There are very few combinations in the culinary world that are as “meant-to-be” as dark chocolate and coffee. Pure coffee and dark chocolate, rightfully regarded as two of the luxuries of life, have complementary toasty flavor profiles, and thus frequently call for decadent dessert platters. You can hardly ever have one and just stop at that. Their bold, rich flavors that provide a deep, velvety smoothness can make anyone, whether a coffee aficionado or a chocolate lover, pause and enjoy the finer things in life.
These dessert recipes would be perfect examples of how coffee and dark chocolate can be combined in fabulous harmony. Each of the dishes presented has been curated in a way that helps the quality of the star ingredients shine through. With these dishes, you can entertain your relatives and dark chocolate aficionado friends, or even satisfy all your own sweet or caffeine or both, cravings.
Coffee Crème Brûlée with Dark Chocolate
Ingredients:
- 320 ml cream
- 150 gm caster sugar
- 3 tsp instant coffee powder
- 3 large egg yolks
- 120 gm Cadbury Bournville dark chocolate (broken into chunks)
Method:
- You have to first preheat the oven to 150°C.
- Then, whip heavy cream, caster sugar, and instant coffee powder together in a bowl till the sugar has completely dissolved into the cream.
- After that, you have to add egg yolks and fold this mix.
- Next, pour the batter into individual baking bowls and allow them to bake for 25-30 minutes.
- In the meantime, melt the dark chocolate pieces in the microwave in bursts of 15 seconds.
- Once the treats are out of the oven, you can pour this melted chocolate over the crème brûlée.
- Before serving, dust a mix of powdered sugar, cocoa powder and coffee powder, and dig in.
Espresso and Dark Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients:
- 230 gm plain flour
- 100 gm unsalted butter (cubed)
- 150 gm caster sugar
- 3 tsp instant coffee powder
- 120 gm Cadbury Bournville dark chocolate
- 3 eggs
Method:
- First, preheat the oven to 200°C.
- Then, mix flour, unsalted butter, caster sugar, and coffee powder using a whisk.
- When the dry ingredients are all mixed, add eggs and crushed pieces of dark chocolate and fold them into the mix.
- You can spoon the mixture onto a baking tray and let it bake for 10-12 minutes.
- Once out of the oven, you have to let the cookies cool down a little before you serve them moderately warm. You can dust a layer of powdered sugar on top if you like.
Ingredients:
- 250 gm refined flour
- 100 gm unsalted butter
- 135 gm granulated sugar
- 3 tsp instant coffee powder
- 200 gm Bournville dark chocolate
- 3 eggs
Method:
- You have to start by preheating the oven to 180°C.
- After that, you need to roll out the pastry dough.
- Then, whisk granulated sugar, coffee powder, and eggs into a bowl till the liquid has come together.
- You are then going to melt the dark chocolate in a double boiler or in the microwave oven in 20-second bursts, whichever you prefer.
- Cut out the dough into 10 cm circles and press them into the tart moulds greased with unsalted butter. Now bake the shells with a small bag of rice grain as weight.
- Once they are golden brown and flaky, pour the sugar and coffee mixture into the pastry shell.
- At this step, fill it with melted chocolate, and allow it to bake for 25-30 minutes.
- You can serve fresh out of the oven with some whipping cream on top.
You can try to experiment with different kinds of coffee roasts for different intensities of flavor. Before choosing your coffee, you need to look into its roast level. You can try different brewing techniques for the balance of sweetness and bitterness. For added texture, you can also add nuts or dried and candied fruits.
The combination of coffee and dark chocolate has several health benefits besides being super delicious. In limited doses, coffee is proven to enhance cognitive ability, and you might already know that dark chocolate is full of antioxidants that are great for your heart health.
The recipes are easy to follow and will help you through the processes as an inexperienced as well as an experienced baker. You can enjoy them in your gatherings with friends, family lunches, a girls’ night in, or just on a pampering spree for yourself. They are more suited for older people, solely because of their caffeine content, which can be undesirable for kids who are below a certain age.