Coffee Cake as a Dessert

Even though it is always called coffee cake, not all cakes actually contain coffee as an ingredient. Instead, a coffee cake is usually defined simple as a dessert that is most often served with a cup of coffee and enhances its flavor. Take a look at the following recipe for coffee cake that does not contain any actual coffee.

There is an incredibly wide variety of recipes out there, many of which are made with some type of fruit. Coffee cake can be made creamy and designed to eat with coffee or intensely sweet so that it blends well with the bitterness of coffee.

Coffee Cake Ingredients

The coffee cake that will be outlined here requires these ingredients: 2/3 cup of all purpose flower, 1 cup of packed brown sugar, 1/2 cup of butter, 2 teaspoons of baking powder, 1 tablespoon of ground cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, 1 egg, 1 cup of blueberries, 1/2 cup of milk, 1 cup of white sugar, another 1/2 cup of butter, another 2 cups of all purpose flower, and some confectioner's sugar to be dusted on top.

Coffee Cake: Baking the Mixture

Start the cooking process by spraying cooking spray on a pan. Your oven will need to be preheated to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Then you can begin mixing the 2/3 cup of flour together in a bowl with your 1 cup of brown sugar and your cinnamon. Next, you will add a 1/2 cup of butter into what you have mixed together until it starts to get crumbly. This can then be set to the side, since you will use this to top your coffee cake.

The 1/2 cup of butter that is left over now gets beaten to a creamy consistency, after which you can add your white sugar to it and continue beating. Once it gets fluffy, add your egg and vanilla. After you have beaten that for a while, continue by whisking together your salt, baking powder, and 2 cups of flour. Next, add the milk slowly. Do not stop beating the entire mixture. It should get creamy. Once that is ready, you can spread half of the mixture onto your pan. The other half will be saved for later. Now you will spread your blueberries over the batter that you placed in the pan with a spoon and cover that with the rest of your batter.

Let it bake until it has turned golden brown. Next, remove the cake from the oven and let it cool. When it comes time to serve it, sprinkle confectioner's sugar on top and enjoy it with a cup of coffee.

How to Buy Good Quality Coffee?

Oh, there is truly nothing more frustrating than buying coffee that is not as good as it seemed. It can definitely ruin your day to take a sip of a cup of Joe that doesn't live up to its reputation, so you do need to make sure that you heed these purchasing tips when buying your coffee for home use.

First of all, find out the roast date. This is something important for you to understand the freshness of the roast of your coffee since coffee should be consumed 10 to 14 days after roasting. As a rule of thumb, it is not a good idea to purchase coffee from a grocery store because it will be stale. Also, if you are someone that drinks decaf coffee, it is best to purchase from a roaster because decaf coffee can sit on the grocery store shelves for up to six months because it is less often purchased. Shocking! As a rule of thumb, it is best to enjoy your coffee a few days after it has been roasted, and make sure to seal it in an opaque, airtight container for maximum freshness.

The next tip is to grind what you will brew. You also must freshly grind your coffee beans every time that you brew because freshly ground coffee beans will go stale within 30 seconds. This is imperative to protect the essential oils within the coffee beans since they will become damaged when they are oxidized and exposed to air. Once the essential oils are damaged, there goes the flavor of your coffee along with it. As soon as you grind the coffee beans, they will start to lose their natural flavors. There are different grind consistencies necessary for various brew methods. As an example, if you are using an automatic coffee maker, the grind consistency should be medium, like granulated sugar. If you are using a French Press, the coffee grounds need to be very coarse. You will need a very fine ground for espresso or Turkish coffee that is similar to a powder.

Lastly, make sure to store your coffee beans with the right method to have a better taste in your brew. Although rumor has led many people to store their coffee beans in their freezer, do not do it! Coffee beans are porous and delicate, and they will absorb the flavors of what is around them. The coffee can begin to taste bad if you have fish or other foods in your freezer, and freezing coffee will also damage the essential oils to completely ruin the natural flavors of the coffee beans. You must store your coffee beans in a dry and cool location in an airtight and opaque container.

So there you have it! These are the best methods for storing your coffee beans so that you can protect their delicate flavors and constantly enjoy a delicious and rich cup of Joe. Even these subtle changes will make a dramatic difference in the coffee that you buy, and you will notice a much fresher flavor in your cup of Joe!

The Best Single Serve Coffee Makers

Single serve coffee makers are my favorite. I can make a cup of coffee whenever I need one and they really only take about 2-3 minutes to make. Now, the downfall with your regular based coffee makers is that you're going to find out that you're going to have to wait 20 minutes and half the time, you're going to have to let the pot go to waste.

You will want to just think about this one for a second. Think of the times when you have wasted, say 6 cups? You could have had 6 cups of coffee in the future. We all know that coffee grounds and filters cost a few bucks, so why think of saving?

They are great for dorm rooms, apartments, and even homes. Sure, if you're going to be feeding the whole office, you're going to have to get a commercial based one, but if not, let me give you the upsides, as well as the downsides.

The Upsides...

• Quick and easy: Most of them are going to make your pot within 5 minutes.
• Very clean: Many use a permanent filter where you don't even have to worry about replacing them. It's going to ease the waste.
• Solo cups: Instead of measuring the grounds and doing things such as that, you're going to find that some come with individual pods, making it super easy to measure out.

The Downsides...

• Not enough cups: If you have a party and people want to drink some coffee, this won't do the trick.
• Not as many features: Some have all the features that you want, but they are going to cost an arm and leg, but many complain that they want more. This is a personal choice though.

Now, onto the top 5. There are many brands that make individual coffee makers. You're going to find some such as Black and Decker, Cuisinart, as well as a few others make great makers that are going to work for you. Check out a few mentioned below, as they may be what you're looking for.

1. Keurig B40 (around $120)
2. Black and Decker DCM18S (around $20)
3. Keurig B70 (around $170)
4. Delonghi Drip Maker (around $50)
5. Brew N' Go by Black and Decker (around $27)

Tips for Making the Perfect Latte

Making a perfect latte is actually really easy, provided you have some basic equipment and know what you're doing. A latte is made up of two ingredients; milk and espresso coffee. For the milk, ideally you will need a steaming wand, something that shoots steam into a pitcher of milk, creating something that is known as microfoam. You can however still achieve almost the same effect using a microwave or saucepan and stovetop, and a small, very low cost foaming wand.

The espresso is critical, so make sure that if you can only afford one piece of kit, you get a decent espresso maker. They take on all different shapes and sizes, ranging from things like the pod based machines offered by almost all of the major manufacturers, to your more traditional coffee shop style portahandle machines where you literally pull your own shot of espresso.

To begin with, froth your milk. Many people often assume that you start with the shot, but you want to be able to add your shot to your drink as quickly as possible, so don't waste time leaving the shot on the side to get cold or stale. You want to literally pour it, add it to the drink and serve, so start with your milk first. You want to heat the milk up to around 65 degrees C and at some point you will want to do a small bit of frothing.

It's worth pointing out the difference between a cappucino and a latte however. A cappucino is one third steamed milk, one third foamy milk and one third coffee. A latte is about one eighth coffee and about six eighth steamed milk, with maybe one eighth foamy milk to top the latte off. Bear this in mind when you are heating up your milk!

Once you have your milk hot and good to go, you want to pour a shot. The way you do this will vary depending on your machine. It might require grinding some beans, tamping them off in the portahandle and pulling a shot the traditional coffee shop way, or it might just involve putting a pod in the machine and pushing a button. Either way, you need to add your espresso to the mix! The ideal brewing time for an espresso is between 18 and 21 seconds. If you let the drink brew for less than that, if will come out watery, if you let it brew for longer than that, the coffee becomes burnt and overly bitter tasting.

Finally, take a tall latte glass, add your hot milk and pour in your shot. Stir to mix up well, and serve!