Tag: coffee ingredients

Monday Morning Coffee Wisdom

Posted on by Sara Walker

It’s that time of the week where you look at your schedule and have a potential meltdown…and pick up the week’s first cup of coffee and drink it like you mean business. Because you do – it’s Monday morning and you have a mountain of work, making your schedule look more like Mount Everest than a walk in the park. Thankfully the caffeine will soon kick in, you will start to feel happier, more relaxed…and potentially even excited about your week ahead. That’s what coffee does to you: it opens your mind to possibilities. It keeps you going until wine o’clock when it’s time to chill out and do your best to enjoy the view of where you got so far on Mount Everest. After all, each day you get a little bit further up the mountain and instead of stressing out the best thing to do is to relax and enjoy the view that is a little bit better than yesterday. Even if you actually managed to fall and go down the mountain that day, at least you know one more route that DOESN’T work. Edison found 100 ways of how not to make a light bulb, before he made a light bulb.

47e44866c9025549de657d5553edf346

Here at the Wholesale Coffee Co. we love Monday mornings. It’s time for strategy sessions surrounded by green coffee beans, fresh roasted coffee beans, espresso machines, and fresh espresso served all round – whether made by Nespresso machines, or we ground our own coffee beans and made the espresso with a traditional espresso machine. It’s quite a treat.

The best thing about Mondays though is love. No, seriously. If you love what you do Mount Everest looks kind of grand from the Monday morning perspective. Quite divine in fact – it’s your mission, your purpose in life. Or at least part of it. The other part might be friends, family, relationships, hobbies…and as with work they are all mountains as everything comes with obstacles. It should seem like a bad thing though, but rather like climbing a mountain – a mountain where every day you get a grander view.

Life is a loving work. Work fueled by coffee beans… And if you are looking to buy coffee online, you know where to find us 😉

937a54261b65aaf0dd05331c77e8e7bf

 

Homemade chocolate syrup for coffee

Posted on by Sara Walker

1024px-Chocolate_syrup_topping_on_ice_creamIf you love speciality coffees such as mocha and cappuccino, you might have considered making your own chocolate syrup to keep handy for adding to drinks. Chocolate syrup is a really useful addition to the kitchen – not only is it great for adding punch to coffee, you can also use it for making a quick chocolate milkshake, adding to baking recipes or pouring over ice cream for an easy pudding.

Home made chocolate syrup recipe

170g light brown sugar (Demerara)

170g granulated sugar

125g unsweetened cocoa powder

240ml cold water

Optional – one tablespoon flavouring extract, such as vanilla, orange or almond
Place the sugars and cold water in a heavy saucepan, and stir with a wooden spoon until fully mixed. Add the water, and whisk vigorously until no lumps remain. Turn the heat onto low, and stir until the sugars melt and the liquid is fully combined. Turn the heat to medium, and bring to a boil, stirring constantly to make sure the liquid doesn’t stick to the pan and burn. Once boiled, turn the heat back down to low and allow to simmer, until the liquid has reduced and the mixture has thickened to a syrupy, pouring consistency. Remove from heat, and stir in the flavouring extract if using. Pour into a clean, sterilised bottle and allow to cool completely before sealing and placing in the refrigerator. The syrup should keep for four – six weeks if stored in the refrigerator.

If you’d like to keep a bottle of chocolate syrup on stand by in your kitchen but don’t have time to make it yourself, then browse our range of top quality readymade syrups on the Coffee Ingredients page of our website. A one litre bottle of syrup is only £7.29, and we have a range of flavours to choose from including chocolate.

Swedish Cinnamon Rolls or “Kanelbullar”

Posted on by Sara Walker

Kanelbullar which directly translates to cinnamonbuns are a Swedish delicacy that you eat with…you guessed it: a good cup of coffee! (The Swedes are in the top five coffee drinking nations in the world, with Finland topping the list…maybe because it’s dark in winter the Nordic countries love some coffee to keep them going?) In Sweden the smell of fresh roasted coffee beans gingerly mingles with the smell of freshly made cinnamon rolls and once you get used to that smell you might want more…

We decided to share two different recipes with you – one is a bit unusual using pumpkin in it, but you could exchange that for applesauce (potentially sweetened). These delicious rolls will be the perfect companion to the coffee beans you buy from us. By buying coffee online you save yourself the trip to the shop, so why not use that time to bake instead?

31724_735404048.jpg_200

Cinnamon Rolls, original recipe can be found here.

DOugh

  • 3 dl yoghurt (300g)
  • 25 g fresh yeast
  • Just about 7 dl wheatflour (400g)
  • 1/2 dl honey (60g)
  • 1/2-1 tsp ground cardamom
  • 1 tbsp rapeseed oil
  • 1/2 tsp salt

FILLing

  • 100 g marzipan (or almond paste – it contains sugar and almond)
  • 1 dl almonds, whole (NOT blanched) (ca.50g)
  • 1 dl raisins (ca.50g)
  • 1 1/2 tbsp ground cinnamon
  • 1 dl applesauce
  • 1 egg for glazing

Instructions:

Ca. 24 buns

Crumble the yeast and add yoghurt at room temperature.

Add the flour whilst kneading, make sure you don’t get too much flour! Add honey, cardamom, oil and salt. Knead till you have a smooth dough.

Knead for about 10 min with a bread maker, or by hand. Let the dough rise to about double the size in a bowl covered by a clean towel in a room with no draft.

Take out the dough and roll with a rolling pin to an even square ca. 40×40 cm.

Grate the marzipan/almond paste. Chop or blend the almonds roughly, save 2 tablespoons for decoration. Mix marzipan, chopped almonds, raisins, cinnamon and applesauce.

Spread the filling over the dough, but save one thin line at one edge. Whisk the egg and brush the edge with no filling with it.

Roll the dough with the filling in it – roll so that you save the edge with the egg on it for last, using that to make the roll stick together properly.

Measure and cut the dough roll into 24 pieces for medium size cinnamon rolls. Cut it as soon as you’ve made the roll as if you wait it will be more difficult to cut as the dough will continue to rise. Use a sharp knife, preferably a bread knife.

Put baking paper on a baking tray and place the buns on it. You can also just put them straight on the tray if you butter it first, however, the buns might leave a mess for you to clean up on the tray. The buns will rise a lot, so leave a lot of space around each bun.

Brush the buns with the whisked egg and toss the chopped almond you have left over them for decoration.

Let the buns rise for about 50-60 mins (double in size – if they aren’t yet double in size let them stand for a while longer). Whilst rising cover them with a clean towel and ensure they are in a room with no draft and not in a cold spot either.

Then put the tray(s) in the bottom part of the oven – 225 degrees Celsius for 10-12 minutes. If you use a convection oven, you can keep it at 200 degrees instead. Once ready take them out to cool down on a grid covered by a clean towel once more. Serve warm.

Alternatively you can use butter, sugar, cinnamon and cardamom as filling.

Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls, original recipe here. 

Ingredients:

40 cinnamon rolls

  • 50 g fresh yeast for sweet dough
  • 900 g wheat or spelt flour
  • 1 dl granulated sugar
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 2 tsp freshly ground cardamom
  • 150 g butter
  • 3 dl milk
  • 2 yoghurt
  • 1 egg

Pumpkin filling

  • 100 g margarine, room temperature
  • 100 g  granulated sugar
  • 2 tbsp ground cinnamon
  • 2 dl pumpkin puree
  • ½ dl pearl sugar (also known as nib or hail sugar)

Instructions:

  • Heat up milk and yoghurt to luke warm (no warmer than 36 degrees C). Crumble the yeast to small pieces with your fingers and add to the fluid once warm. Add cardamom, flour, and soft butter cut into pieces. Knead into a soft, smooth dough. Let it rise in a place with no draft, covered by a clean towel, for 40 mins.
  • Prepare the pumpkin puree by roasting, or boiling the pumpkin and then put it in a blender till it reaches the desired, smooth, consistency.
  • Mix all ingredients for the filling.
  • Using a rolling pin roll the dough into two rectangles about 0.5-1cm thick. Spread the pumpkin filling evenly over the rectangles.
  • Roll the dough (so that you start folding from the longest side, ie you end up witha  roll the length of the rectangle) and cut in 2cm slices. Cover a baking tray with baking paper. Whisk the egg lightly, brush the cinnamon rolls with the egg and toss some pearl sugar atop.
  • Let the cinnamon rolls rise for 20 mins, then put them in an oven for 10-15 mins, 220ºC in a convection oven (ie an oven that blows hot air around inside…).

Coffee Chilli Con Carne

Posted on by Sara Walker
As winter is coming up we believe this coffee chilli con carne will be just what you need for the dinner table – perfect for a night by the fire! Yep, that’s right – you heard us – you can use coffee in your cooking, not just in your desserts! In fact coffee can be used as a meat tenderizer as well, but this recipe simply calls for well, freshly brewed coffee. We always recommend using fresh roasted coffee beans, which you grind and use immediately for the very best flavour. However, as there are many other ingredients in here, even if you don’t have access to fresh roasted coffee beans, you should be fine!
This recipe comes from Great British Chefs.

chilli

  • 800g of diced beef
  • 3 large onions, finely sliced
  • 4 garlic cloves, finely sliced
  • 395g of red kidney beans in chilli sauce
  • 1/2 tsp of chilli flakes
  • 960ml of coffee, can use decaffeinated
  • 2 tsp of cumin seeds, toasted
  • 1 tsp of dried oregano
  • 4 tsp of chilli powder, mild
  • 1 tsp of muscovado sugar
  • 2 tbsp of olive oil
  • 1 pinch of salt
  • 1 pinch of black pepper
  • 2 tsp of smoked paprika

Basmati rice

  • 300g of basmati rice
  • 450ml of water

To serve

  • 1 bunch of coriander
  • 150ml of half-fat sour cream
  • 2 limes
  • 2 green chillies, optional
  • 2 tomatoes, diced
1. Soak the dried chilli flakes in a little hot water for 2 minutes, then drain
2. Place a pan over a high heat and add olive oil. Once hot, add the diced beef and sear until nicely coloured. Set aside
3. Clean the pan, place over a medium heat and add a tablespoon of oil. Once hot, add the onions and garlic and cook until just beginning to brown
4. Add the meat back to the pan along with the sugar, chilli powder, paprika, cumin and oregano. Stir to combine
5. Add the coffee and the soaked chilli flakes to the pan, making sure the meat is covered
6. Cover and cook on the lowest heat possible. Simmer until the meat starts to fall apart, approximately 60-90 minutes
7. Meanwhile, add the rice to a small pot, cover in cold water. Rinse by moving the rice around with your hands. Pour off the white milky water and repeat twice more
8. Drain the excess water, leave to stand for 20 minutes. Add the 450ml of water and place the pot over a high heat. Bring to the boil, cover with a lid and turn down to the lowest heat possible
9. Cook for 12 minutes, or until the rice is just cooked. Remove from the heat and allow to stand, covered, for 2 minutes before serving
10. Remove the lid and add the beans, allow to cook until thickened and rich in flavour. Add a pinch of salt and pepper
11. Divide the chilli across 4 warmed bowls along with the rice. Garnish with the sour cream, chopped coriander, fresh chilli and diced tomato. Serve immediately with wedges of lime to lighten it up. Sour cream is not absolutely essential but will add a refreshing taste to counter the spice of the chilli

Top seven drinks with flavoured syrups

Posted on by Sara Walker

caramel-syrupNew to using flavoured coffee syrups, or stuck for ideas? They’re a versatile addition to your kitchen or catering business. Here are our top seven suggestions for how to use them.

1. Coffee – of course. They’re called ‘flavoured coffee syrups’, after all! From adding a shot of caramel syrup to your latte to creating a more adult mix of Irish cream syrup, espresso and milk, flavoured syrups are the ideal way of creating coffee-shop-style drinks at home.

2. Hot chocolate. For the ultimate luxury hot chocolate, add a measure of mint syrup to the drink, and top with squirty cream and a chocolate mint. Gingerbread and cinnamon syrups are great for creating special Christmas drinks – add a measure to the hot chocolate, sprinkle a little spice over the top and serve with a spiced shortbread or ginger biscuit on the side.

3. Flavoured milkshakes

For a fantastic fruity treat, put 250ml semi-skimmed milk into a blender, and add 8 – 10 chopped strawberries and strawberry syrup to taste. Blend until combined, and serve with ice.

4. Iced coffee

Mix 100ml espresso and 200ml cold milk with crushed ice, and add amaretto or hazelnut syrup to taste.

5. Non alcoholic cocktail

Mix 1 measure of strawberry syrup with 100ml of apple juice, and top up with lemonade. Stir in some chopped mint. Top with a cocktail stick holding fresh strawberries.

6. Ice cream float

Add a scoop of vanilla ice cream to a tall glass, and pour over a measure of vanilla syrup. Top up the glass with lemonade, and provide a long spoon!

7. Alcoholic coffee

Make a standard black coffee, and add 1 measure of vanilla syrup, and 1 measure of Irish cream liqueur. Top with whipped cream and chocolate sprinkles, and, if possible, a vanilla pod.

We’ve a full range of flavoured syrups available, including dark and white chocolate, strawberry, vanilla, amaretto, caramel, gingerbread, cinnamon, hazelnut and Irish cream, all at only £7.29 for a litre. To buy flavoured syrups online, visit our coffee ingredients page.

How to use flavoured coffee syrups

Posted on by Sara Walker

caramel-syrupWith flavoured speciality coffee becoming increasing popular, you’re now spoilt for choice with syrup flavours, from mint and vanilla to cinnamon spiced and chocolate, both white and dark. As well as adding a shot of syrup to coffee or hot chocolate for a drink with a twist, there are plenty of other ways to make use of flavoured syrup in your kitchen.

Sugar and spice

  • Make an easy sauce for ice cream or fruit by melting 75g of butter and 75g of cocoa powder together in a pan over a low heat. Add sufficient syrup to give the sauce a pouring consistency; amaretto, ginger and vanilla flavours work particularly well.
  • Make the ultimate strawberry sundae by marinating fresh strawberries in strawberry syrup overnight in the refrigerator. Lay the fruit with strawberry ice-cream, vanilla ice-cream and chocolate shavings in a tall glass. Finish the dish off with a fresh strawberry and a drizzle of syrup.
  • Use strawberry or vanilla syrup to glaze the fruit in a fruit tart just before serving, to give it an appetising finish.
  • When making a chocolate mousse, add a tablespoon of flavoured syrup to the melted chocolate before adding the eggs – we like gingerbread, amaretto and mint flavours.
  • Stunning savouries
  • Add a tablespoon of strawberry or vanilla syrup to a beef stew during the last half hour of cooking, for a richer flavour.
  • For a quick, light lunch, toast two or three slices of French bread. Top each one with a slice of goats’ cheese, and place under a hot grill until the cheese is just starting to melt. Drizzle a little balsamic vinegar and vanilla syrup over the cheese, and serve with walnuts and a green salad.

To buy flavoured syrups online for all your culinary and drink needs, please visit our coffee ingredients page.

 

 

Make your own coffee ingredients – caramel flavoured syrup

Posted on by Sara Walker

caramel-syrupIf you’re a fan of coffee-shop-style flavoured coffees, you might like to consider making your own flavoured syrups. They’re fairly easy to make, just requiring a little caution when handling the hot liquid, and you can personalise them to your taste by experimenting with spices and sugar levels.

Homemade caramel flavoured syrup

Use a heavy bottomed pan, and turn the hob to a low heat setting. Cover the bottom of the pan with a layer of granulated sugar about 2cm thick, and add enough boiling water to make a thick paste. Put the pan on the hob, and stir the mixture continuously. After a while, it will start to bubble and turn a light brown colour as the sugar caramelises. At this stage, the liquid will be extremely hot – take great care that none of it splashes onto your hands as you stir. Take the pan off the heat, and let it stand for a minute or so. The mixture should be a golden brown, and it will continue to cook for a while as it stands. If necessary, return the pan to the heat and let it cook a little more, but don’t let it get to the dark brown stage, or it’ll taste burnt.

Once the mixture is golden brown, let it cool – it might thicken and harden considerably. Always let the pan cool before moving to the next stage, as otherwise the caramel may spit and scald you as you add the water. Next, pour a little boiling water into the pan, and heat it very gently until the caramel dissolves into the water. Continue to add more water, a little at a time, until you have a pouring consistency.

Sterilise a bottle, either by boiling it in water or heating it in the oven. Let the bottle cool before you fill it with syrup, then seal with a clean cap or cork. Add a little syrup to coffee for a caramel flavour.

If you love caramel syrup, but don’t want the effort of making your own, check out our full range of flavoured syrups on our coffee ingredients page, priced at only £7.29 a litre.

Milk options for your coffee machine

Posted on by Sara Walker

Milk_glassConsidering a coffee machine for your office or catering business? First, think about what type of milk you’d like to offer with your coffee, as different machines take different milk types.

Fresh milk

Most coffee drinkers would agree that fresh milk gives the ultimate taste and creaminess, and offers the best all-round experience. It’s suitable for use in top of the range coffee machines, which have separate containers for milk.

Advantages: superior taste

Disadvantages: difficult to keep and store as requires constant refrigeration

UHT milk

UHT milk is fresh milk that’s been heat treated to give it a longer shelf life. Unopened, it does not require refrigeration making it easier to store. Again, it can be used in some coffee machines which have separate containers for milk. It’s also commonly served in individual pots for stirring into coffee once brewed.

Advantages: long shelf life, ambient storage temperature

Disadvantages: inferior taste to fresh milk, requires refrigeration or quick usage once opened

Powdered milk/coffee creamer

Powered milk is fresh milk that’s been dehydrated to powder form. It’s very stable and easy to transport and keep, and has a long shelf life. The ingredients of coffee creamer, sometimes called coffee whitener, can vary, but usually involve powdered milk and added oils, to give a creamier, fresher taste. These types of milk are commonly found in coffee machines, as they don’t deteriorate quickly once opened.

Advantages: Easy to store, slow to deteriorate

Disadvantages: Tastes inferior to fresh milk

Moouw

Moouw is a new product from Denmark, a powdered milk that’s been specially developed to match fresh milk in aroma and taste. This unique product is made from a mix of skimmed milk and full fat milk powder, and allows customers to enjoy the convenience of powdered milk with a fresh milk taste.

If you’d like to learn more about Moouw, or to browse our range of powdered milk and coffee creamers, please visit our coffee ingredients page.

From Aztec to office – the journey of hot chocolate powder

Posted on by Sara Walker

Hot chocolate has a long and varied history. Venerated as a royal drink in Mexico, it was brought to Spain in the mid 15th century, and soon became popular with Europeans. Modern hot chocolate is a far cry from the original drink, though, which was made by mixing hot water and finely ground cocoa beans. As the beans still contained all their natural cocoa butter, they didn’t mix evenly with the water and turned into a sort of gritty broth with a layer of fat floating on top – not very appealing to modern tastes.

It wasn’t until the early 19th century that a Dutch chemist, Coenraad Johannes Van Houten, discovered a way of removing some of the cocoa butter. The resulting powder was treated with an alkali, so that it mixed more evenly with water. This alkali process is still known as ‘dutching’ in the chocolate industry, in honour of its discovery, and the Van Houten company still have a reputation for manufacturing top quality hot chocolate to this day.

Nowadays, the process involves giant hydraulic presses, which squeeze out the cocoa butter. Baking soda is added as the alkali, and the resulting product is cooled, crushed and sifted into powder. Sugar and sometimes milk powder is added to make a product that’s ready to drink with the addition of hot water, and it’s then packaged. Some of the hot chocolate goes off to catering industries for use as a flavouring, and the rest goes to retailers.

The cocoa butter residue is used by the cosmetics industry, among others.

So next time you’re enjoying a cup of creamy, smooth hot chocolate from your coffee machine, think about how far cocoa has come on its journey from bean to delicious drink. If you’re topping up your coffee machine with chocolate powder, check out our range of coffee ingredients, including Van Houten standard, less sugar and fairtrade varieties.

The story of chocolate

Posted on by Sara Walker

1024px-ChampurradoIf you ever decide to forgo your normal coffee in favour of a cup of drinking chocolate, you’re actually continuing a custom that  goes back hundreds if not thousands of years.

Columbus brought a few cocoa beans back to Spain in 1492, but they failed to cause a stir – the dark brown, bitter beans seemed useless and were forgotten until the following century. In the early 16th century, the great Spanish explorer Hernando Cortez was travelling round Mexico when he discovered the Aztec Indians using cocoa beans to prepare ‘chocolatl’, their royal drink. The original chocolate was so bitter and unpalatable to Europeans that Cortez soon had the idea of adding cane sugar. The Spanish experimented with adding various spices, and eventually with heating the drink, producing something more similar to the hot chocolate we know today. The drink became so popular in Spain that the decision was made to plant cocoa plants in Spanish overseas territories to ensure a better supply. Amazingly, the Spanish managed to keep the secret of their wonder drink to themselves for almost a hundred years, and it didn’t spread to the rest of Europe until the 17th century.

It may seem incredible, but solid eating chocolate wasn’t commercially available until the mid-19th century, and milk chocolate is an even more recent newcoming, making its appearance in Switzerland at the end of the 19th century.

Today, drinking chocolate is still extremely popular for its comforting and even mood enhancing properties. It’s also a great way of warming up in cold weather or cheering yourself up on a rainy day. Modern hot chocolate is so simple to prepare, and just needs the addition of hot water. If you’d like to buy whole hot chocolate powder online for your catering business, restaurant or vending machine, please visit our coffee ingredients page for a great range to suit all tastes.