Coffee is said to originate in Ethiopia. A famous mythical story talks about an Ethiopian goat herder who saw his goats behaving very weirdly. According to him, they were dancing! He found out that they had consumed some berries and this was the repercussion of that.
One part of the myth talks about how Kaldi shared this discovery with a monk who was delighted to find out a berry that could help him pray all night. However, a different part of the myth also talks about how the monk disapproved of the berries and threw them into a fire. The result was a fresh robust aroma.
From here coffee travelled to Yemen. And the port at which they arrived in Yemen was called Mocha. Thus, with time “Coffee” and “Mocha” became synonymous. As coffee started to be cultivated in Yemen, news spread to Egypt, Tukey and Persia. Coffee started to become known as “The Wine of Araby” and coffee houses were now being opened. They became the centres for socialising and people would often gather here and talk about worldly affairs.
Yemen was very strict about its cultivation and wanted full control. They made sure no one else could take seeds and grow coffee themselves. However, when Baba Budan, a Sufi saint came back from Yemen, he had secretly stolen some seeds and started cultivating coffee in India. Thus, began its journey in India.
But while all of this is fascination, coffee as we know today was built after years of refinement. It is today the second largest sold commodity, right after oil.
While we all adore coffee, do you know what’s even better? Coffee Desserts! They are the perfect combination of sweet and bitter in a dessert. So here is a list of some amazing delicious coffee desserts to try at home:
Affogato
It is a famous Italian dish which means “Drowned”.
Ingredients: Vanilla Ice cream and a freshly brewed cup of espresso
Directions: Put the ice cream in a bowl and then pour the espresso all over it, until it drowns in it.
Feel free to put some extra toppings like nuts or crackers!
Macarons
(For the coffee cream frosting): 2 ounces cream cheese, 2 tbsp softened butter, 1 cup powdered sugar. ¼ spoon vanilla extract and ½ tsp coffee powder
Ingredients: (For the shells): 3 egg whites, 1 cup almond powder, ½ cup sugar, ¾ cup powdered sugar and 1tsp coffee powder
Directions: Beat egg whites in a bowl until they are foamy. Add in sugar until they form soft peaks. Mix the powdered sugar and the almond powder into another bowl. Finally mix them both and fold it in nicely.
Prepare a piping bag and fill it with the mixture. Set it up on a baking sheet in good round discs. Set this aside for about an hour.
Preheat the oven to 140 degrees C. Cook for about a good 10 minutes
For the frosting: Mix the cream cheese and butter together until light and fluffy. Ad the vanilla extract and then add the powdered sugar. Add the espresso at the last. And Voila, its ready!
Brownies
Ingredients: ¾ cup flour, ½ tsp baking powder, 1 tbsp coffee powder, dark chocolate, ¼ cup butter, 2 eggs, 1 cup sugar, 1 tsp vanilla extract, ½ cup walnuts
Direction: Sift and mix all the dry ingredients together like flour, baking powder and the coffee. In another bowl mix all the other ingredients like eggs, butter, sugar and chocolate. Finally add the vanilla extract and walnut and fold them in nicely.
Preheat the oven at 190 degrees C and bake for about 25 minutes. Your delicious coffee flavoured brownie dessert is done!
Mocha Chia Pudding
Ingredients: 2 tbsp chia seeds, 2 tsp sugar, ½ tsp cocoa, ½ tsp coffee powder, ½ cup milk
Directions: Combine all the ingredients and stir well. Then, leave it in the fridge for about 10- 15 minutes and stir it up again. Then leave it in the fridge overnight.
Your pudding is now ready!
Semifreddo
It is an Italian dish which is quite similar to a frozen mousse.
Ingredients: 1 tbsp coffee powder, 4 large eggs, 100g caster sugar, 300ml heavy cream, 100g chocolate honeycomb
Directions: In a bowl mix the egg yolks, sugar and coffee powder. In two other bowls whip up the cream and egg whites, respectively. Fold the cream into the coffee mix and then add the egg whites and the chocolate.
Pour the mix into a mould and set it to freeze. Now go enjoy!
We can’t wait to devour these amazing instant coffee desserts, which are so easy and so tasty! We hope you enjoy these delicious coffee desserts with your loved ones.
