Saturday, January 07, 2006


a 3 min. reason to watch living coffee

devoted readers may recall that i had announced my intention to create one of barista champ paul bassett's signature dessert espresso drinks, the one based on tiramisu from his living coffee dvd.

and this i did today. it is fantastic, delicious, amazing. i think from my quick work with food labels, that as i made it, it has only 150 calories, or about 9-10 carbs for you low-carb people.

i used just whatever i had around the house: this meant instead of amaretti, i used 1/2 a stella d'oro almond toast from a package an otherwise well-meaning soul had given me.

i find most stella d'oro things inedible, but this worked out ok, actually. you could use ladyfingers, savoidi, old madeleines, 'nilla wafers, biscotti, whatever!

likewise, paul used marsala, but i was out of it today, so i just chucked in some kahlua. again, you could use whatever you like, even just rum extract flavoring, for those of you avoiding alcohol.

as for the espresso, i used andrew b's ecco northern italian espresso reserve:

1/2 stella d'oro almond toast
1 or 2 teaspoons kahlua
2 oz. freshly made espresso (a doppio)
1 or 2 tablespoons mascarpone
1 splash half-n-half
1 splash real vanilla
sugar to taste or splash splenda (optional)
a little grated chocolate or dutch cocoa
a pinch of ground cinnamon (optional)

mix the splash of half-n-half and the vanilla into the mascarpone until smooth. break the cookie up into a 3 oz. demitasse.

the cookie should fill the cup half-way or maybe 2/3s.

pour the kahlua over the cookie to start the softening process. brew the espresso right into the demitasse.

by now the demitasse will probably be 2/3 to 3/4s full. if you want, add your sugar or splenda to the demitasse; don't stir yet.

thickly spread the mascarpone mixture over the top of the demitasse and sprinkle with the cocoa, grated chocolate, and pinch of cinnamon.

place the demitasse on its saucer, and serve at once with a demitasse spoon.

you can eat this in layers, or mix it all up and spoon it greedily into your mouth. yummy!

and it really does take 3 minutes -- or possibly -- less to make.

posted by fortune | 2:12 PM | top | link to this | email this: | | | 0 comments