|
Chocolate Covered Espresso Beans
By Randy Wilson, Fri Dec 9th
Chocolate Covered Espresso Beans are great fun, as mid-daypick-me-ups or as a garnish on top of ice cream or some otherdessert item. You can buy a pack at your local supermarket, andyou'll get slightly oblong-shaped, smooth, dark, rich and glossynuggets that both look and taste absolutely fabulous. However,if you're a coffee buff like me, or just like cooking ingeneral, try out this recipe. Your homemade stuff perhaps won'tlook as good as the supermarket variety, and won't be glossy,single nuggets in a shiny pack, but they'll sure taste as good.And on top of that you'll get the satisfaction of having madethem yourself! Get yourself some top-quality, preferably organic, coffee beans.Since these will be eaten whole in the form of chocolate coveredespresso beans, it's preferable to use Arabica rather thanRobusta. Arabica is less bitter, and contains considerably lesscaffeine. For hard-core coffee addicts, however, Arabica may notcontain enough 'kick'. If the beans aren't already roasted, putthem in the microwave and keep them there for about 15 minutes,at 400° Fahrenheit. You can use commercially available thick double chocolate, oryou can make your own. You'll need to roast cocoa berries, peeland mash them in a mortar till it's become a smooth paste. Therest depends on what kind of chocolate you want for coveringyour espresso beans. Some people prefer milk chocolate; in whichcase, you need to add milk to the dark and oily cocoa paste andalso add sugar to taste. Boil the
liquid till most of themoisture has evaporated, leaving the smooth, light brown textureof milk chocolate. Adding other flavours is not recommended ifyou're going to use it for chocolate covered espresso beans,because it might jeopardise the pure coffee-and-cocoa flavour ofthe final product.Put the coffee beans on a baking sheet covered with wax paper,and pour molten chocolate over it. Ensure that the beans arelaid out in a single layer, and not too far apart from eachother. They should be fully covered all around with thechocolate. After the beans have cooled down somewhat, put thewhole sheet in a freezer. If you need glossier, individual beans, you need to use candymolds. Put individual beans in the moulds, and then pour thechocolate. The beans will be easier to pop out of their mouldsif you mix a little peanut butter with the chocolate. Thisprocess is lengthier, but yields better-looking nuggets that areof more commercial value - that is, if you're thinking ofselling chocolate covered espresso beans.
About the author:© Copyright Randy Wilson, All Rights Reserved. |
