Day 148 : Nutella Iced Coffee

Ok, so I know it’s starting to look like I have a nutella addiction…. and maybe I do, but I came up with this the other night and just had to share it with you all!  Although I enjoy making blended frappes at home with my nifty machine I have been craving just iced coffees lately and have been experimenting with new versions of that.  This is simply YUMMY!  Creamy, chocolatey, nutty, and satisfies both my need for dessert and coffee all at once!

I don’t measure when making my coffees, so below are just estimates.  Feel free to add more or less to your taste.

 

Nutella Iced Coffee

Serves : 1              Time to make : 5 minutes

Ingredients :

• 1/2 cup strong brewed coffee (I use hazelnut espresso beans)
• 2 T. nutella
• 1 T. chocolate syrup
• ice
• 2 T. fat free half and half
• milk (top off)

Directions :

1. Brew your coffee, then with that combine the nutella, chocolate syrup, and 2-3 ice cubes (helps it to blend) in a blender on high until well mixed.
2. Fill a tall glass about half full with ice then pour the coffee mixture over top.
3. Add the half and half and fill the rest of the way with milk.
4. Stir.

 

Day 81 : Tiramisu Frappe

Somehow I managed to mess up my back yesterday.  Since the moment I got out of bed this morning I have been pretty much unable to move without pain, and after a day of having to chase after my kids anyway because they don’t care about my excuses, I was not up for standing around the kitchen all night to make dinner.  We had pizza instead, but in the spirit of not missing a day of my blog I decided to make a frappe.  It has been a while since I have tried one of the recipes that came with the frappe machine, and since I am in pain I decided to go all out and do the adult version.

Normally I make my frappes with ice cream or frozen yogurt, instead of ice to get a creamy texture, but the heavy cream does just as well.  Of course it’s far from figure friendly, and when using frozen yogurt I can go with fat free…. but after a day like today I don’t really care lol.  I have to say, this was SOOOOOO good, and really did taste like tiramisu!

Just for some fun, I made a very quick chocolate decoration to put on top, but since I was in a bit of a hurry and not moving all that well I didn’t get it all off the paper in one piece.  There should have been more steam lines coming from the middle.  As you can see I also slightly melted the edge of the handle…. but you get the idea lol.  My son told me it was amazing anyway!

Tiramisu Frappe

Serves : 1        Time to make : 5 minutes

Ingredients :

• 1/2 cup strong brewed coffee or espresso
• 2 cups ice
• 2 T. chocolate syrup
• 1/4 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/4 heavy whipping cream
• 1/4 cup rum

Directions :

1. Put ice in blender and pour in other ingredients over top.
2. Blend on high until well combined and frothy.
3. Top with whip cream if you desire and a sprinkling of cinnamon.

Day 75 : Chocolate-Espresso Cupcakes

I am a bit late with these since it’s now three days past, but it had been my intention to make these for my birthday on Monday.  Since we were out of the house I just didn’t have the time.  I am the only person who will eat these in our house because Jeff absolutely hates coffee…. that’s partially why I chose them lol.  Anyway, I save a lot of dessert recipes that call for coffee because they sound SO good to me, but rarely get the chance to make them.  I figured cupcakes would be the perfect thing for the occasion.  I kept a few and will just send the rest with Jeff to work so I don’t have to feel TOO guilty lol.

I do think these were good, but I can see room for improvement too.  I thought the frosting was really good, but the cake part was just a bit bland and dry.  I like a really moist and chocolaty cake and I am sure there are other cake recipes I could use and just add a bit of espresso to in order to achieve the perfect mix with the frosting from this recipe.  The measurements were spot on for both the cake mix and the frosting, both of which I halved for today.  I got 12 cupcakes exactly and had just enough frosting to generously frost all 12.  I can’t stand it when a recipe has a lot of extra because I never know what to do with it, and can’t just throw it away lol.  I took the liberty of adding a few chocolate sprinkles on top just for aesthetic reasons, but they are optional of course.  I used plain instant coffee for this, but I might even try something like hazelnut mocha powder next time to see how that turns out.

 

Chocolate-Espresso Cupcakes

Serves : 24            Time to make : 40 minutes

Ingredients :

• 1 cup butter
• 3/4 cup cocoa powder
• 1 (4 oz.) bittersweet baking bar, chopped
• 2 tsp. instant espresso powder
• 1 1/2 cup sugar
• 4 large eggs
• 1 3/4 cup flour
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 3/4 tsp. baking soda
• 1 cup sour cream

Frosting

• 5 T. heavy whipping cream
• 2 tsp. instant epsresso powder
• 1 cup butter, softened
• 5 cups confectioners sugar

Directions :

1. In a double boiler combine butter, cocoa powder, baking bar, and espresso powder.  Heat over a low boil until melted and smooth.  Remove from heat and allow to cool for 20 minutes.
2. Preheat oven to 350 and line your muffin pans.
3. With an electric mixer cream the eggs and sugar together until fluffy.
4. In a seperate bowl combine flour, salt, baking powder, & baking soda.  Slowly add to the butter and egg mixture and blend to combine.
5. Next blend in the cooled chocolate until smooth.
6. Stir in  the sour cream with a spoon.
7. Fill muffin cups and bake 12-14 minutes.  Allow to cool for 10 minutes before frosting.
8. To make frosting, combine all ingredients in a large bowl and beat with an electric mixer until creamy like a thick frosting.  Either pipe or spread onto your cooled cupcakes.