If you enjoy cooking with coffee like I do, you will enjoy this cookbook, Passion for Coffee Cookbook.
I was sent a complementary copy of Patricia McCausland-Gallo’s Passion for Coffee to review.
Another great dessert recipe using coffee is my Coffee Panna Cotta.
For ease of browsing, here all of my individual dessert recipes. Thanks for stopping by!
For ease of browsing, here all of my individual dessert recipes. Another great dessert is my Coffee Panna Cotta.
I think Patricia McCausland-Gallo must be a genius. She’s the author of this cookbook, Passion for Coffee: Sweet and Savory Recipes with Coffee, by the way. So you’ll know who I’m talking about.
When I think of coffee and using coffee in my baking and cooking, I stick to some basics. Apart from drinking Chemex-brewed coffee almost every morning, I have added espresso powder or coffee in some form to brownies, to sweet rolls, to cakes, to frosting, to flan. I even make a mean coffee-orange coffee cake that is a very unattractive color but is completely delicious. And at the end of the day, I’m pretty pleased with myself.
And then, I get a copy of Passion for Coffee in the mail, and I realize that I am but a very young and green padawan when it comes to baking and cooking with coffee. McCausland-Gallo is a Jedi Master. In her capable hands, coffee makes an appearance in everything from breakfasts (wouldn’t you almost kill to have Chocolate-Dotted Waffles with Caramel Coffee Sauce for breakfast?) to caramels and dessert sauces to cookies, all manner of cakes–almond coffee meringue cake, anyone?–to mousse and crepes and cheesecake to beverages from frappes to milk shakes to macchiatos.
Another recipe I made from Passion for Coffee is Caramel Coffee Mousse. Check it out!
If you’re not impressed yet, just wait.
She goes on to explore coffee in a dizzying array of savory dishes. Sometimes the coffee makes an appearance in a rub, and other times, it is used in very small quantities for nuance of color, aroma and flavor:
- Filet mignon with Coffee-Blueberry Sauce
- Pork Tenderloins with Port Wine Sauce
- Tuna with Yellow Pepper Chutney
- Grouper with Almonds and White Wine
- Balsamic Salmon and Portobellos
At this point in my reading, I was pretty much ready to go find her and learn at her feet, even if I had to live in a swamp and try to levitate space ships with the power of my mind. And then, with the next chapter “Greens and More” she really went where no one has gone before. I realize I’m mixing my pop culture space references, but there is no help for it. Friends, Patricia McCausland-Gallo has such a passion for coffee and for stretching the limits of what coffee can do that she has created some unique and mouthwatering salads and salad dressings.
This changes everything.
Coffee, used in judicious amounts, lends a whole new dimension to foods that I didn’t think could benefit from its addition. Until I started reading this book.
- Squid Salad with Caramelized Coffee Pecans
- Artichoke Heart and Pearl Onion Salad
- Pasta Salad with Chevre, Mushrooms, and Tomatoes
- Roasted Vegetables with White Balsamic Dressing
- Spiced Almond and Brie Salad
What I Love about Passion for Coffee
I’ve given you an overview of the book, and I hope by now you already want to pick up a copy (and certainly enter the giveaway). If you’re still not convinced, I have some more to say about this book.
McCausland-Gallo’s impetus to write this book was this: Being a native of Colombia and having just completed the book Secrets of Colombian Cooking, she asked herself “Why…if we have the best coffee in the world, are there no recipes in our cuisine that incorporate coffee?” (p. 15) In many cookbooks, just writing that question would be the teaser, the reason for us to keep reading. In Passion for Coffee, the author takes great pains to explain how she conceptualized the dishes, the trial and error, the research that went into her recipe development. Initially, she was not going to include chapters for savories until a friend of hers basically dared her to.
The resulting book, Passion for Coffee, is aptly named. If you also have a passion for coffee, you will want to own this book. The recipes are thoughtful and balanced, and most importantly, they work. No, I have not made all the recipes in the book. I’ve only made a very small fraction of them, but it’s the little things about a recipe that signal that it will work. That the person who developed it was meticulous and cared about what she was doing. Things like using brown sugar in some applications and granulated in others. Nuanced seasoning or sweetening: 5 Tablespoons of sugar; 1 Tablespoon cocoa powder; 2 eggs plus 1 egg yolk. Very specific instructions. After years of reading, following and writing recipes, you just know.
Over and above all of that, what I love most about this book are the component recipes. The Basics chapter includes very specific yet versatile recipes that can be used in a wide variety of preparations. Once you make Basic Crepes or Basic Coffee Pie Dough for example, you can fill them according to the other recipes in the book that specifically call for those components, or you can fill them with anything you can imagine.
What I Wish Were Better About Passion for Coffee
We live in a visual world, especially so when it comes to food. With the proliferation–explosion–of food blogs and food porn sites such as foodgawker and tastespotting, not to mention Perfect Pinterest Pictures, readers and foodies have come to expect that the photographs that accompany recipes are more stunning than the recipes themselves. This is why gorgeous photographs of dubious sounding “2 ingredient cakes” get Pinned a hundred million times when beautifully, thoughtfully prepared and executed food gets ignored because the photos aren’t stellar. As much as this state of affairs saddens me, it is still the state of affairs in the food world today.
And this is where Passion for Coffee suffers a bit. There are relatively few photographs in the book, and many of the photos that are included just aren’t that great. For a book that has earned multiple awards, including Best in the World from Gourmand World Cookbook Awards, I wish that the photos leaped off the page and made people weep with joy and run straight to their kitchens to start baking or cooking. Because the recipes most assuredly will.
If I’ve already convinced you that you need this book, click on any of the links in the post or on the ad at the top of the website, order yourself a copy, and get ready to be wowed just like I was.
Café Bomba
In 2007, the year that Dominique Ansel (yes, the Cronut Dude) won a Golden Scoop Award for Best Dessert Menu at Daniel, Bill Corbett, Executive Pastry Chef at Anthos in NYC, won the award for Most Innovative Dessert for his “Sesame in Sesame.” I have dreamed about and been inspired by this dessert ever since I saw a picture of it. He used sesame in every form he could think of. Layer upon layer of sesame in varying states and textures. A monochromatic but intricate and well-conceived exploration of what sesame could be. From Halva to toffee to ice cream to brittle. It was a sesame symphony, and you can see it here. Sadly, the Golden Scoop Awards are long-since defunct, but I did find the recipe for Sesame in Sesame, if you are interested.
Since I’m already primed to be intrigued by recipes that layer the same flavor in different ways, I was drawn to the Café Bomba. Here’s the introduction to the recipe:
This dessert was created during a party at my house honoring three Japanese chefs. I forgot to prepare dessert, but because I was in the middle of creating the recipes for this book, I had lots of coffee products in my freezer and fridge. When I served the dessert to one of the Japanese chefs who spoke no English or Spanish, he just said, “Café Bomba.”
That’s right. She just whipped this up from a well-stocked refrigerator. This is truly one of those “on the fly” desserts that the harried pastry person has to throw together at the last minute. The components, all singing their coffee song, harmonize beautifully.
And let me tell you something about the Coffee Anglaise. I made it exactly according to her recipe, down to leaving the salt amount alone at 1/8 teaspoon. As I cooked it, I thought it might be a bit thin. Maybe it should have more yolks? Surely, there’s something that it needs from me other than just following the recipe?
Friends, it needed nothing. It cooled down to the perfect texture. The flavor is perfect. The color is perfect. I tasted it with a spoon. I tasted it again. And again. I held the bowl and shoveled a few spoonfuls of Anglaise into my face as if I were eating cereal. And then, I tipped that bowl up, and I drank some. Not all. I mean, I showed a modicum of restraint, but that is how good this Anglaise is.
I must admit that I did not make the coffee ice cream. As some of you know, I’m making ice cream once a week as it is, and adding more ice cream to my freezer seemed ill-advised, so I read the ingredients for Cooked Coffee Ice Cream and bought one that I thought would most closely fit: some Talenti Coffee Chocolate Chip Ice Cream.
If you have any questions about this or any other recipe or post on the site, there are a few ways to get in touch.
You can leave a comment on the post, and I’ll be back in touch within 24 hours.
If your question is more pressing, don’t hesitate to email me, and I should be back in touch within 4 hours (unless I’m asleep) or often much more quickly than that.
I hope you’ve learned something from this post or that you’ve decided to make the recipe.
It would really help me and other readers out if you’d rate the recipe using the star ratings in the recipe card.
It’s also very helpful to me and to other readers if you leave a comment and/or a recipe review.
Thank you so much for being here and for helping others find my recipes by sharing on your social platforms!
Recipe from Passion for Coffee: Sweet and Savory Recipes with Coffee, Patricia McCausland-Gallo, 2007. Printed with permission from Creative Culinary Works/Favorite Recipes Press.
Cafe Bomba
This caffe bomba dessert from Passion for Coffee cookbook requires 4 components: syrup, ice cream, sauce and vodka. I'll share the recipe for the whole dessert, but I can only share one publicly this time. You'll have to wait for the amazing Anglaise, I'm afraid. Or grab a copy of the book. It's one you should own.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup sweet coffee syrup, (pg 37)
- About 1 pint, (1 recipe) cooked coffee ice cream (pg 120)
- 3/4 cup (1/2 recipe) coffee creme anglaise sauce (pg 33)
- 3/4 cup vodka
To Assemble
- 12 small martini glasses
Instructions
- Place 1 1/2 teaspoons of the coffee syrup in each glass.
- Add 2 small scoops of ice cream and drizzle with sauce.
- Pour 1 tablespoon vodka over each and serve immediately.
I cannot tell you how much I wish I could share more than one recipe, because the coffee Anglaise is amazing. I really do hate to be too much of a tease. I highly recommend buying a copy of Passion for Coffee. You can always give a copy to a coffee-loving friend. They will be very grateful.
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This was a long one today. I tend to get long-winded when I’m passionate about something. I will be sharing another post about this book in a few weeks. The advertising package I offer comes with a blog post, and I am more than thrilled to be able to share another recipe from this incredible book.
Thank you for spending some time (a lot of time) here today. Have a lovely day.
Anne from Pintesting says
I love using instant espresso (or coffee) in just about any chocolate baking to bring out the richness and depth of flavor that sometimes gets covered by the sugar/sweetness. I also fell in love with an espresso balsamic vinegar that I rub on seasoned steaks just a bit before throwing them on the grill (or other cooking method). Oh. My. Yumness!
And let’s not forget the absolute joy of that first cup in the morning – especially when my handsome hubby brings it to me in bed. *sigh*
Jennifer Field says
There’s a lovely balsamic glaze in this book, too, Anne. Keen! And I agree, chocolate and coffee go beautifully together!
Kiersten says
I looove to use coffee in chocolate cakes, or brownies and Ganache too, 🙂
Jennifer Field says
Yes–coffee and chocolate are like Forrest and Jenny!
Anne from Pintesting says
Following Patricia on Twitter! (@Pintesting)
Anne from Pintesting says
I follow you on Twitter, too! 😀
Sarah says
I love to add espresso powder to brownies and cakes (including ganache).
I’m also following you and Patricia on Twitter (my handle is BundtLust).
Thanks!
Jennifer Field says
Bundtlust is the best name ever! lol Chocolate and coffee are such natural partners. =)
Sarah says
Following you on Twitter!
Sarah says
And following Patricia McCausland-Gallo on Twitter.
Kristiina says
Coffee and chocolate, hands down! My favourite pie is still my grandmother’s recipe for a chocolate and coffee mouse pie with a coconut and chocolate crust that she called “mocha pixie pie”. Salivating just thinking about it 🙂
Jennifer Field says
Ooh, I think I’d love your grandmother’s mocha pixie pie! Wow!
Kristiina says
I followed Patricia on twitter (my username is @kiiaro)
Kristiina says
I followed you on twitter too! (my username is @kiiaro)
Wendy Read says
I use expresso in all of my chocolate cake, brownie and icing recipes to intensify the chocolate flavor!!! The book looks fabulous too!
Jennifer Field says
I think you will especially love this since you make jam. Her coffee and fruit pairings may just provide inspiration for some amazing coffee jams and jellies!
Laurel Eden says
I make a cappuccino bar that’s delicious. Also, ginger bars that call for coffee.
Jennifer Field says
I love that idea–ginger and coffee! Nice, Laurel!
Laurel Eden says
I follow Patricia McCausland-Gallo on Twitter (@LaurelHamilto13).
Laurel Eden says
I follow you on Twitter (@LaurelHamilto13).
Jo-Anne says
oh my….ordering the book (if I don’t win) just for the Coffee Cream Anglaise recipe! I use espresso powder mostly in chocolate recipes, brownies, cakes and in my iced coffee for an added kick.
Jennifer Field says
You will not be sorry. It is The Best. I like the idea of some espresso powder in an iced coffee, too, Jo-Anne!
Jo-Anne says
followin Patricia McCausland-Gallo on Twitter
Jo-Anne says
already follow you on twitter!
Vickie Newton says
Love chocolate coffee icing for devil’s food cake. Yum!
Jennifer Field says
There really is nothing like coffee and chocolate, is there? =)
Laura says
It’s funny–I do not like plain coffee, and yet coffee is one of my favorite flavors ever. I love it in cakes, cookies, and my personal favorite, ice cream. I like using a little of it in chili and anything else tomato based–I think it plays off the acidic coffee really nicely. So needless to say whether I win this or not, it is getting added to the wish list!
Jennifer Field says
It truly is an excellent book, Laura! I always put a bit of cocoa in my chili. Now I’ll let some coffee join the party, too!
Laura says
I follow you on Twitter. @TheSpicedLife
Elizabeth Langston says
Seems like I never have time anymore for baking. When I want a coffee treat, I make myself an Affagato by pouring a shot of espresso over french vanilla ice cream.
Jennifer Field says
One of the best treats ever, Elizabeth!
Elizabeth Langston says
I think I’m following Patricia… Is this her: https://twitter.com/PachiMcCausland ?
Jennifer Field says
Oh, did I not put in the link?! I must not have. I’ll fix it, but yes–that’s her. =)
Elizabeth Langston says
I’m following you too. My Twitter handle is @2brno2b.
JUANITA DECUIR says
Would you believe on ice cream or the added flavor for cake baking and to add colour to my fabric or yarn and then I save the grounds for my gardens…I don’t have Twitter.
Jennifer Field says
Wow, you really get your money’s worth out of your coffee, Juanita!
Faye Gibson says
Your review is stunning and makes me want to buy this immediately. I have used coffee primarily in baking. In some cakes, especially chocolate, I substitute coffee for water or other liquid. I also make a coffee-cinnamon flavored frosting using a coffee spice/sugar from my favorite spice shop. And, of course,I always have coffee ice cubes in the freezer!!!
Jennifer Field says
Thank you so much, Faye! And it’s not even close to hyperbole. The book really is that good. If someone gave me a sample of that coffee Anglaise and said that I could only get the recipe if I bought the book, I would buy it without hesitation. It is seriously some of the best stuff ever. =)
I love the coffee-cinnamon combination, too–coffee brings so much depth, and after reading this book, I realize it has much more to offer than I’d thought. Good luck in the giveaway!
Amy says
I have never (not once, not ever) used coffee in a savory recipe, though I have used it in brownies and some really sinfully delicious mocha salted caramel cookies (the most sinful part of which is the fact that I’m the only person in my home who will come within 10 feet of coffee in any form; yes, I did give some away…).
Jennifer Field says
Those cookies sound spectacular! Pretty sure I wouldn’t have been able to give any away, Amy! lol
Amy says
Just clicked over to follow you on twitter… 🙂 (@spamyamy)
Jennifer Field says
Hooray!
Jennifer Field says
Congratulations, Amy!! You won a copy of Passion for Coffee! Emailing you now! =)
Rachel Weber says
Other than when a recipe calls for instant espresso, I don’t really use coffee in my cooking! Though…there is a spice from Savory Spice Shop that includes coffee and is delicious on chicken!
Jennifer Field says
I love both their Black Dust and their Baker’s Brew, Rachel! =)
Smith Bites says
well as a former Seattle girl who has drank her weight in coffee . . . ahem . . . that is A LOT of coffee . . . i must have this book! i’ve used coffee in rubs for steak and in chili as well as one of my favoirte desserts (when i could eat wheat) Tiramisu. who knew it could be used for sooooo many recipes???
Jennifer Field says
It is a fantastic book, Debra! Even if you don’t win, you should pick up a copy. That Anglaise!! Ah! =)
Gabriel Hoxie says
I follow both of you on twitter and I really like coffee used in ice cream. I am a big ice cream fan I Go to cook out and spend 30 dollars on ice cream I really like coffee used at school. We would get the coffee beans from some where in south america it was very good coffee. I have 2 cups a day there so good. especially the fraps and mochas
Jennifer Field says
Sounds like you’re a huge coffee fan! Good luck in the giveaway, Gabriel. =)
Gary Bates says
I keep instant espresso on hand and mainly use it when baking with chocolate. I would love to branch out and do more. This book sounds full of new ideas.
Jennifer Field says
I really can’t say enough good things about the book, Gary. I’m so impressed! Good luck in the giveaway. =)
Sandra says
I’ve never ever used coffee in cooking or baking. To be honest, I don’t even know how!
Jennifer Field says
Coffee plays especially nicely with chocolate and caramel, Sandra. That’s a good place to start. I’m learning from the book though that only scratches the surface. 🙂
Sandra says
Following Patricia on twitter! (@sandyroohoo)
Sandra says
Following you on twitter too! (@sandyroohoo)
Coco in the Kitchen says
The name is quite appropriate. This is right up my alley.
I’m crazy about coffee – even sprinkle instant coffee over my ice cream the the milk for my cereal.
Jennifer Field says
The book is absolutely fantastic, Coco! Definitely worth picking up a copy!