Tag: coffee beans

Easy dinner party desserts made with coffee – chocolate mocha sorbet

Posted on by Sara Walker

sorbetTasting like a cross between a sorbet and an ice cream, this sophisticated dessert will draw gasps of appreciation from your guests, but it’s surprisingly easy to make. It uses strong espresso coffee to give a slight sharpness to the rich, chocolaty base, and as it can be made several days in advance it’s a stress-free option on the night. Use the best quality chocolate you can find, at least 70% cocoa solids.

Ingredients

  • 675ml water
  • 90g plain dark chocolate
  • 5 tablespoons strong espresso coffee, made from freshly-ground coffee beans
  • 300g caster sugar

Start by breaking the chocolate into little pieces, then blitzing it with short bursts in a food processor until it looks like very coarse, lumpy powder. Tip it into a saucepan, add 300ml of the water and the coffee and warm over a very low heat, stirring until all the ingredients are fully melted together and combined.

Add the caster sugar and remaining water and bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce the heat and allow to simmer for around ten minutes until it thickens slightly. Remove from the heat and allow to cool completely before transferring to an ice cream maker.  Churn until slushy, then transfer to a chilled bowl and freeze for several hours. If making this dessert beforehand, it will need to soften slightly before serving. Don’t be tempted to make it more than a week in advance, though, as it may granulate and lose its smooth, creamy texture.

Serve in glass dishes, decorated with chocolate-covered coffee beans.

For a wide range of top quality coffee beans, suitable for all uses, please visit our coffee beans page at the Wholesale Coffee Company website. We also stock a range of flavoured syrups and other coffee ingredients, perfect for making coffee drinks or for using in recipes.

 

 

Apricot-Espresso Glazed Roast Pork Loin

Posted on by Sara Walker

Now you always hear about cacao used for savory food, but coffee a little less so. It’s most commonly known as a meat tenderizer. We found a recipe using it for roast pork though and as it’s coming up to the weekend, why not try? Personally I don’t eat pork, but I have a feeling it might work well for chicken too. It’s definitively a flavour I have not tried previously.

One might scoff at the freeze dried instant coffee if one is food connoisseur enough, but the only other option (unless you want freshly ground coffee beans in the actual glaze) would be to cook the apricots with coffee when making the jam and somehow we believe the instant coffee will do just fine. After all we sell it. It’s easy to use and has it own unique flavour that some actually prefer.

So fresh roasted coffee beans aside, we are looking forward to try this recipe. Let us know what you think!

Ingredients

  • 1 3-pound boneless pork loin, trimmed
  • 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
  • 3/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
  • 1 cup apricot preserves
  • 2 tablespoons instant espresso powder
  • 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
  • 4 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
  • 1/2 cup reduced-sodium chicken broth

Preparation

  1. Preheat oven to 375°F. Line a roasting pan or rimmed baking sheet with foil.
  2. Tie kitchen string around pork in two or three places so it doesn’t flatten while roasting. Rub oil, salt and pepper all over the pork. Place the pork in the prepared pan.
  3. Roast pork, turning once, for 30 minutes.
  4. Meanwhile, combine apricot preserves, espresso powder, mustard, Worcestershire, garlic and cloves in a small saucepan; bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring frequently. Cook 1 minute, stirring constantly, then remove from heat.
  5. After the pork has cooked for 30 minutes, brush all over with 1/2 cup of the glaze. (Leave the remaining glaze in the pan.) Continue roasting until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the middle of the meat registers 140°F, 20 to 40 minutes more. Transfer the pork to a clean cutting board and let rest for 10 minutes.
  6. Meanwhile, add broth to the remaining glaze in the pan. Bring to a simmer over medium heat. Simmer until thickened slightly, about 5 minutes. Remove the string and slice the pork. Serve with the sauce.

Healthy Coffee

Posted on by Sara Walker

It’s Friday and if you’re anything like me you think this is the perfect excuse to indulge in some treat or other. Of course you don’t want to turn into a complete pig though, so you may decide to health-ify your indulgence. Today I was craving some delicious coffee drink (read: whipped cream, caramel sauce, and coffee), so I decided to see what’s out there in the way of healthy, but still delicious, coffee drinks. I found some interesting tips. Like blending coconut oil and butter into your coffee to speed up metabolism and get the best tasting and smoothest coffee. Ever.

Of course I had to try this. It is very indulgent actually because the fats make the coffee incredibly creamy. I made it into a latte, using rice milk, as I don’t like my coffee black. It worked. I also added a tiny amount of raw cane sugar and used only one drop of stevia as it does have a bit of a “plastic” taste. I would use raw honey instead of sugar had I not been out of it.

It says 1-3 tablespoons of coconut oil, but I really recommend starting off with only one as it does make the coffee very, very creamy and it might be too much with any more. You might even want to start off with just 1/2 a tablespoon.

Of course get fresh roasted coffee beans for this – always use the best quality coffee beans. You can even roast your own! (We have green coffee beans for sale in our coffee shop for that reason.)

Recipe from Wellness Mama
Serves: 1
Ingredients
  • 1 cup of organic coffee, herbal coffee or chai tea
  • 1 tablespoon coconut oil (or more, I usually put in 2-3 tablespoons)
  • 1 teaspoon organic grassfed unsalted butter (I get it here)
  • ¼ tsp vanilla
  • a few drops of stevia extract (optional)
Instructions
  1. Put all ingredients in a blender or food processor. Mix on high speed for 20 seconds until frothy. Drink immediately and enjoy all the energy!

A way to supercharge coffee and make it healthy and great for your skin The Only Way I Drink Coffee...

Mocha Cake

Posted on by Sara Walker

There is this saying: “I love you more than coffee, but please don’t make me prove it.” Right, especially not at 8am on a Monday morning when the waft of coffee made from fresh roasted coffee beans reaches your nostrils. This could prove lethal. At least in the “love you more” section in any relationship, because coffee might just win.

For some of us it’s not coffee you need to battle with for quality time, but rather chocolate. Maybe you don’t need it first thing in the morning, but after a long day you chocolate pralines and a hot bath may just be on top of your priority list. You have no energy to deal with anyone else until you have had your chocolate fix. And potentially, just potentially, a coffee to go with it. To wake you up.

So for those coffee and chocolate lovers out there we found a new recipe for you. (And don’t forget, if you are running out of coffee beans or hot chocolate at any time, our shop offers you plenty of options, delivered to your doorstep. Perfect during winter storms.)

Mocha Frappe Pie adapted from Pillsbury

Uploaded by Monica H at www.lickthebowlgood.blogspot.com

Crust:

  • 1-1/4 cups chocolate cookie crumbs

  • 3 Tablespoons sugar

  • 1/3 cup butter, melted

Filling:

  • 1/2 lb. (about 35-40) large marshmallows

  • 3 Tablespoons sugar

  • 1/2 cup evaporated milk

  • 3 teaspoons instant coffee or espresso powder

  • 1 cup (6 oz.) semi-sweet chocolate chips

  • 1 cup heavy whipping cream

To make the crust: Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. In a medium bowl, mix all ingredients until well blended.

Press firmly onto bottom and up side of 9-inch pie plate.

Bake 8 to 10 minutes until set. Cool completely.

To make the filling: In top of a double boiler, combine marshmallows, sugar, evaporated milk and instant coffee/espresso powder.

Cook over boiling water, stirring occasionally,until marshmallows are melted. Remove from heat. (This can be done in the microwave, but be sure to keep a close eye on it so it doesn’t boil over.)

Stir in chocolate chips until well blended. Cool completely.

Spread 3/4 cup of the cooled filling into the bottom of the cooled crust.

In a separate bowl, beat heavy cream until thick. Fold whipped cream into the remaining chocolate mixture. Pour over chocolate layer.

Chill at least 2 hours before serving.

Top with additional whipped cream, chocolate curls or chopped pecan if desired.

pie2

Dinner party desserts made with coffee – chocolate soufflé cake

Posted on by Sara Walker

cakeThis soufflé cake is really a baked chocolate mousse masquerading as a cake. It contains no flour, which gives it a lovely moist melting texture and an intense chocolaty hit. The addition of coffee makes the cake even darker and richer, and the recipe works best with espresso coffee.

Start by making the espresso, if possible from freshly ground coffee beans. (Don’t forget to make an extra cup for yourself, to keep you going while beating the eggs!)

Ingredients

  • 125g icing sugar, sifted
  • 200g of very dark chocolate, at least 70%
  • 125g butter
  • 2 tablespoons espresso
  • 6 eggs

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees centigrade, and prepare a 20cm round cake tin by greasing it and lining the bottom with a double layer of greaseproof paper. Using a springform tin will make life easier when it comes to removing the cake from the tin.

Separate the eggs into two different bowls and set the whites aside. Add 100g of the icing sugar to the egg yolks, and beat the mixture until it looks pale and fluffy. Break the chocolate into small pieces in a heat proof bowl, and add the butter. Melt the mixture gently in the microwave in short bursts until fully combined, and stir in the coffee. Let the chocolate mixture cool a little, then add it to the egg yolk mixture.

Now, add the remaining 25g of icing sugar to the egg whites, and whisk them until the mixture turns to a soft, floppy meringue (this is the point at which you’ll be glad you made that extra coffee!). Fold the meringue into the chocolate mixture, using a metal spoon so that you don’t break the volume up too much. Pour the mixture into the cake tin, flatten it out and put it in the oven for 30 minutes.

Once the cooking time is up, remove the cake and leave it in the tin until completely cooled. It may still look wobbly, but as it cools it will gradually reduce and become dense. Once cool, remove it from the tin, cut into slices and serve with vanilla ice cream and cups of espresso coffee.

For a wide range of top quality coffee beans, suitable for all uses, please visit our coffee beans page at the Wholesale Coffee Company website. We also stock a range of flavoured syrups in our coffee ingredients section, perfect for making coffee drinks or for using in recipes.

Easy dinner party desserts made with coffee – coffee granita

Posted on by Sara Walker

iceLooking for an easy dinner party dessert? Here’s a tried and tested recipe that uses our favourite ingredient, coffee. It’s very straightforward to make, and provides a light, refreshing end to the meal.

Granita is an Italian dessert consisting of roughly crushed, flavoured ice, which is often made with fruit juice. Our version is – of course – made with coffee.

The secret to this recipe is to use good quality coffee beans and freshly made coffee. You need no specialist equipment other than an ice-cube tray, a food processor and a domestic freezer. Start this recipe in plenty of time, ideally the day before you need it, to give the ice plenty of time to freeze.

Start by making the coffee. You’ll need half a litre (500ml) of strong, full flavoured black coffee, made from your favourite coffee beans. Stir in two rounded tablespoons of caster sugar until dissolved, then let the liquid stand until almost cold. Pour it into the ice-cube tray, and freeze until hard.

When you’re ready to serve, put a scoop of good quality vanilla ice cream into each serving dish. Turn out the coffee ice cubes, and crush them roughly in a food processor. If you don’t have a food processor, wrap the cubes in a clean tea towel, put them on a chopping board and bash them with a rolling pin. Spoon the coffee ice round the ice cream, and serve.  If you like, you can add a drizzle of flavoured syrup before serving – caramel, Irish cream and hazelnut all work well.

For a wide range of top quality coffee beans, suitable for all uses, please visit our coffee beans page at the Wholesale Coffee Company website. We also stock a range of flavoured syrups, perfect for making coffee drinks or for using in recipes.

Easy dinner party desserts made with coffee – ‘drowned ice cream’

Posted on by Sara Walker

ice creamCoffee’s normally on the menu at the end of every dinner party, when the favourite choice is espresso . If you’re a really coffee fan, though, there are dozens of coffee-flavoured puds to serve as well. Here’s one of our favourites – it’s icy cool, not too rich and looks a lot more complicated to prepare than it really is.

Perfect for rounding off a heavy meal, this is incredibly simple – all you need is some really good quality vanilla ice cream, some equally good quality espresso coffee made from freshly-roasted coffee beans, and the alcohol of your choice – Irish cream, Kahlua coffee liqueur and Tia Maria would all work well.

The secret of success with this recipe is timing. Have the coffee set up ready to brew, with the coffee beans ready ground and waiting. Put out the dishes that you’re using – glass sundae-style dishes work well – and have the alcohol ready to hand. Make the coffee, and take the ice cream out of the freezer at the last minute, so that it stays as hard as possible. Put two scoops of ice cream into each dish, and pour the hot coffee over it until each dish is about a third full. Add a little of your alcohol of choice, and top the dish with a  chocolate covered coffee bean if you like, or a few chocolate sprinkles.

Take the dishes to the table immediately, just as the ice cream is starting to melt into the coffee. If you’re using sundae dishes, it might also be a good idea to provide long handled spoons so that your guests can finish the creamy coffee sauce with ease.

For a wide range of top quality coffee beans, suitable for all uses, please visit our coffee beans page at the Wholesale Coffee Company website.

Our guide to a great bonfire party

Posted on by Sara Walker

firewordsIf you’re having a Guy Fawkes party this year, we’ve got a few ideas to help your night run smoothly.

1. Top up on coffee

Knowing the British weather, there’s a good chance that November 5th will be cold or wet, so hot drinks will keep your guests from freezing. Lay in plenty of your favourite coffee beans so that you won’t run out of coffee drinks. Keep coffee warm in vacuum flasks, and offer hot chocolate, non-alcoholic punch or mulled wine as alternatives.

2. Plan the fire

Choose a safe location for your bonfire, away from overhanging trees, wooden buildings or power cables. If you’re tight for space, build a temporary fire pit by digging a hole around 12 – 18 inches deep and edging it with stones. This will help keep a fire from running out of control. Don’t forget to have a hosepipe or other water source on hand for emergencies.

3. Decide on the menu

Potatoes baked in the fire always sound romantic, but in reality your guests risk keeling over from hunger before anything’s ready to eat. Keep some alternative food on hand, such as sausages, cooked on a barbecue and finished on the fire for that authentic flavour; marshmallows on sticks; parkin cake and vegetarian vegetable kebabs. If the potatoes survive the fire and are still edible, it’s a bonus.

4. Plan ahead

As well as food and drink don’t forget to plan for chairs and blankets for older guests, as well as disposable cups, plates, napkins and cutlery. Make the clearing up easier by offering individual portions of milk and sugar to accompany hot drinks, and position some strategic bins for rubbish.

5. Keep safe

Even at a small private function, accidents happen. Put the fireworks in charge of one person, and ban them from hitting them mulled wine too early. Have buckets of water and a first aid kit on hand, and make sure that any pets or neighbours’ animals are safely shut up indoors.

We wish you an excellent Guy Fawkes night!

For a wide range of coffee beans for all occasions, please visit our coffee beans page. For disposable cups and other catering items to help you plan your event, see our coffee accessories page.

Coffee parkin for Bonfire Night

Posted on by Sara Walker

fireAs you might expect, we’re pretty fond of our coffee at the Wholesale Coffee Company, and we’re also partial to a bit of cake. As it’s coming up to bonfire night, here’s a recipe for a traditional oatmeal parkin, made just a little different with the addition of our favourite ingredient – coffee! You won’t taste the coffee in the finished cake, but it gives a darker texture and rich, moist feel. Best made a few days before required, and eaten in chunks together with a mug of your favourite coffee.

Ingredients

  • 225g butter or margarine
  • 120g soft dark brown sugar
  • 55g black treacle/molasses
  • 2 – 3 tablespoons of strong black coffee, made from freshly roasted coffee beans
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 5 teaspoons ground ginger
  • 2 teaspoons nutmeg
  • 1 teaspoons ground mixed spice
  • 2 large eggs
  • 200g golden syrup
  • 120g fine or medium oatmeal, available from supermarkets
  • 200g self raising flour
  1. Start by preheating the oven to 140 degrees centigrade, then grease a 20cm square shallow cake tin, and line it with greaseproof paper.
  2. Put the butter, sugar treacle and golden syrup in a saucepan, and melt them gently together over a low heat, stirring with a wooden spoon. Don’t overheat the mixture, or it’ll burn. Once fully combined, remove from the heat and set aside.
  3. Mix together the oats, flour, spices and baking powder in a large bowl, then add the sugar mixture from the saucepan. Stir everything together until the dry ingredients are coated.
  4. Add the eggs a little at a time, beating after each addition. Carefully add the coffee a spoonful at a time, until you have a stiff, sticky batter.
  5. Spoon the mixture into the tin, and place in the oven for about 1.25 – 1.5 hours until the cake is set and firm.
  6. Remove from the oven, and leave to cool in the tin until completely cold, then remove. If you’re not eating immediately, wrap the cake in tinfoil and store in an airtight container.

For a selection of top quality coffee beans, visit www.wholesalecoffeecompany.com. We also stock a great range of paper cups and lids suitable for outside use, to help your bonfire party go off with a bang.

Bonfire coffee and treacle toffee

Posted on by Sara Walker

fireIt’ll soon be November 5th: traditional time of bonfires, fireworks, parkin cake, treacle toffee and, knowing the British weather, hot drinks. Keep yourself and your customers warm on a chilly night with our special gingerbread coffee and treacle toffee recipes.

Gingerbread coffee (makes six servings)

In a small, heatproof bowl, mix six tablespoons of treacle, one heaped teaspoon of ginger and four tablespoons of brown sugar. Put in the microwave and melt together for 30 – 40 seconds, until well combined. Divide the mixture evenly between six sturdy mugs, suitable for outside use. Pour on a little black coffee made from freshly roasted and ground coffee beans, and stir vigorously to dissolve the spice mixture. Fill the cups with coffee until about 2/3 full. Add milk or cream, then top with a dollop of whipped cream and a sprinkling of extra ginger.

Treacle toffee

  • 450g dark brown soft sugar
  • 150ml water
  • 75g unsalted butter
  • 125g treacle
  • 75g golden syrup

Grease a shallow18cm square baking, and line it with greaseproof paper, silicone paper or aluminium foil. If you use foil, press it down carefully into all the corners of the tin.

Using your largest pan (a preserving or maslin pan is ideal), heat the sugar and water together until the sugar has dissolved. Stir the mixture a couple of times to make sure there are no remaining sugar crystals. Add all the remaining ingredients and allow to heat for a few minutes to soften, then stir a couple of times. Let the mixture come to the boil, and watch it carefully – it will foam up inside the pan, and if your pan is too small you risk a treacle-flavoured sugar flood!

Using a sugar thermometer, test for the ‘soft crack’ stage (132 to 143 degrees centigrade) – this will be marked on the thermometer. Once it’s reached this point, pour the mixture carefully into the prepared tin, making sure it’s evenly spread. Mark it into squares with a knife (greasing the knife blade first will make this easier).

Leave the tin at room temperature until the toffee is completely set, then break it into pieces and store in an airtight tin until required.

Serve with gingerbread coffee. For the best coffee beans for use in all your recipes, browse our range at www.wholesalecoffeecompany.co.uk