With Summer looming large the thought of hot coffee might just seem too much as you hit the start of days where the temperature is already high before you begin your drive.
While the latest trend is cold brewed coffee, not all coffee variants lend themselves to this type of process. Cold brewing also takes forward planning, time, and access to a refrigerator to store the brew in until your drink it.
Ice coffee and smoothies, however, are much easier to make on the go, making them ideal to fill your flask with for your drive to work. And coffee-flavoured home-made ice-cream is the perfect way to round off any summer dinner party in style.
Out the door creamy iced coffee
Ingredients:
Espresso – fresh brewedMilk or whatever creamer you (or your dietitian) prefer.
Milk or whatever creamer you (or your dietitian) prefer
Sweetener if required
Crushed ice-cubes
Instructions:
It couldn’t be easier. Brew a strong espresso and pour it into your coffee flask or travelling cup or a mason jar.
Fill the cup or jar halfway up with your creamer of choice whether it be soymilk, unsweetened almond milk, vanilla milk, or even regular milk. Make sure to leave enough space for a couple of handfuls of ice.
Add any sweetener or spices you require for flavour.
Finally, throw in the ice and voilà! The ideal cold beverage for your commute to work.
The iced mocha smoothie
You will need a blender for this recipe but the extra step is worth it for the frothy light coffee magic you will end up with.
Ingredients:
Freshly brewed short black double espresso
Chocolate – whatever kind you like most
Milk – whatever kind you usually use
Crushed Ice
Instructions:
Add pieces of the chocolate into the boiling-hot espresso and stir it until it becomes a thick, rich syrup. If you are adding lots of coffee you could even pre-melt the pieces in the microwave or a double boiler taking care not to burn it.
Put milk and ice into the blender container and then add the syrup of melted chocolate and espresso. Blend the mixture until it is frothy and light. For an even creamier frothy smoothy, add a bit of whipped cream towards the end.
Serve in a tall glass and enjoy.
Coffee ice-cream
This ice-cream can be kept in the freezer for a few weeks – assuming it isn’t all eaten in the first sitting, and used to add to smoothies and shakes instead of regular sorbet ice-cream.
Ingredients:
1 cup cold freshly brewed good quality coffee
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1 can of sweetened condensed milk
Instructions:
Combine the coffee, cream and condensed milk in a large bowl. Stir until well combined then chill the mixture in the refrigerator for 1 hour. Avoid the temptation to drink it!
Pour the mixture into an ice cream maker and freeze according to the manufacturer’s directions.
If you don’t have an ice-cream maker, you may use a large mason jar to do the freezing, and every half-hour take the mixture out and shake it gently to agitate the ice crystals, once semi-frozen (semifreddo), spoon the ice cream into a 4-cup (1 liter) freezer container with a cover before putting into the freezer for 2 hours before serving.
To serve, use an ice cream scoop to spoon ice cream into individual bowls. Serve immediately, sprinkling a few coffee beans on top if as decoration.
Head over to The Coffee Merchant to get your hands on the best coffee to make these delicious recipes this summer. They also specialise in retailing commercial espresso machines, grinders, barista peripherals and also offers barista courses representing the following brands: La Marzocco, Astoria, Wega, Crem, Rocket, Ditting, Mazzer, Compak, Jura and Brew Tool.
The equipment showroom is currently available by appointment only. For any queries contact Deon on 031 569 14 12. Coffee Merchant, address: Unit 13, 80 Rinaldo Road, Red Hill, 4051. www.coffeemerchant.co.za, or visit their Facebook page: CoffeeMerchantDBN.
