Iced Coffee Concentrate

 1.5 cups of ground coffee (Pike’s Place works well)

~18 cups of water 

Put coffee grounds into Instant Pot and cover with water to the max fill line. Cook on High for 5 minutes, then let sit to steep for 2 hours. Strain out grounds and refrigerate.

Mocha Madness Ice Cream

 

• 1 cup (227g) milk, cold, whole preferred
• 3/4 cup (149g) granulated sugar
• 2 tablespoons (11g) espresso powder
• 2 tablespoons (11g) unsweetened cocoa, Dutch-process or natural
• 2 cups (454g) heavy cream or whipping cream, cold
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
• 8 (113g) chocolate sandwich cookies, broken into small pieces

1. Whisk or mix together the milk, sugar, espresso powder, and cocoa until the sugar has dissolved. Stir in the heavy cream and vanilla.

2. Freeze in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's directions.

3. Stir the cookie bits into the soft ice cream and serve immediately. Or freeze for longer storage.

   NOTES:

   less espresso powder would also be good.

Coffee Ice Cream

Adapted from this source.

1 1/2 cups whole milk
1 1/2 cups heavy cream, divided
1 1/2 cups whole coffee beans
3/4 cup sugar
Pinch of salt
5 large egg yolks
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Heat the milk, coffee beans, and 1/2 cup of the cream in a medium saucepan until it is quite warm and steamy, but not boiling. Cover, remove from the heat, and let steep at room temperature for at least one hour (I forgot about mine for 6 or 7 hours. No harm done). Strain the coffee beans out, and return the milk mixture to the saucepan.

Reheat on medium heat, until again hot and steamy (not boiling!). In a separate bowl, whisk the egg yolks together. Slowly pour the heated milk and coffee mixture into the egg yolks, whisking constantly so that the egg yolks are tempered by the warm milk, but not cooked by it. Scrape the mixture back into the saucepan.

Stir the mixture constantly over medium heat with a heatproof, flat-bottomed spatula, scraping the bottom as you stir, until the mixture thickens and coats the spatula so that you can run your finger across the coating and leave a trail. This can take about 10 minutes.

Pour the custard into a bowl and stir in the remaining cream. Mix in the vanilla and chill thoroughly.

Freeze it in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions.

Makes one quart.

Notes: I've tried the recipe as written, and you lose a ton of custard that gets stuck to the coffee beans. Much better to strain before thickening. 

This came out ridiculously smooth and thick, and froze quickly, but is still scoopable straight out of the (inside) freezer.

Sour Cherry Slab Pie

From Smitten Kitchen, with cherries from Emily.  We ate this (and practically nothing else) for several days.  I used the pie crust recipe listed, but with shortening instead of butter (just because I have lots of the former).  I don't have a rolling pin at the moment, so I was stuck using a wine bottle, which is less effective.  I rolled the bottom crust out the best I could, then just pressed it onto the pan.  For the top, I rolled out strips and just laid them across the top.  It worked out just fine.  This would also be particularly good with rhubarb or something else tart.

Sour Cherry Slab Pie

Yield: Varies, but I cut mine into 20 2 1/2-inch by 3-inch pieces

1 1/2 All Butter, Really Flaky Pie Doughs, divided, patted into thick rectangles, wrapped in plastic and chilled for at least an hour in the fridge

6 cups sour cherries, pitted (fresh or frozen will work; if frozen, defrost and drain first)
3/4 to 1 1/4 cups of sugar*
1/4 cup cornstarch
Juice of half a lemon
Pinch or two of salt
2 tablespoons heavy cream or one egg, beaten with a tablespoon of water

Glaze:
1 cup confectioners’ sugar
1 to 2 tablespoons milk or water or 1 tablespoon water plus 1 tablespoon lemon juice (I did this to make the glaze more interesting)

Preheat oven to 375°. In a large bowl, combine cherries, sugar, cornstarch, lemon juice, and salt. Stir to combine; set aside.

On a lightly floured surface, roll out the larger piece of dough into an 18-by-12-inch rectangle. I won’t lie: this can be kind of a pain because it is so large. Do your best to work quickly, keeping the dough as cold as possible (and tossing it in the freezer for a couple minutes if it softens too quickly; it is summer afterall) and using enough flour that it doesn’t stick to the counter. [See more of my pie-rolling tips here.]

Transfer to a 15-by-10-by-1-inch rimmed baking sheet, (pastry will hang over sides of pan). I went ahead and lined mine with parchment, just to ensure I’d be able to easily lift it out. Pour cherry mixture into lined baking sheet; set aside.

On a lightly floured surface, roll out remaining piece of dough into a 16-by-11-inch rectangle. Drape over filling. Bring bottom pastry up and over top pastry. Pinch edges to seal. Using a fork, prick top crust all over. Brush with heavy cream or egg wash.

Bake until crust is golden and filling is bubbling, 40 to 55 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack until just warm to the touch, about 45 minutes.

In a medium bowl, stir together confectioners’ sugar and milk, water or lemon juice (or combination thereof) until desired glaze consistency is achieved. Use a spoon to drizzle over top. Serve warm or room temperature.

* Martha had suggested 1 to 1 1/2 cups sugar for 6 cups of sour cherries. I balked, imagining my beautiful Jersey cherries drowning a syrupy death, and used 3/4 cup, which yielded a lightly-sweetened pie with the tartness of the cherries still coming through, just as we like. Please adjust this to your tastes, and according to the tartness of the cherries you brought home.

Iced Coffee

Subtitle: Liquid Love

Jen and I have been refrigerating the leftover coffee each morning for later in the day, but just drinking it cold seemed inadequate. Pouring it over ice diluted it too much, so we tried making coffee ice cubes. This works, but it's kind of messy and needed a dedicated ice cube tray and (obviously) freezer space.

Enter Pioneer Woman. Her timely post offered another option that involves making a quantity of concentrate that's ready at our command. Nice.

Iced Coffee Concentrate

1 pound Ground Coffee (good, Rich Roast)

8 quarts Cold Water

Half-and-half (healthy Splash Per Serving)

Sweetened Condensed Milk (2-3 Tablespoons Per Serving)

Note: Can Use Skim Milk, 2% Milk, Whole Milk, Sugar, Artificial Sweeteners, Syrups...adapt To Your Liking!

In a large container, mix ground coffee with water. Cover and allow to sit at room temperature eight hours or overnight.

Line a fine mesh strainer with cheesecloth and set over a pitcher or other container. Pour coffee/water mixture through the strainer, allowing all liquid to run through. Discard grounds.

Place coffee liquid in the fridge and allow to cool. Use as needed.

To make iced coffee, pack a glass full of ice cubes. Fill glass 2/3 full with coffee liquid. Add healthy splash of half-and-half. Add 2-3 tablespoons sweetened condensed milk (can use plain sugar instead) and stir to combine. Taste and adjust half-and-half and/or sweetened condensed milk as needed.

NOTES: I made a batch using 1/2 lb coffee and 1 gallon of water. It seems less bitter than our other method using previously heated coffee. Jen gives it two thumbs-up! I let this batch steep overnight and I'd recommend stirring it one or two times during the process. Even though I made sure all the grounds were wet initially, after a few hours I saw there were definite layers forming in my container. When I opened it, I found there were a lot of grounds floating on top. After this stirring, they sank to the bottom and, I assume, gave up more of their coffee goodness.

Go to the original post for all the nice pictures.

Coffee Toffee Brownies

Brownies:

3/4 c (1 1/2 sticks) butter

1 gently heaped cup (6 ounces) semisweet or bittersweet chocolate chips

3/4 c cocoa

1 tbls. espresso powder (or instant coffee crystals)

1 tbls. vanilla

2 c sugar

1/2 tsp. salt

4 eggs

1/2 tsp. baking powder

3/4 c all-purpose flour

Lightly grease a 9 x 13 inch pan. Over medium-low heat, or in the microwave, melt together the butter and chocolate, stirring till smooth. Stir in the cocoa, espresso powder, vanilla, sugar, and salt. Whisk in the eggs one at a time.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the baking powder and flour, then stir these dry ingredients into the chocolate mixture until just blended. Spoon the batter into the prepared pan, and bake in a preheated oven at 350 for 34-38 minutes, until their top is shiny but the middle is still soft. Remove them from the oven and cool for 30 minutes before icing.

Icing & Topping:

1 tbls. espresso powder (or instant coffee crystals)

1 tbls. hot water

1 1/2 c confectioners' sugar

2-3 tbls. heavy cream or milk

1/2 c toffee-flavored bits

In a medium-sized bowl, mix the espresso powder and hot water, then stir in the sugar and heavy cream or milk. Spread the icing over the brownies, then sprinkle with the toffee bits (crushed, if you like). Cool the brownies for several hours before cutting into squares. Yield: 24 brownies.

Source: King Arthur Flour Catalog

International Cafe

1 c instant coffee creamer
1 c instant hot chocolate mix
2/3 c instant coffee crystals
1 c sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg

Mix together. I don't have a note about how much to mix with water. If anyone tries this, email me your suggestion and I'll update.

Source: Michael Latawiec (2002 craft sale)