3 coffee-based treats to get you through mid-term

1. Chop up the 120g chocolate and place in a glass bowl.
2. In a small sauce pan, combine the espresso powder and cream with a whisk. Heat the cream and espresso together over high heat until it comes to a rolling simmer.
3. Pour the hot milk over the chocolate and let stand for 1 minute. DO NOT STIR!
4. Add the vanilla extract and butter and stir with a rubber spatula SLOWLY until all the chocolate has melted.
5. Pound the bowl on the counter 3-4 times to remove any air bubbles.
6. Allow the chocolate to cool, uncovered, until it reaches room temperature and begins to solidify. This should take 3-4 hours.
7. Line a flat baking sheet with wax paper.
8. Once the chocolate is solid, roll 1in balls of chocolate in your hands and place on the wax paper.
9. Freeze the balls for 2-3 hours or until completely firm and very cold.
10. Melt 80g chocolate over a double boiler.
11. One at a time, drop the cold balls into the melted chocolate. Move around with a fork to cover completely. Lift the chocolate with the fork and tap any excess.
12. Place the covered chocolate on the wax paper and immediately grind the chocolate/espresso over the top of the truffle. NOTE: If you don’t have a chocolate/espresso grinder, you can top the truffles with anything else you’d like: a coffee bean, sea salt. Store in an air tight container in the refrigerator. Remove 30 minutes prior to serving.

Recipe and image: JavaCupcake.com

Black Coffee Ice Cream

*You will need to beg, borrow or steal an ice cream machine for this one

Ingredients

2 cups cream
6 Tbsp espresso powder (instant espresso)
2 Tbsp Dark Cocoa Powder
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Instructions

1. Put one cup of the cream in a saucepan and stir in the espresso, cocoa powder, and sugar. Heat and stir just until everything gets dissolved.
2. Remove from heat and let cool. Add remaining half and half and vanilla and refrigerate until cold.
3. Pour the mixture into your ice cream machine and process according to its instructions.
4. Spoon the soft ice cream into a container and freeze.

Recipe and image: Theviewfromgreatisland.com

Espresso Biscotti

Ingredients

• One shot of espresso (if you have a Tassimo machine you can use one disc Carte Noire Espresso)
• 250 g flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
•  1 pinch of salt
• 1 egg
• 150 g sugar
• 1 teaspoon of lemon zest, finely grated
• 25 g almond powder
• 25 g ground almonds
• 50g whole almonds

Preheat your oven to 180 °C (fan oven). Prepare an Espresso and leave it to cool. Mix the flour, baking powder and salt together thoroughly. Separate the white from the yolk of the egg. Whisk the egg white until stiff. Add the yolk, the sugar, the lemon zest and the Espresso to the flour/salt/baking powder mix.

With the help of an electric whisk, blend all the ingredients together until crumbly. Incorporate the stiff egg whites into the mixture using the electric whisk. Add the almonds bit by bit. Form rolls about 3cm thick on a lightly floured surface. If the dough sticks, add a little more flour.

Place the rolls onto a sheet of baking paper, and then onto a baking tray. Bake for about 20 minutes in the preheated oven

Remove the rolls from the oven and cut them into slices about 1 to 2 cm thick (take care not to burn yourself!). Leave space between each segment and bake for another 5 minutes. Leave the almond biscotti to cool and serve with hot coffee.