Coffee and Food Pairing - Enjoy Coffee Cake Recipes and Coffee Sauces Too

Lovers of coffee know how delicious that liquid beverage can be. But delights abound in using coffee as an ingredient in food preparation too.  Why not give it a try…

While commonly used in desserts - and we'll look at a couple – coffee and food pairing aren't necessarily limited to sweets.  You may be surprised to note that barbecue sauces and glazes for meat, chilli and even pot roasts benefit from a dash of the ground coffee bean.

As with any coffee and food pairing recipe, freshness is essential, so either buy freshly ground coffee or grind your own, and make sure you use it right away. And if the recipe calls for brewed coffee, make it just before preparing the dish with good filtered water. And remember a good tip worth remembering is that most recipes call for coffee two or three times as strong as you'd want to drink.

Here are only a few of the many possibilities...

Coffee Meatloaf Sauce

Australian Meatloaf is becoming increasingly popular outside kangaroo country.

For the sauce add a tablespoon of instant coffee to a quarter cup of water and half-cup of ketchup with a quarter cup of a favorite dry red and equal amount of Worcestershire sauce. Two tablespoons of vinegar, an ounce of margarine and two tablespoons of lemon juice with some brown sugar complete the mixture.

After the meat has cooked for 30 minutes, add the sauce and bake 45 minutes more at 375F (190C).

Espresso Brownies

To make coffee brownies surpassing even Alice B. Toklas', try this one.

Heat a cup of sugar, a quarter teaspoon of salt, and a stick and a half of butter in a sauce pan. Add a teaspoon of vanilla and four ounces of chopped, semi-sweet chocolate and stir until well melted. Now add a tablespoon of your favorite finely ground dark-roast.  Or if you only have coffee beans, check out our review of the best conical burr coffee grinders For an interesting variation substitute with two teaspoons of espresso granules.

Stir until everything is well mixed, then transfer to a mixing bowl and let cool for a few minutes.

While still warm, fold in three eggs, a cup of flour and pour the result into a baking pan. Bake for 30 minutes and set out to cool. Yum!

Black Russian Coffee Cake Recipe

Select a favorite dark chocolate cake mix and add a cup of vegetable oil, a package of instant chocolate pudding, four eggs, and a half cup of crème de cacao. Now add a cup of your favorite Russian coffee. (1 oz vodka, 1/2 oz Kahlua, 5 oz hot black coffee.)

Beat until smooth and pour into a tube pan, then bake 45 minutes at 350F (177C). Da!

The possibilities are of coffee food pairings are endless. Muffins, cookies, breads and all manner of candy - not to mention those well known ice creams - are enhanced by the addition of different grounded types of coffee beans.

Even cocktails get a boost from the ancient bean. Besides the famous Kahlua there are a wide variety of liqueurs that can be used to enhance a pie.

There's even a recipe for coffee syrup. Mix a cup of sugar with a cup of double strength Colombian. Boil in a saucepan, stirring constantly to keep the sugar dissolved. Lower the heat and simmer for three minutes, stirring often. Then cool.

Why not try experimenting with coffee and food pairing today.  After all, what could be better than brewing your own coffee just the way you like it whilst eating a lovely coffee cake recipe too?

Enjoy!