astrora coffee

Once again the Teddington Lights Up event proved to be a very popular and busy evening. We had many visitors, some discovering us for the very first time whereas others – old friends – also came to say hello. Many of you asked for the recipes during the evening, so as promised (though with a bit of a delay), here come the recipes we used to bake our biscuits and a cake.

Coffee Crescents
[adapted from this recipe]

Ingredients:

• 160 g unsalted butter or baking margarine, slightly softened
• 140 g sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 4 tsp ground coffee
• 2 eggs
• 300 g all purpose flour
• powdered (icing) sugar, for dusting the biscuits (optional)

Method:

• In a medium bowl, mix all the ingredients (apart from powdered sugar) together and knead to form dough.
• Wrap the dough in plastic (cling film) and refrigerate for at least 1/2 hour. The dough will be slightly sticky, but chilling will make it firmer.
• Once you are ready to bake the biscuits, preheat the oven to  356 degrees F (180 degrees C). While the oven is heating, line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Form smallish crescents by taking a piece of dough, roll it between your hands, then fold it into crescent shape and press the ends so they taper off. Try to work quickly otherwise the dough will start sticking to your hands. If that happens, dust them with flour every now and then. Glaze the biscuits with egg white.
• Bake the biscuits until they turn golden brown, around 20 minutes. If using two baking sheets at once, rotate them (baking sheets from top to bottom and front to back) half way through.
• Cool the biscuits on a wire rack. If you wish, dust them with powdered sugar before serving.
• Serve them immediately when cool or keep up to a week in an airtight container.

Coffee Macaroons
[adapted from this recipe]

Ingredients:

• 100 g of finely ground almonds or hazelnuts
• 120 g sugar (either white or brown – both work well)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 tbsp of finely ground coffee
• 2 egg whites
• a pinch of cinnamon

For the glaze (optional – we had them without):

• 75 g powdered sugar
• 1 tbsp of strong brewed coffee
• 1 tsp of ground coffee

Method:

• Preheat the oven to 320 degrees F (160 degrees C). While the oven is heating, line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
• In a medium bowl, beat the egg whites with an electric mixer to form soft peaks, then add all the sugar at once. Keep beating until the mixture is very firm.
• Add almonds or hazelnuts, ground coffee and cinnamon and gently whisk it into the mixture with a form or a whisk. Do not over-mix.
• Scoop the mixture onto the baking tray with a small spoon, forming little heaps.
• Bake the biscuits until they turn golden brown, around 15-20 minutes. If using two baking sheets at once, rotate them (baking sheets from top to bottom and front to back) half way through.
• Cool the biscuits on a wire rack. While they are cooling, prepare the glaze by mixing brewed coffee and powdered sugar into a thick liquid paste. Drizzle the glaze over biscuits and dust them with ground coffee.
• Serve immediately when cool or keep in an airtight container for a few days.

Coffee & Ricotta Marble Cake
[adapted from Dan Lepard's recipe]

Ingredients:

• 125g unsalted butter, softened
• 200g caster sugar + a few tbsp extra for the coffee “drizzle” (or more for icing)
• 200g plain flour
• 150g ricotta
• 2 large eggs
• 2.5 tsp baking powder
• 30ml strong brewed coffee (or use 2 tbsp of ground coffee in 30ml boiling water instead) + about 1/3 cup extra for coffee “drizzle” or icing
• 25ml Marsala, dark rum or whiskey
• 1tbsp cocoa powder (will give it darker colour and works well with coffee)

Method:

• Grease the base and sides of a 17cm long loaf tin or similar or line with non-stick baking paper.
• Heat the oven to 180C (160C fan-assisted)/ 350F/gas mark 4.
• Brew the coffee using your preferred method. Alternatively, put ground coffee in a cup, stir in 25ml of boiling water and leave to infuse for 10 minutes, then strain.
• Beat the butter and sugar until soft and light.
• Measure the flour into a small bowl, spoon about a quarter in with the butter mixture and beat until smooth.
• Beat in the ricotta, then the eggs, one at a time.
• Sift in the baking powder and the remaining flour, and beat lightly.
• Divide the mixture in half. Beat the coffee and cocoa powder through one half, and the Marsala through the other.
• Spoon the mixture in alternate blobs into the tin, tap the tin firmly on the worktop to knock out any air bubbles, swirl the batter gently with a skewer and bake for 50-60 minutes.
• Dissolve a few tablespoons of sugar in about 1/3 cup of brewed coffee to make very sweet liquid. Drizzle it over the cake just to moisten the surface and give it a bit extra coffee flavour. Let it rest so it soaks in the liquid and cools. Alternatively, if you are a big icing fan, drizzle the cake with a simple coffee water icing to finish (see instructions for different types of icing here).

A couple more recipes (for honey spice biscuits and for coconut biscuits) will follow in the next few days. In the mean time, give these a go – they make a perfect weekend treat.