Tag: coffee

Low fat chocolate and coffee muffins

Posted on by Sara Walker

It’s January, traditional season of dieting and denial, and ‘weight loss’ tops many people’s list of New Year’s resolutions.
If crash diets aren’t for you, you can still make small but significant changes to your normal routine for a healthier lifestyle. If your daily ‘vice’ is a cup of coffee made from freshly-ground coffee beans, and you can’t get through the day without a slice of cake to go with it, just look out for healthier options – there are some great low-fat recipes available. Look for suggestions that use fresh fruit, vegetables, fat-free yoghurt or crème fraîche to replace some or all or the fat in a recipe, or try our low fat chocolate and coffee muffins for a healthier treat that doesn’t compromise on flavour.
Makes 12. Cals per muffin approx. 200

You’ll need:
For the muffins:
• 3 tablespoons sunflower oil
• 100 ml skimmed milk
• 1 egg, beaten
• 100g carrots, peeled and finely grated
• 300g plain flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 100g caster sugar
• 25g cocoa
• 60g raisins or other dried fruit
For the topping:
• 25g dark chocolate chips
• 1 tablespoon strong black coffee, preferably made from freshly-ground coffee beans for maximum flavour
• 50g low fat cream cheese
• 50g fat-free Greek yogurt
• 1 tablespoon icing sugar
You’ll also need a 12-hole muffin tin, and some paper muffin cases.

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees C. Prepare the tin by lining each hole with a paper muffin case. Mix the oil, milk, egg and carrots together in a large bowl, then stir in the flour, baking powder, sugar and cocoa. Mix until just combined, then stir in the raisins.

2. Fill each muffin case no more than two thirds full, and bake until well-risen and golden. Leave to cool.

3. Meanwhile, melt the chocolate chips and coffee together in the microwave until fully liquid. Leave to cool. In another bowl, beat the cream cheese, yoghurt and icing sugar together until fully combined, then carefully add the chocolate mixture and stir. Top each muffin with a generous spoonful of icing.

The Coffee Quiz

Posted on by Sara Walker

The Coffee Quiz

Think you’re a caffeine fiend? Find out how much you really know about your favourite drink with our coffee quiz.

1.What are ‘green’ coffee beans?
a. a particular variety of bean, highly prized for their delicate flavour
b. beans that have been harvested and dried but not roasted
c. unripe beans

2. What does ‘cappuccino’ mean?
a. It’s Italian for ‘little hood’ – the drink’s named for the Capuchin monks who wore coffee-brown robes
b. It’s Italian for ‘sweet milk’, and refers to the smooth milky texture of the drink
c. It’s Italian for ‘spice’, as the drinks are often flavoured with nutmeg and cinnamon

3. Which type of coffee is exported and drunk in the greatest quantities?
a. Arabica
b. Robusta

4. What are coffee beans more correctly known as?
a. Stones or pods
b. Pips or pits
c. Cherries or berries

5. How long are coffee beans roasted for?
a. around 7 – 14 minutes, depending on the strength required
b. around 20 – 30 minutes
c. around 1 – 2 hours

6. The cafetière, a simple coffee making device consisting of a glass jug and plunger, is more commonly known in the USA as:
a: an Italian plunger
b. a French Press
c. A German pot

7. When was the first commercial decaffeination process patented?
a. 1951
b. 1975
c. 1906

8. What’s the best place to store coffee?
a. a cool, dark, dry place
b. the fridge or freezer
c. somewhere warm, such as a shelf above the oven or on a windowsill

9. When did the first coffee house open in Britain?
a. 1652
b. 1752
c. 1852

10. What are the ingredients of Irish coffee?
a. brandy, coffee, cream
b. whiskey, coffee, milk
c. whiskey, coffee, cream

Answers:
1 – b; 2 – a; 3 – a; 4 – c; 5 – a; 6 – b; 7 – c; 8 – a; 9 – a; 10 – c

The secret coffee shop chain

Posted on by Sara Walker

Empty spaces, closing down sales and clone town high streets. Sound familiar? Clone towns and empty high street shop fronts aren’t new topics for discussion, but what about chain stores disguised to look like independently run shops?

This is exactly what Harris + Hoole, the new chain of high street coffee shops is doing. The company which is partially owned by Tesco plans to convert some of the now empty Clinton Cards shops into ‘indie’ like coffee houses.

Harris and Hoole may be 49% owned by Tesco but the company is also run by three siblings from London who aim to provide ‘good coffee’ made from fresh coffee beans served by ‘happy people’. The name of the chain comes from the book ‘The Diary of Samuel Pepys’. The characters Harris and Hoole’ are both keen coffee drinkers. It’s a nice idea for a name.

On the menu, you’ll find a variety of coffee drinks from the flat white to more unusual options and all the coffee beans used have been recently harvested – so the coffee blends change depending on the season. Also, according to the website, all coffee beans are sourced directly by Union Hand Roasted which means farmers get a better deal.

It sounds good; however, many local residents are angry about the connection with Tesco and feel tricked into thinking they were buying from an independently run coffee shop. It probably seemed like a brave move for an independent coffee house to open up on the same street as a Costa, Starbucks or Café Rouge after all.

The next question to ask is, could this be the future of our high streets? Will more corporations start to team up with entrepreneurs to open up seemingly independent looking shops in the empty spaces once inhabited by chains like Clintons or Woolworths? Is this a positive move or one to be avoided? What are your thoughts?

Hangover Cures,Which is Best?

Posted on by Sara Walker

Can coffee ‘cure’ a hangover?

Whether it’s a quick after-work drink with colleagues or a full-blown formal party,
most of us tend to socialise more at this time of year, and that can lead to drinking a
little more alcohol as well. Unfortunately, we then have to suffer the consequences
of over-indulgence the following day. While hangovers affect everyone differently,
some of the more common symptoms are fatigue, an aching head, weakness and
vomiting. Most of us have a ‘tried-and-tested’ hangover cure, from English breakfast
fry-ups to raw eggs, but what’s scientifically most likely to work?

“Hair of the dog”

The name comes from the medieval belief that if you were bitten by a diseased
dog, placing a few of the dog’s hairs in the wound would lessen the consequences.
This hangover ‘cure’ involves taking a small amount of the same alcohol you were
drinking the previous night in order to relieve hangover symptoms, and some people
swear it works! The initial symptoms of a hangover can be caused by alcohol
withdrawal, and having another dose can temporarily alleviate those symptoms.
Medical experts don’t recommend this method though, and you’ll probably end up
feeling worse than you did before.

The Prairie Oyster

There are a number of hangover ‘cures’ involving raw eggs, of which the best known
is the Prairie Oyster – a mixture of Worcestershire sauce, brandy, raw egg and
angostura bitters. A similar, non-alcoholic version can be made with olive oil, tomato
ketchup, Tabasco, raw egg and lemon juice.

There’s some scientific basis for this one – eggs contain amino acids to help rid your
body of toxins, and tomatoes are a good source of antioxidants which will boost your
immune system – but it’s probably better to stick to the non-alcoholic version.

The Bacon Sandwich

The good old bacon butty is many people’s ‘cure’ of choice – and again, it seems
scientists agree. The combination of carbohydrate and protein breaks down into
amino acids, and the smell of the drying bacon stimulates your taste and smell
receptors, helping kick-start your system.

The Cup of Coffee

The most popular hangover ‘cure’, coffee is generally the first thing partygoers reach
for the morning after – and it seems it could be the most efficient method of all.
Research by scientists in Philadelphia shows that caffeine can help to counteract
the effects of too much alcohol, and when taken in conjunction with a painkiller, can
help to relieve headaches. If you’re feeling delicate, turning on the coffee machine
and treating yourself to a restorative drink made with freshly-roasted coffee beans
is almost guaranteed to help you feel human again, but remember that too much
caffeine can irritate an already-sensitive stomach. For the best results, alternate
cups of coffee with glasses of water or fruit juice to keep you hydrated, and get you
back on your feet again quickly.

Coffee Inspired Holidays & Vacation Spots

Posted on by Sara Walker


If you consider yourself a coffee lover you probably try to sneak in as much coffee as possible to your life. And not only in the form of freshly brewed cups of coffee to indulge in, but also ice cream, alcoholic drinks and other desserts that have coffee flavour (do you know that you can cook regular meals with coffee as well? Apparently soaking your beef in coffee works great as a tenderizer…). In addition to this there’s coffee inspired art and even paintings made with coffee. Of course there’s also the books, the coffee shops you need to visit and all the gadgets you need to buy…like that brand new espresso machine, or French press… You can actually take it further than this though and go on a coffee inspired vacation. If you love coffee, what better way to spend a holiday than at a coffee farm, or visiting a city where the world’s best coffee is served?

Brazil isn’t just home of one of the greatest carnivals on earth, but also a lot of coffee farms. A lot, a lot! You can combine a visit to the carnival with several visits to coffee plantations. You even have the option of going horseback riding through them!

One place to visit for a splendid coffee vacation is Nicaragua. This Latin American country has a lot to offer its visitors, not least the beautiful mountainous Matagalpa region where coffee is grown. There you can stay in eco-lodges and combine an environmentally friendly (minus the flying) vacation with some great coffee tasting.

Kona coffee is a very rare variety as it is only grown in Hawaii and the islands aren’t particularly big. It is also the only coffee grown in the USA. Of course when visiting Hawaii there are many other wonderful things to do such as watching the whales, visiting the rainforest and going surfing – after all it’s surfer’s paradise.

Italy. What can we say? Home of the espresso and definitively worth visiting for many other reasons also. There is stunning history to be found in Rome and the natural beauty of Tuscany. There’s romance in Venice and enough pasta in every town to make your mouth water!

Espresso Candies – Recipe

Posted on by Sara Walker

The holidays are over, so why not celebrate by making some candy? After all, there should be nice candy around all year long and not only for Christmas and New Year’s! Given all the funky stuff you find in store bought candy these days it might be nice to make a batch of your own containing whole food ingredients only. And it will probably impress anyone you serve it to! Of course if you have children it’s always good fun to make treats together with them to teach them to appreciate the kitchen, but when you make candy you have to be careful as no child should come in contact with it whilst it’s still hot as it can leave nasty burn marks.

This is a recipe we found at 101 Cookbooks, whom we regularly consult for amazing ideas for what to serve with coffee! In this recipe you can choose to use nuts, or leave them out. It’s entirely up to what you prefer.

2 1/2 cups walnuts, toasted and chopped
1 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon espresso powder / finely ground espresso beans
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 cup honey

Special equipment: candy thermometer
Place the nuts in a medium sized, glass or ceramic mixing bowl.
In a medium, thick-bottomed saucepan heat the cream, espresso powder, and salt until tiny bubbles start forming where the milk touches the pan – just before a simmer. Stir in the honey. Bring the mixture to a boil. Now reduce the heat to a simmer and cook, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, for about 15-20 minutes, or until the mixture reaches 260F degrees – hard ball stage. Remove from heat. Pour the caramel over the nuts and stir until all the nuts are well coated. Place the bowl in the refrigerator for 10 or 15 minutes to allow the caramel to thicken before you attempt to shape it. It is easier to handle this way – not as much spread. Stir one last time and drop by tablespoonful onto a prepared baking sheet (Silpat, parchment-lined, or oiled). Alternately, skip the nut addition and simply spread the (cooled but not set) caramel out on a slab or parchment-lined pan, let it cool completely before cutting into small pieces. Wrap & twist in parchment paper. In either case keep the caramels in a cool place (or refrigerate) until completely set. Makes 1 1/2 dozen nut caramels, or a couple dozen individual caramels (depending on the size).

Interesting, Weird And Amusing Facts About Coffee

Posted on by Sara Walker


As with anything popular coffee has a lot of stories surrounding it. Some true, some fictional and some that are in between the two!

Brazil, one of the biggest coffee growing countries in the world did actually not have any native coffee plants. Instead in 1727 Lt. Col. Francisco de Melo Palheta went to French Guiana to mediate a border dispute, but ended up seducing the First Lady. She got so smitten by him during their love affair that as a farewell gift she gave him a bouquet of coffee spiked with seedling! So thanks to love Brazil got their coffee and where would they be without it?

Way back when people didn’t drink coffee – African tribes mixed it with fat to make energy balls.

Coffee is the second most traded commodity on Earth – number one is oil!

Legend has it that Ethipoian farmers discovered the “beneficial” effects of coffee when their goats munched on the beans and started “dancing” and appearing frisky…

At one point in time in the coffee producing country of Brazil, they had such a surplus of coffee they tried making plastic out of it, amongst other things. We are not sure we want to know all the things they tried…

In 1675 the King of England banned coffee as he believed people got together in the coffee houses to say bad things about him…our question is: did he ban the pubs too? Then again, maybe coffee is a more potent ally in war than beer. Beer could make one’s aim a bit…blurry!

Jim Henson, the creator of the Muppets, got his start doing ads for coffee! Is the Swedish Chef in the Muppets a coffe-o-holic is the natural follow up question!

If you have dark wood furniture you can cover up scratches by dabbing some strong coffee on there with a cloth. Just wipe it down and let it dry a few times until it gets the right colour!

The term Americano comes from the GIs in WWII who asked for espressos that they then diluted with hot water to make them weaker. Thankfully it did not seem to make the soldiers themselves any weaker!

Shade Grown Coffee – An Environmental Bliss

Posted on by Sara Walker

Shade grown coffee might cost a penny or two more to buy, but it might be well worth your money. According to recent studies it does the environment a whole lot of good.

If you clear wooded “shade” plantations first of all it will hurt the biodiversity as the animals that used to live there will either have to move, or if they can’t, will die. It also makes it more difficult to control pests and can lead to crop losses. If pest control isn’t possible, people usually take to poison and sufficient to say most of us prefer as organic coffee as possible. Mainly because we won’t have to get the poison in our bodies, but also because poison doesn’t just kill the pest, but also animals that come across it.

“As you go to more and more open agriculture, you lose some bird groups that provide important ecosystem services like insect control [insect eaters], seed dispersal [fruit eaters], and pollination [nectar eaters], while you get higher numbers of granivores [seed and grain eaters] that actually can be crop pests,” Ça?an H ?ekercio?lu said in a University of Utah press release about a study in the Journal of
Ornithology.

Apparently the only birds that seem to prefer open farmland is the seed eaters, who might lead to a profit loss, as they eat the seeds you plant!

In a time when the environment is becoming more and more precious to us the more we can do to help it, the better. After all it would be lovely if generations to come still had a rainforest to visit. Not only does it provide plenty of oxygen for the planet, as well as stunning beauty, it also provides a lot of different plants that might very well contain cures to various diseases, such as cancer.

All of us aren’t die hard environmentalist whose main purpose in life is spending time lobbying for Greenpeace, but it’s nice to know that there are small, simple things one can do, such as paying two pennies extra for shade-grown coffee, cacao, cardamom and yerba-mate!

 

Coffee & Chocolate – A Combo To Die For?

Posted on by Sara Walker

Here are some chocolate and coffee combinations:
Chocolate syrup in your latte turns it into a mocha – why not experiment with mixing cacao with honey, or maple syrup (or both!) and making your very own chocolate syrup to stir in? You can also sprinkle cacao and sugar atop the froth!
Chocolate covered espresso beans are a good kick to munch on!
We found someone online experimenting with grinding cacao nibs to put in their ground coffee to make a new taste…maybe?!
Add a shot of espresso to your chocolate brownie recipe!
Have your next espresso with a square of dark chocolate.
Shade Grown Coffee – An Environmental Bliss
Shade grown coffee might cost a penny or two more to buy, but it might be well worth your money. According to recent studies it does the environment a whole lot of good.
If you clear wooded “shade” plantations first of all it will hurt the biodiversity as the animals that used to live there will either have to move, or if they can’t, will die. It also makes it more difficult to control pests and can lead to crop losses. If pest control isn’t possible, people usually take to poison and sufficient to say most of us prefer as organic coffee as possible. Mainly because we won’t have to get the poison in our bodies, but also because poison doesn’t just kill the pest, but also animals that come across it.
“As you go to more and more open agriculture, you lose some bird groups that provide important ecosystem services like insect control [insect eaters], seed dispersal [fruit eaters], and pollination [nectar eaters], while you get higher numbers of granivores [seed and grain eaters] that actually can be crop pests,” Ça?an H ?ekercio?lu said in a University of Utah press release about a study in the Journal of Ornithology.
Apparently the only birds that seem to prefer open farmland is the seed eaters, who might lead to a profit loss, as they eat the seeds you plant!
In a time when the environment is becoming more and more precious to us the more we can do to help it, the better. After all it would be lovely if generations to come still had a rainforest to visit. Not only does it provide plenty of oxygen for the planet, as well as stunning beauty, it also provides a lot of different plants that might very well contain cures to various diseases, such as cancer.
All of us aren’t die hard environmentalist whose main purpose in life is spending time lobbying for Greenpeace, but it’s nice to know that there are small, simple things one can do, such as paying two pennies extra for shade-grown coffee, cacao, cardamom and yerba-mate!

Chocolate Coffee Beans

Posted on by Sara Walker

Homemade Coffee Petit Fours

If you’re looking for an easy homemade Christmas present idea, these delicious
sweets are simple to make and look stunning presented in gift bags or boxes.
Alternatively, why not make a couple of batches to serve with coffee or instead of
pudding at a dinner party?

Chocolate Coffee Beans

You’ll need:

A small quantity of freshly-ground coffee beans
A coffee bean silicone mould
One small bar each of good quality dark, milk and white chocolate

Break the dark chocolate into small pieces, and place it in a microwave-proof bowl.
Melt the chocolate slowly in the microwave in twenty-second bursts, stirring between
each burst. Don’t rush this stage, as it’s easy to burn the chocolate and ruin it.
Sprinkle a tiny pinch of ground coffee into the bottom of each coffee bean mould,
then carefully spoon the chocolate into the moulds, levelling the top with a knife.
Place the mould in the fridge until the chocolate’s set, then turn the beans out. Wash
and dry the bowl and mould carefully, and repeat the process with the milk and white
chocolates. Store in an airtight container in a cool, dark place until needed.

Easy Coffee Chocolate Fudge

This basic recipe is very simple. Customise it with chopped walnuts or dried fruit
pieces.

You’ll need:

450g good quality plain chocolate

1 400g tin of condensed milk

1 good tsp instant coffee granules

Break the chocolate into a microwave-proof bowl, and melt it in the microwave as in
the above recipe. Stir in the condensed milk and coffee, and beat the mixture until it’s
smooth. Allow to cool a little. Cover the base and sides of a 20cm square dish with
clingfilm, , and pour in the mixture, smoothing it with a the back of a spoon. When
the fudge is completely cool, turn it out, remove the clingfilm and cut the fudge into
small squares. Place each square into a paper petit four case.

Chocolate-Covered Coffee Beans

A homemade version of a sophisticated treat.

You’ll need:

Whole, roasted coffee beans
Good quality plain chocolate
Edible gold lustre (optional)

Start by melting the chocolate in the microwave as detailed above. Cover a chopping
board with clingfilm. Drop the beans into the chocolate, and turn them with a spoon
until they’ve got an even coating. Remove the beans with the aid of two teaspoons,
and drop them onto the chopping board. Place the board in the fridge to set. When
completely set, brush a little edible gold lustre onto each sweet.