Coffee for a perfect Sundae - Greenspoon

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Coffee for a perfect Sundae

Coffee for a perfect Sundae

Course: Recipes, Dessert, Treat

How do you start the day without a coffee? It’s become the most important ritual of the day for many, with obsessions ranging from how to get the perfect brew, whether to add milk or cream, cinnamon or a hazelnut shot, to where you are when you have that first, bitter sip of the black stuff and feel it coursing through your veins.
All these elements set the scene, but what about behind the scenes? At greenspoon we love to delve into the detail. Understanding where your food comes from we believe will lead to greater personal health, as well as improving the health of our planet. And when it comes to coffee, there’s nothing that makes us prouder than stocking some of the best coffee in the world, grown and processed right here in Kenya.
One of the most exciting developments since the Coffee Board loosened its grip on the whole coffee industry has been improved access to small holder coffee farmers. This is exciting because like wine, chocolate and other products, coffee flavours vary depending on season, weather, soil, and many other factors. So by choosing a single origin coffee you are not only supporting a small holder, you are also getting a real flavour of the coffee from that particular region.
Whilst brewing is all down to personal preference – you could use a French Press, aeropress, mocha or other methods – coffee can also be used to make a series of WOW desserts, or combine them together in the world’s best sundae. The wonderful thing about these recipes is that each of them could be served individually (with both the granita and jelly, simply serve with thick whipping cream and brown sugar), but when you put them together with Delia’s ice-cream and some jazzy accessories like our crunchy cocoa nibs, you’ve got an epic dessert.
For these recipes, I drew inspiration from Vietnamese Coffee Sundae ideas, as well as Vineet Bhatia for the ugali squares, which I think are a brilliant way of turning one of our staple ingredients into a sweet caffeine hit!
Before making the yummy Sundae, let’s brew the perfect Gakuyu-Ini coffee!

INGREDIENTS

  • Gakuyu-ini Strong Brew:
  • 70g of finely ground Gakuyu-ini coffee (fine like table salt)

  • 1l of boiled water cooled down for 5 min after boiling.

  • Gakuyu-ini Black Brew:
  • 64g of finely ground Gakuyu-ini coffee (fine like table salt)

  • 1l of boiled water cooled down for 4 min after boiling.

  • Coffee Granita:
  • 500ml strong black coffee, brewed

  • 5 tbsp Fairleigh brown sugar

  • Black Coffee Jelly:
  • 450ml brewed black coffee

  • 4 sheets of gelatin (best to use Dr Oeker if you can find it)

  • Coffee, Chocolate and Cardamom Syrup:
  • 870ml brewed black coffee

  • 300g Fairleigh brown sugar (I use the jaggery brown sugar)

  • 2 tbsp Epicurious Hedgehog cocoa powder

  • Seeds from 3 cardamom pods

  • Sweet Coffee & Walnut Ugali Squares:
  • 540ml brewed black coffee

  • 100g Fairleigh brown sugar

  • 6 tbsp ugali

  • 100g Brown’s butter (melted)

  • 16 toasted walnuts

  • Additional necessities:
  • Delia’s vanilla ice-cream

  • Kampi Kitchen orange slices

  • Epicurious Hedgehog cocoa nibs

  • Toasted walnuts

Directions

  • Gakuyu-ini Strong Brew:
  • In a 1l plastic jug add fitted with a lid-
  • 70g of finely ground Gakuyu-ini coffee
  • 1l of boiled water cooled down for 5 min after boiling.
  • Stir vigorously then put the lid
  • Let the brew steep for 5 minutes
  • Sieve the entire brew into a new jug.
  • You will obtain an average of 860ml of Gakuyu-ini strong brewed Coffee.
  • Gakuyu-ini Black Brew:
  • In a 1l plastic jug add fitted with a lid-
  • 64g of finely ground Gakuyu-ini coffee
  • 1l of boiled water cooled down for 4 min after boiling.
  • Stir vigorously then put the lid
  • Let the brew steep for 4 minutes
  • Sieve the entire brew into a new jug.
  • You will obtain an average of 880ml of Gakuyu-ini black brewed Coffee
  • Coffee Granita:
  • Combine the coffee and sugar whilst it’s still hot, and pour into a large shallow dish (tupperware is fine) and allow to cool to room temperature.

    Once cool, place in the freezer overnight. 
  • The next day, grab a fork and scrape it all up so that you’re left with the resulting granita.
    You can now put it back in the freezer until you need it.

    The granita will keep in the freezer for a few months.
  • Black Coffee Jelly:
  • Combine the coffee and gelatin whilst the coffee is hot, and stir it until the gelatin is fully dissolved.
  • Pour into a mould of your choice (I used an ice-cube tray), and once it’s cool, place in the fridge overnight.
  • When it comes to removing the coffee jelly, run a hot tap briefly over the underside of the mold and then the coffee should come loose. 

    It needs very gentle treatment! The coffee will keep in the fridge up to 3 days.
  • Coffee, Chocolate and Cardamom Syrup
  • Combine the brewed coffee with the brown sugar, and cocoa powder – whisk it all together whilst the coffee is hot. 
  • Crush the cardamom seeds slightly and add them in. 
  • Bring up to a rolling simmer until it thickens to syrup consistency. 
  • Allow to cool and place in the fridge until you need it. The mixture will keep in a fridge for up to 5 days.
  • Sweet Coffee & Walnut Ugali Squares:
  • Start by toasting your walnuts briefly in a hot oven.

    Once they start to smell deliciously roasted, remove them and set aside 8 of them as decorations. 
  • Take the other 8 and roughly chop them. Next, brew your coffee, and then adding the sugar so it has time to dissolve (it might need a little stir to get it going).
  • Dry roast the ugali in a saucepan until it starts to turn slightly golden.
  • At this stage, add in the butter, give it a thorough stir through and then pour in the coffee and keep stirring until the mixture starts to leave the side of the pan, and then stir in the chopped toasted walnuts. 
  • Put into a tin lined with baking paper (I used a loaf tin) and allow to cool. You can keep this in the fridge for up to 2 days.
  • To serve, cut into squares, and place a toasted walnut on top.
  • To Make your Sundae:
  • Start with a beautiful glass – in hot weather, place it in the freezer before you start to ensure it keeps everything cool. 
  • Start with a big spoon of the granita, then a scoop of Delia’s delicious Vanilla ice-cream (or go coffee if you want a caffeine overload!), then more granita and more ice-cream until you’ve piled it up to the top. 
  • At this stage, you want to place some coffee jelly right on the top, sprinkle on some cocoa nibs, stick the orange slice into the ice-cream and then finish with a toasted walnut. 
  • Pour over the syrup once you get to the table… 
  • Serve with an ugali coffee square on the side, or save that as a sneaky snack with your morning coffee!

    All images by Patrick Gitau.

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