FOOD pairing is not just for wine connoisseurs but for coffee lovers too. Knowing which coffee to complement which food will bring out the best aromas and flavours in each of them.
Coffee expert Liz Booker has the following suggestions for these classic foods.
l Eggs
Liz’s Welsh grandmother’s favourite thing to do with eggs was to turn them into eggy bread or “float”, as she would call it – slightly stale white bread thickly sliced, eggs whipped up with a little milk in a dish waiting for the bread to be soaked and then shallow fried in a little butter. The resulting treat would then be covered in a snow of fine caster sugar.
A wonderful breakfast or afternoon treat perfectly served with a wonderful aromatic blend of Latin American coffees artfully blended to create a subtle balanced, medium body coffee with flavours of cocoa and nuts. The key to this coffee is its easy going well-rounded flavours.
l Trifle
One of the many wonderful things about a trifle is the layers. Liz’s favourite is a pear, chocolate and praline trifle with soft chocolate sponge soaked in a cheeky splash of almond liquor and with layers of juicy pear. She likes to top with thick home-made custard and vanilla seeds, whipped cream and a glistening crown of golden pralines and coffee beans.
Liz suggests to serve trifle with a French press of Colombian coffee, which has rich distinctive layers due to the altitude it is grown at. Arabica coffee prefers to grow between 1 000 and 2 200m – the higher it is grown, the longer the coffee cherries spend on the tree
l Espresso and hazelnut layer cake
One of the most wonderful ways to make a perfect pairing is to use the coffee you will be serving in the cake too. This is Liz’s twist on the wonderfully classic coffee and walnut cake.
l Recipe
Start by pouring your shots of espresso, but remember it is also fun to play around with coffee and a nut combination to find your favourite.
Pour two shots of espresso to have a cheeky taste. It should be “caramelly roasty and intense” with a thick cream. Once happy with the taste, pour the shots into a cold cup with a splash of double cream. This will stabilise the magic emulsion that is espresso. Set to one side to cool.
For the cake: Weigh out 170g soft butter and the same amount of golden caster sugar (Liz stores hers with a vanilla pod to add an extra fragment note). Cream until pale and fluffy.
Beat in three eggs. Add the eggs one at a time, then sift in 170g of self-raising flour and fold gently to keep all the air in. Then add your coffee a little at a time until your batter has a good dropping consistency.
Add in 57g of toasted chopped hazelnuts, then split between two sandwich tins and bake for about 20 to 30 minutes. In the meantime, create your icing. Take 57g of soft butter, the same amount of golden icing sugar, a half teaspoon of vanilla paste and a cooled espresso shot mixed with a dash of cream. Beat until smooth.
Once your cake has cooled, pop the icing into an icing bag with a star nozzle and pipe until your heart’s content. Top with a few more toasted hazelnuts and serve with a French press of the espresso roast. – The Independent