. I always find a large pot of strong coffee always does the trick.

With the Irish coffee made you and your friends can enjoy Saint Patrick’s day and maybe sing an Irish tune or two.