Coffee, while great in a cup or a tumbler – is even better in a dessert, when done right! As an ingredient or a flavoring agent, it’s wildly versatile and adds a body of flavor to whatever it is added in. We’ve compiled for you a list of 10 easy and declivous coffee desserts you can make at home, with most ingredients you can find already lying around. Check these out!
Check out our guide on how to make perfect espresso at home to use in these recipes!
Tiramisu
What is tiramisu?
Tiramisu, perhaps the most famous dessert relying on the flavours of coffee is an Italian dessert. It’s structured much like a trifle, and the layers are formed by coffee-dipped ladyfingers, vanilla custard and mascarpone cheese. It’s topped with cocoa powder and sometimes even chocolate shavings.
Ingredients:
- Instant coffee
- Ladyfingers
- ½ cup sugar
- 200 gm Mascarpone cheese
- Whipped cream
- Unsweetened cocoa powder
- Alcohol (optional) – Choice of almond liqueur or marsala wine
Recipe:
- Arrange the ladyfinger biscuits in a dish.
- Make a quick espresso by mixing a spoonful of instant coffee with 30 ml of water and brush this over the ladyfinger biscuits
- Whisk the mascarpone cheese with 1/2 cup sugar and liqueur, mixing until blended.
- Spread one-half of the mixture on the ladyfingers. Add more ladyfingers and repeat.
- Dust with cocoa powder
- Refrigerate overnight so you have a thick, luscious tiramisu to gorge on in the morning!
Espresso brownies
Ingredients:
- 4 eggs
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 cup salted butter, melted
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 1/3 cup instant coffee (preferably an espresso blend)
Recipe:
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Cream the butter and the sugar together, and add in the instant coffee powder and keep whisking.
- Add the eggs.
- Time to add in the dry ingredients – Mix the flour and cocoa powder separately first to ensure a homogenous mixture. Add this combined mix to the creamed butter, sugar and eggs mix.
- Add a pinch of sea salt to enhance flavour and any other toppings you like – chocolate chips, nuts, etc.
- Transfer to a parchment paper-lined baking pan
- Bake for 30 minutes or until set in the middle (underbake them a little if you like them fudgy).
No-bake Cappuccino fudge
Ingredients:
- 3/4 cup heavy cream
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 package (12 oz) white chocolate chips
- 1 jar (7 oz) marshmallow cream
- Vanilla extract
- 1.5 instant coffee
- 1 tbsp hot water
- 4 ounces (1/2 cup, or 1 stick) unsalted butter
- 2 cups granulated sugar
Recipe:
- Combine the instant coffee and the hot water in a small bowl till it combines.
- Take a saucepan and combine the butter, sugar, heavy cream, and salt in a hover medium-high heat. Stir till the butter melts to combine the sugar until the thermometer reads 240 degrees Fahrenheit (115 C)
- At this point, when the pot reaches 115 C, remove and add the white chocolate chips and the marshmallow cream.
- This is an important stage of the recipe, keep stirring vigorously until the chips and cream are melted and incorporated. You may put it back on the heat to ensure everything is mixed and add in the vanilla.
- Take some of the fudge and separate it (no need to measure it, this will act as the white portion on the fudge.
- Add the coffee mixture from step 1 to the remaining fudge.
- Now, assemble them together in a random pattern that pleases you – spreading everything evenly.
- 9. Let the fudge cool and set. You may either in the refrigerator for 2-3 hours or overnight.
Coffee puff pastry
Ingredients:
- 2 packages of puff pastry
- Some melted chocolate
- 3 tbsp. sugar
- 1 egg
Recipe:
- Preheat your oven to 180°C.
- Take one packet of the puff pastry and divide it up into 3 small, equal pieces.
- Roll each of the pieces and spread a mix of melted chocolate and coffee all over the rolled-out dough.
- Cut it into 1 cm thick strips in the mould and form them into a roll, then twist them together to form a snail or your choice of shape. Sprinkle these done-shapes with sugar and wipe with eggwash.
- Bake in preheated oven for 15-20 minutes at 180°C.
Coffee affogato recipe
Perhaps the easiest recipe here – you only need two ingredients!
Ingredients:
- A shot of espresso
- Your choice of ice cream – (We love Vanilla!)
Recipe:
- Put two scoops of ice cream in a clear glass tumbler and pour over the espresso on top. Add chocolate shavings and nuts as per your choice and enjoy!
Coffee Ice Cream
Ingredients:
- Whole milk
- Heavy whipping cream
- Sugar
- Instant coffee
- Salt
Recipe:
- Steep milk, sugar, and ⅓ a cup of cream and coffee on medium-low heat, not coming to a boil. Take it off and let it rest for an hour at room temperature
- Set the remaining cream in a bowl over ice.
- Prepare the coffee custard:
Chocolate coffee cake
Ingredients:
- 2 cups sugar
- 1 cup canola oil
- 1 cup whole milk
- 1 cup brewed coffee, room temperature
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- Baking soda
Recipe:
- Preheat your oven.
- Start by combining the wet ingredients in a large bowl – mix together the oil, sugar, milk, coffee and eggs. Add the spoonful of vanilla as they’re well mixed.
- In a separate bowl, start putting together the dry ingredients – flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- Add the mixture of dry ingredients to wet ingredients mixture gradually, till it’s mixed properly and all the dry mix is over. Your cake batter is ready to be poured into your choice of pans.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes, until you can pull a clean toothpick out of the centre.
Coffee cheesecake
Ingredients:
- 3 packs of 8 oz full-fat cream cheese
- 1 ¼ cups of sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 portion of espresso
- 4 Eggs
- 1 cup sour cream
- ½ cup heavy cream
- For the crust: 1 ¾ cups of biscuit crust (Oreo, Biscoff or Digestive Biscuits) and 5-6 tablespoons of butter
Recipe:
- Begin by preparing the crust, mix together biscuit crumbs and melted butter. Press this down onto the cheesecake pan with the help of a flat-surfaced tool to get an even-layered crust. Place the crust in a preheated oven and bake for 15 minutes to let it set completely.
- Start mixing the cream cheese and sugar in another bowl and ensure there are no lumps.
- Pour in the espresso and begin adding each egg at a time. Whisk each egg completely before adding the next.
- Once all the eggs are incorporated, add in the sour cream and the heavy cream. The cheesecake filling is now ready!
- Add this to the pan. Place the pan with the cheesecake filling in a larger oven-safe pan and fill it with water. Let the cheesecake bake for around 1 hour and 25 minutes till it jiggles in the middle.
Coffee Flan
Ingredients:
- 1 tablespoon instant coffee
- 5 eggs
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon water
- 1 cup sugar (divided, 1/2 cup for the caramel)
- 1 can (12 oz) of evaporated milk
- 1 can (14 oz) of sweetened condensed milk
Recipe:
1. Making the caramel: put in half the cup of sugar into a saucepan with very little water to make the caramel. Keep an eye on it and beware of it burning.
2. Once done, pour the caramel into the flan dish, spreading it evenly. It’s important to be very careful here since the caramel is very hot and can burn your skin.
3. Mix the eggs, evaporated and condensed milk with the rest of the sugar separately. Pour that into the flan dish through a sieve.
4. Place the flan dish in a water bath (similar to the cheesecake recipe) and let it bake at 350F for 40-45 minutes. Once done, let it cool and chill in the refrigerator. Best served chilled!
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