A Brew to a Kill (50 page)

Makes 12 muffins

For muffins:

1½ cups streusel filling and topping (easy recipe follows)
½ cup butter (1 stick), softened
½ cup granulated sugar
½ cup light brown sugar
¾ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon cinnamon
1½ teaspoons vanilla
2 large eggs, lightly beaten with fork
¾ cup sour cream
¼ cup brewed coffee or espresso, cooled (see
note
)
2 cups all-purpose flour
1½ teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda

Note:
Whole milk or buttermilk (regular or light) may be substituted for the coffee.

For Vanilla Glaze (optional):

2 tablespoons butter
1 cup powdered sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla extract (for a whiter glaze, use clear vanilla)
1 tablespoon milk (more or less)

Step 1—Preheat, prep pans, mix dry ingredients:
First make the streusel filling and topping (recipe follows). Then preheat your oven to 350º F and place paper liners in 12 muffin cups.

Step 2—One-bowl mixing method:
In a large bowl, use an electric mixer to cream the softened butter and sugars. When light and fluffy, beat in the salt, cinnamon, vanilla, eggs, sour cream, and cooled coffee or espresso. Continue beating for another minute. Stop the mixer and measure in the flour. Sprinkle the baking powder and baking soda over the flour. Mix everything until you have a batter that is smooth. Do not overmix or you’ll develop the gluten in the flour and your muffins will be tough instead of tender.

Step 3—Layer muffin cups and bake:
You will now need the streusel topping that you prepared ahead. Into your paper-lined muffin cups, drop a generous dollop of batter. Sprinkle streusel onto the batter and top with more batter. Finish with a generous sprinkling of streusel. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes. Muffins are done when a toothpick inserted comes out with no wet batter clinging to it. Remove from oven and take muffins out of the hot pan promptly or the bottoms may steam and toughen.

Step 4 (optional)—Glaze the cooled muffins:
In a small saucepan, over medium-low heat, melt the butter. Sift in the powdered sugar (or sift the sugar first and then add). When all of the sugar is melted into the butter, remove from heat and stir in vanilla. Finally stir in the milk, a little at a time, until the glaze is the right consistency to drizzle over the muffins. To finish the muffins, dip a fork in the warm glaze mixture and drizzle it in a back-and-forth motion over the cooled muffin tops.

HOW TO MAKE STREUSEL (CRUMB) TOPPING FOR ANY MUFFIN OR COFFEE CAKE

Makes about 1½ cups of streusel

½ cup all-purpose flour
½ cup light brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
5 tablespoons butter (unsalted is best), cubed

Food processor:
Place all ingredients in the processor and pulse until you see coarse crumbs.

By hand:
Using your hands and/or a fork or pastry blender, work the butter into the dry ingredient until you see coarse crumbs.

Store any extra in the refrigerator.

Easy Iced Mocha

Makes one 8-ounce serving

¹⁄³ cup brewed coffee (4 coffee ice cubes)
¹⁄³ cup milk (low-fat is fine)
2 teaspoons sugar (or more if you like your drinks sweeter)
¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon unsweetened cocoa powder
Whipped cream
Chocolate curls (see how to make below)

Fill an ice cube tray with leftover coffee and freeze. Remove four coffee ice cubes (per 8-ounce serving) and place in blender. Add milk, sugar, vanilla extract, and cocoa. Pulse the blender to chop the coffee ice cubes into fine particles. You can create a very icy drink with small ice chips (like a frozen margarita) or you can run the blender full speed until the mixture is completely liquefied yet still cold and frothy. The drink is delicious either way and a great use for your leftover joe. To finish, pour this frosty refresher into a glass mug, top with whipped cream and chocolate curls (see below).

HOW TO MAKE CHOCOLATE CURLS

To create chocolate curls, start with a block of room-temperature chocolate. Using a vegetable peeler, scrape down the block, and you’ll see curls of chocolate peel away. Chocolate curls make a wonderful garnish for coffee drinks, hot cocoa, cakes, cupcakes, and puddings. Or use them to decorate a dessert plate. Chill or even freeze the curls for more sturdiness and longer life on a serving plate or dessert table.

Clare Cosi’s Orange-Vanilla “Creamsicle” Coffee Cake

The Muffin Muse served a more elaborate version of this cake at the deputy mayor’s food-truck catered wedding reception. This version is much simpler. Clare came up with it during her years raising Joy in New Jersey, when she wrote her
In the Kitchen with Clare
column for a local paper. It’s an easy coffee cake that’s so moist and rich it tastes like a pound cake, yet it bakes up quickly in a single-layer pan. It requires no special skill to bake or glaze and only dirties one bowl. Now that’s cooking with joy!

Makes a 9-inch pan

½ cup butter (1 stick), softened
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
¼ cup whole milk
½ cup orange juice (with pulp or not, your choice)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon orange zest (grated peel from 1 medium orange)
1¾ cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder

For Orange-Vanilla Glaze:

Makes 1 cup of glaze, enough to liberally cover one 9-inch cake

2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons whole milk
2 cups confectioners’ (powdered or icing) sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 tablespoons orange juice (Be sure to add separately)

Step 1—Make batter with one-bowl mixing method:
First preheat oven to 350° F. Using an electric mixer, cream butter and sugar in a mixing bowl. Stop the mixer. Add in eggs, milk, orange juice, vanilla, salt, and orange zest. Continue mixing until well blended. Now add the flour and baking powder. Continue mixing only enough to blend ingredients. The batter will be somewhat thick (although not as thick as cookie dough). Just be sure not to overmix or you will develop the gluten in the flour and your cake will be tough instead of tender.

Step 2—Prepare pan and bake:
Generously butter the bottom and sides of a 9-inch cake pan. Bake for about 25 to 35 minutes. To check for doneness, insert a toothpick into the cake’s center. When it comes out clean (with no batter on it), the cake is done. Cool the cake in the pan but on a rack so air can circulate under the bottom of the hot pan. Do not attempt to remove the cake from the pan until the top of your cake is cool to the touch.

Step 3—Remove cake from pan and glaze:
Wait for the cake to cool (about 30 minutes out of the oven or it may stick on you). Run a knife around the pan’s edge. Place a flat plate over the top of the pan and carefully flip it. Gently tap the pan bottom to loosen the cake. When you’ve removed the cake this way, it’s (obviously) upside down. Flip it once more so that it’s upright on your serving plate. Now it’s time to drizzle the entire cake with Clare’s easy Orange-Vanilla Glaze.

Warning:
First, Clare wants to warn you
not
to dump everything into your saucepan at once when you make the glaze. Follow these steps as written or your glaze will curdle when your milk and orange juice meet!

Step 4—Create sugar paste:
Place butter and milk in a saucepan over low heat. When butter has melted, stir in the confectioners’ sugar, a little at a time, until dissolved. The mixture will be thick and pasty.

Step 5—Add vanilla and orange juice:
Remove the pan from heat. Add vanilla and orange juice. Stir well to blend. Return pan to low heat, tilt pan, and whisk well until smooth. This may take a minute.

Note:
This mixture should never boil or you may get a scorched taste in your glaze.

Step 6—Glaze cake:
While glaze is still warm, drizzle over cooled cake. Clare transfers the warm glaze to a glass measuring cup and pours a thin stream in a zigzag motion across the cake until it’s completely iced.

Clare Cosi’s “Melt-and-Mix” Double-Chocolate Espresso-Glazed Loaf Cake

Yes, this is the very cake Matteo and Quinn fought over—well, the last slice anyway. But Clare has learned her lesson. The next time she finds herself sharing a household with a hot-headed coffee hunter and a stewing detective, she’s making two of
everything!

Makes two cakes using loaf pans of 8½ × 4½ × 2 inches

¾ cup (1½ stick) butter, sliced into small pieces
½ cup vegetable or canola oil
2 cups granulated sugar
6 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, chopped
½ cup brewed coffee or espresso
½ cup whole milk
3 cups all-purpose flour
½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2½ teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon kosher salt
¾ cup sour cream
2 teaspoons vanilla
3 eggs, room temperature
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
Chocolate Espresso Glaze (recipe follows)

Step 1—Prep oven and pans:
First preheat oven to 300 degrees F. Butter bottom and sides of two loaf pans (size 8½ × 4½ × 2-inch) and create parchment paper slings. The handles of these slings will be used to lift the baked cakes out of their pans. Here’s how to make the slings: Trim a length of paper in each pan so that the bottom is covered and excess paper extends beyond the long sides to create handles. The butter will help the paper stick to the pan’s sides. For a tight fit, put sharp folds in the paper at the pan’s corners.

Step 2—Easy “melt-and-mix” method:
Into a saucepan combine the sliced up butter, oil, sugar, chocolate, coffee, and milk. Stir over
low
heat until chocolate is melted and all ingredients are smoothly blended together. (Do not allow this mixture to boil or you’ll end up with a scorched taste to your chocolate.) You can also use a microwave to melt these ingredients, but be sure to use a microwave-safe bowl and heat in 30 second bursts, stirring between each burst to prevent chocolate from burning. Set aside to cool.

Step 3—Finish batter:
Into a separate bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Stir in the cooled chocolate mixture, the sour cream, vanilla, and eggs. Beat with an electric mixer, scraping down the bowl until all ingredients form a smooth batter. (Do not over-mix) Finally, fold in the chocolate chips.

Step 4—Bake and cool:
Divide the batter evenly between your two lined loaf pans. Bake for about 70–80 minutes (time will depend on your oven). Remove from oven. Allow cakes to cool 10 minutes in the pan, and then use the parchment
paper handles to lift the cakes out. Let the cakes cool on a rack for another 30 minutes before slicing. Do not glaze until completely cool.

Step 5—Glaze and serve:
While the cakes are cooling, mix up the Chocolate Espresso Glaze (recipe follows). Spoon generously over each
completely cooled
cake top. Use the back of your spoon to spread the glaze evenly. Be sure to push excess glaze over the edges for a nice drizzly effect down the cake sides. Serve slices with dollops of Whipped Coffee Cream (recipe follows).

Chocolate Espresso Glaze

This glaze pairs beautifully with chocolate, mocha, and coffee-flavored cakes, muffins, cupcakes, and croissants. For a frosting-like layer, spoon the glaze over the tops of your cakes and cupcakes then use the back of the spoon to smooth it. Or use a fork to drizzle the glaze back-and-forth across your pastry. Either way, it’s a stunning and delicious finish to your baked goodies.

Makes about 1 cup

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (or 4 ounces of block chocolate, chopped)
¼ cup brewed coffee or espresso
2 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
½ teaspoon instant espresso powder
1 Tablespoon corn syrup (light or vanilla)
1 cup confectioners’ sugar

Place chocolate chips (or 4 ounces of chopped block chocolate) into a mixing bowl and set aside. Over low heat, bring the following ingredients to a simmer in a small saucepan: coffee or espresso, butter, vanilla, instant espresso powder, and corn
syrup. Pour the simmering liquid over your chocolate chips (or chopped chocolate) and stir until all chocolate is melted and the liquid is smooth. Finally add in 1 cup of confectioners’ sugar and whisk until the glaze is completely smooth and shiny (with no lumps). You can spoon it over your cake and use the back of the spoon to smooth the glaze into an even layer. Or you can use a fork and a back-and-forth motion for a drizzling effect. Glaze will be wet at first and should set in about an hour.

Whipped Coffee Cream

²
⁄
₃
cup heavy cream, well chilled
1 tablespoon brewed coffee, cooled*
1–2 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar, sifted

Note:
For vanilla cream, replace coffee with 1 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract (use clear extract for a prettier, whiter cream)