Irish Coffee Crunchies....YUM!

This one looks soooo YUMMY and is a perfect addition to anyone's Holiday Party! I found this recipe at Cooking...by the seat of my Pants! I hope you enjoy. And, don't forget coffee and tea make wonderful holiday gifts so stop by Get The Bean and order yours now. We have coffee from around the world to choose from, whole bean or ground. We are also selling some unique Limited Edition Flavors. If you are in a hurry you can buy one of our gift baskets to send for the holidays. Bryan and Meaghan hand picked the flavors to go into each gift box, or you can design your own.

Enjoy the recipe!

Irish Coffee Crunchies

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter (1 stick), softened
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 4 tsp. Irish whiskey
• 4 tsp. strong coffee
• 2 tsp. heavy cream
• 2 cups quick-cooking oats
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar
• 3-5 tbsp. boiling water

Method:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cream butter and sugar in a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer until light and fluffy. Beat in 2 tsp. Irish whiskey, 2 tsp. strong coffee and 1 tsp. heavy cream. Add oats, flour and baking powder. Combine mixture by hand until it forms a dough.

Roll out dough on a floured surface to 1/8 inch thick. Cut rounds with a 2 1/2 inch round cookie or biscuit cutter. Bake rounds on a buttered cookie sheet, on a cookie sheet lined with buttered parchment paper or on a silicone mat for 15 minutes or until lightly browned. Transfer to a cooling rack and allow to cool completely.

In a small bowl, combine 2 tsp. Irish whiskey, 2 tsp. strong coffee and 1 tsp. heavy cream. Add 1 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar to a large bowl and add whiskey mixture and 3 tbsp. boiling water. Stir to combine. If mixture is too thick, add more water 1 tsp. at a time unil a spreadable consistancy is achieved.

Spread icing on 1 cookie round. Top with another round. repeat for all cookie rounds. Place rounds on a cooling rack and drizzle with icing. (a spoon or a honey drizzler work great for this). Allow to sit several hours to allow icing to harden.

Coffee Liqueur

I found this great recipe from Mercury News Let me know what you think!

Recipe: coffee liqueur

Luscious Liqueurs: 50 Recipes for Sublime and Spirited Infusions to Sip and Savor' by A.J. Rathbun

Coffee liqueur

Makes about 3 pints

1/4 cup instant espresso powder

21/2 cups light brown sugar

1 cup water

1/4 cup whole coffee beans of your choice

3 cups brandy

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Combine instant espresso powder, sugar and water in a medium-size saucepan over medium-high heat. Stir occasionally until mixture comes almost to a boil. Lower heat, keeping mixture on a low simmer for 5 minutes. Turn off heat, and let syrup cool completely in pan.

Put syrup, coffee beans and brandy in a glass container with a tight lid. Stir well. Seal and place container in a cool, dry spot away from sunlight. Let sit for two weeks, swirling occasionally.

Add vanilla, stir again and reseal. Return to its spot. Let sit for two more weeks.

Carefully strain liqueur through a double layer of cheesecloth into a pitcher or easy-pouring vessel. Strain again through two new layers of cheesecloth into one large bottle or a number of small bottles or jars.

Frosted Coffee and Walnut Layer Cake

I found this recipe in The Times Online and it was created by Gordon Ramsay. It looks absolutely delicious and I will be attempting it this weekend. Let me know if any of you try it out :)




The frosting used in this recipe is known as meringue cuite, used for cake fillings, icings and meringue baskets. Since the egg whites are only partially cooked, they may not be suitable for some (pregnant women and those more susceptible to salmonella – the very young, old or those who have impaired immune systems).

225g unsalted butter, softened, plus extra for greasing

225g dark muscovado sugar

4 large free-range eggs, lightly beaten

100g walnuts, finely chopped

75ml espresso, cooled

225g self-raising flour

2 tsp baking powder

12 walnut halves, to decorate

FOR THE FROSTING

2 large free-range egg whites

100g icing sugar, sifted

Few drops of vanilla essence

1 Preheat the oven to 170C/Gas 3. Butter and line the base and sides of 3 x 20cm sandwich tins with the extra butter and greaseproof paper.

2 Cream the butter and muscovado sugar in a large mixing bowl using a hand-held electric beater until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, a little at a time, until fully incorporated. Fold in the chopped walnuts, followed by half of the espresso. Sift the flour and baking powder together over the mixture and fold this through the wet mixture. Finally, fold in the remaining espresso.

3 Divide the mixture evenly between the cake tins and level the surface with a spatula. Bake in the preheated oven for about 25 minutes until the cakes are well risen and feel firm and springy to the touch. Leave the cakes to cool in the tins for 5 minutes, before turning out to cool on a wire rack.

4 While the cakes are cooling, make the frosting. Put the egg whites in a heatproof bowl and place over a pan of simmering water, making sure the bowl is not in direct contact with the water. Whisk the egg whites until they form soft peaks, then gradually add in the sifted icing sugar while whisking. Once you have incorporated all the icing sugar, continue to whisk until the meringue mixture is thick, glossy and stable. Remove from the heat and whisk in the vanilla extract to taste.

5 To assemble, simply sandwich the three cake layers together with a little of the frosting, then use the remainder to cover the top. Swirl the frosting to form soft peaks, then decorate the cake with the walnut halves.

Easy Recipe for Iced Latte, Vanilla or Mocha

I saw this recipe on Confessions of an Apron Queen If you haven't stopped by there yet you must! I asked her if I could borrow her recipe and being the nice woman she is she said yes! So this recipe is hers:

Put on your apron! Make about 8 cups of coffee as you normally would. Add 1 can of sweetened condensed milk to the coffee and stir. Stir in 1-2 tbsp vanilla extract. Or if you'd like a mocha latte, use a few tablespoons of chocolate syrup. Then, pour into tall glasses full of ice. And that's it. How easy is that?

Coffee Cake Pancakes!!

How yummy do these sound! I found this recipe on Baking Bites and though you all might enjoy.

You Will Need For The Topping:

1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup coarsely chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. In a large bowl, stir together flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, sugar and salt. Add butter to bowl and blend at low speed with a hand mixer until mixture resembles coarse, wet sand. Stir in pecans Grab handfuls of the streusel mixture and press them together into clumps. Drop gently onto baking sheet. If clumps are too large (say, bigger than a golf ball) break up slightly. Bake for 25-30 minutes, until firm and light gold. Cool on baking sheet. Before using, coarsely
chop if pieces seem too large to easily use as a topping. Store in an airtight container if
not using right away.

Double this recipe to use up the full batch of streusel, or reserve the extra streusel for another batch
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 sugar
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
2 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and sugar. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add in buttermilk, eggs and vanilla. Whisk until batter is well-combined and no streaks of flour remain. It’s ok if the batter is a little lumpy. Preheat griddle or frying pan over medium-high heat until a drop of water sizzles on its surface. Grease lightly if not using a nonstick pan. Using a 1/3 cup measure, dollop batter onto hot griddle. Sprinkle a tablespoon or two of streusel onto the pancake. Cook until bottom is browned, then flip and cook until streusel side is browned. Serve pancakes with maple syrup and an extra sprinkling of streusel. Serves 4, with enough streusel to top a double-batch of pancakes and serve 8.

The Perfect Cup of Coffee to go with these awesome Coffee Cake Pancakes: Caramel Crunch

Try Some Of These Great Recipes

Ingredients:

* 1 cup hot coffee
* 1 1/2 oz Irish whisky
* 1 tbs sugar

Preparation:
Mix together in a mug and top with whipped cream, if desired.