Saturday 28 September 2013

The Real Coffee Cream!

This post is dedicated to the infamous Coffee Cream. I really don't know where exactly this recipe came from, but I do know it's one of the easiest and best desserts ever. My aunt taught me how to make it first. From then on it's been served at simple dinner parties, as well as weddings. And since it's so simple and inexpensive to make, you can make it in large quantities as well.

Now the explanation behind the title of the post 'The Real Coffee Cream!'. It all started with showing a few of them how to make it, and then the recipe went viral with every Tom, Dick and Harry (or the ladies version of them, coz in Coorg only the ladies cook) knew about this and as long as it was made well I didn't mind. Random people came up and said it was a wonderful dessert and I liked it that they liked it too. Then there are a few people, who feel it's beneath them to ask another person for a recipe (especially if it's me) and come up with their own recipes. Now, I don't mind or care if the end result is the same and it tastes good (after all, everyone has their own version of roast chicken or bread pudding, and the same goes for this). The trouble is when they try fiddling around with ingredients and unnecessarily complicate a simple recipe and the end product not only looks awful but tastes awful too. And finally, there are a few more people who've come up to me and said "this is Ok, another person I know makes it better" ( and that too in front of other people...bitchy much!!!). The best one has been at a recent family wedding, where I had made Coffee Cream for dessert; a nosy-good for nothing-busybody comes up, lifts the serving spoon and smells it (the horror! shoves the spoon up her big, fat nose...idiot, we all gagged at the sight) and coolly asks me what it's called (even though there is a card right in front of her with the name of the dessert, silly old cow!), and when I explain it to her very nicely she turns her nose up at me and tells another person (who we both know doesn't know how to make it, and her version makes us all puke just looking at it!) makes it so much better than me! So I've finally decided it's better to ignore such stupid fools and share my recipe.

Now after all that explanation; Coffee cream is nothing but a cheats version of Coffee Panna Cotta, we just gave it another easier name! All you need is a tin a Sweetened Condensed milk, Good quality instant coffee, gelatin ,Heavy Cream and a blitzer. See, very simple na! All you need is 4 ingredients and people mess that up too, bah!


Coffee Cream (or rather Coffee Panna Cotta)

Time: It takes no time unless you count the setting time.
Serves: As many or as few as you want.

Here's what you'll need:
Unflavored Powdered Gelatin - 1 1/2 Tablespoons
Water - 6 Tablespoons
Good quality instant Coffee granules - 3-4 Tablespoons ( use 3 tablespoons if you don't want it to be too strong, and I use Bru Gold coffee)
Sweetened Condensed milk - 400 ml ( that's 1 tin)
Heavy Cream - 400 ml ( I use Milky Mist cream, you can use Amul if you want, though Amul is light cream the amount of gelatin is enough for it to set well)
Chocolate curls to garnish (optional)

Here's How you do it:
1. Empty the tin of sweetened condensed milk into a large blitzer jar.
2. In a small saucepan, heat the water until it comes to a rolling boil. Meanwhile, place the gelatin in a cup, pour the boiling water over and stir well and make sure all the gelatin is dissolved. You can strain it to remove any residue. Add the coffee and stir until completely dissolved. Let it cool slightly (not too much, it should still be warm or else the gelatin starts to set).
3. Pour the Coffee and gelatin mixture into the blitzer jar with the sweetened condensed milk and give it a good blitz, for about a minute or two. Check to make sure everything is mixed well.
4. Pour heavy cream into the jar and blitz immediately for less than a minute (make sure the cream is fresh or else it'll curdle and instead of a dessert,you'll have a disaster on your hands!).
5. Transfer the Coffee Cream into a glass dish, or into individual glasses, cover with cling film and let it set in the refrigerator for at least 4-5 hours. Serve chilled garnished with chocolate curls if you wish.

Note* You can make the same thing with Strawberries (or any berry), all you have to do substitute 200g of the berries in place of the coffee, and blitz the berries first, add condensed milk and gelatin, blitz again and finally add the cream and blitz and then set for 4-5 hours before serving.
If you don't dissolve the gelatin well, the gelatin granules settle at the bottom of your dessert and you'll have yuck-nog for dessert, so be very careful.

Until next time, have fun and Happy Baking!

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