• 16 oz. glass or travel mug
• Ice
• Chilled, fresh-brewed, good quality coffee.  We recommend French Vanilla KaffeeScape® Coffee  Tip:  Put your leftover coffee from the morning into the fridge to use during the day
• Choice of milk
  Tip:  use sweetened condensed milk for a rich, sweet drink
• French Vanilla Stirling Flavored syrup, or flavoring of your choice
• Whipped cream (optional)

How To:

1. Fill glass with ice

2. Pour chilled brewed coffee until half full

3. Pour choice of milk until full

4. Add 1 Tbsp Stirling Flavored syrup and/or 1 Tbsp sugar if desired

5. Stir well

6. Top with whipped cream, if desired

7. Serve with straw

Now, I myself rarely attempt to bake alone.  Historically speaking, my baking successes have been… Spotty at best.  My sister bakes all the time, however, so on those (rare) occasions when I get the urge to whip something up in the kitchen, I generally force ask her to help.  Tonight was one of those nights…

We found a recipe at Cooks.com for coffee bars, which is as follows:

1 cup golden raisins (um, we don’t like raisins, so we substituted toffee and butterscotch chips)

2/3 cup strong coffee (we used Kaffeescape Big City Blend)

1/2 tsp cinnamon

2/3 cup butter

1 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

1  1/2 cups flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

Glaze:

1 1/2 cups confectioner’s sugar

coffee… and a tsp of milk if you want

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Combine raisins/ butterscotch and toffee, coffee and cinnamon and let stand.  Cream butter and sugar, adding eggs one at a time, and beating well.

Mix and sift flour, baking powder, soda and salt.  Add chip coffee and cinnamon mixture.  Combine with butter and sugar mixture.  Spread batter in 9 x 13 pan.  Bake for 20 to 25 minutes.  Or, if you are us, decide that there is not enough batter to make a sufficiently plump coffee cake in a 9 x 13 pan and move batter to a 9 x9 pan.

Take cake out, glaze with confectioner’s sugar (mix with the coffee until it reaches a very thin consistency and then pour over cake) and let cool.  OR, if you have put cake into a 9 x9 inch pan,  you will discover that it is still essentially raw batter in the center.  You will momentarily lose sight of the task at hand while you discuss rather heatedly whose idea it was to ditch that 9 x 13 pan.  Then you will regain your focus, turn the oven down to 300 degrees, put the cake back in, and keep checking it every five minutes, for about another HALF HOUR, until is finally cooked through and only slightly overdone on top.  If, however, you are a well-seasoned cook, or even just a smart enough person to blindly follow recipes and not divert from them on whims which have proved in the past to be disastrous, you will have used the 9 x 13 pan as instructed and will be by now enjoying a bite of this rich, delicious, and surprisingly simple coffee cake.  Bon apetit!

8 ounces semisweet chocolate
1 cup sugar
4 egg yolks
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
8 ounces cream cheese, cut into pieces, room temperature
1 3/4 cups chilled whipping cream
2 shots (4 oz.) of brewed espresso, cooled and diluted with water to make 1 1/4 cups
1 12-ounce prepared pound cake, cut into 3 1/2x1x1/2-inch strips

Directions:

Finely chop chocolate in processor. Set aside.

Mix sugar and egg yolks in processor 30 seconds. Add vanilla and process until pale yellow, about 1 minute. Add cheese in batches and blend until smooth. Transfer to medium bowl. Cover and chill 1 hour.

Beat whipping cream until stiff. Fold into cream cheese mixture. Cover and refrigerate until well chilled, about 1 hour. (Can be prepared 2 days ahead.)

Pour espresso into large shallow dish. Dip cake strips in espresso, turning to coat all sides lightly. Arrange strips on bottom of 10-cup shallow dish, smoothing with fingers to mold together. Sprinkle with half of chocolate. top with chilled cheese mixture. Sprinkle remaining chocolate over. Cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours. (Can be prepared 1 day ahead.)

Serves 8.

Ingredients:

For the coffee sponge:

3 tbsp strong ground coffee

3 tbsp near boiling water

2 eggs

1/4 cup dark brown sugar

1/3 cup self rising flour

1 1/2 tbsp sunflower or hazelnut oil

For the coconut custard:

1 2/3 cup canned coconut milk

3 eggs

3 tbsp super fine sugar

1/2 tsp cornstarch

For the filling and topping:

2 bananas

4 tbsp coffee liqueur

1 1 /4 cups double cream

2 tbsp confectioners’ sugar

fresh grated coconut, to decorate

1. Preheat oven to 325.  Grease and line a 7 in. square tin with baking parchment.

2. Put the coffee in a small pitcher.  Pour the hot water over and leave to infuse for 4 minutes.  Strain through a fine sieve, discarding the grounds.

3. Whisk the eggs and dark brown sugar in a large bowl until the whisk leaves a trail when lifted.

4. Gently fold in the flour, followed by 1 tbsp of the coffee and the oil.  Spoon the mixture into the tin and bake for 20 minutes, until firm.  Turn out onto a wire rack, remove the paper lining, and leave to cool.

5. To make the custard, heat the coconut milk in a pan until it is almost boiling.

6. Whisk the eggs, sugar and cornstarch together until frothy.  Pour into the hot coconut milk, whisking all the time.  Heat gently, stirring, for 1 to 2 minutes until the custard thickens, but do not boil.  Set aside to cool for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

7. Cut the coffee sponge into 2 in. squares and arrange in the base of a large glass bowl.  Slice the bananas and arrange on top of the sponge.  Drizzle the coffee liqueur on top.  Pour the custard over and leave until cold.

8. Whip the cream with the remaining coffee and confectioners’ sugar until soft peaks form.  Spoon the cream over the custard.  Cover and chill for several hours.  Sprinkle with ribbons of fresh coconut before serving.