Cappuccino Cake Recipe
I had a very nice dinner at this new Italian restaurant near our place yesterday, and I couldn’t believe just how full I got off of a plate of pasta. I didn’t even finish half of it – their servings were simply humongous! I naturally wanted some dessert, but my stomach simply did not have room for it. I regretted that later that night, though, as I was craving for some cake – coffee flavored cake, in fact. Unfortunately, everything was closed and all I had was coffee, but no cake. I had to content myself with looking up recipes online. Don’t you just hate it when this happens?
Anyway, I found an interesting recipe for Cappuccino Cake. You don’t even have to make the cake yourself – just get a ready made sponge cake, and you can make wonders! Here is the recipe, courtesy of Coffee Recipes.
1 premade sponge cake.
1 cup of boiling coffee.
1 cup of condensed milk.
2 teaspoons of gelatin.
Cream, for topping.
Powdered chocolate, for topping.
Instructions for Cappuccino Cake:
Line a suitably sized starsol cake tin with foil and place the premade sponge cake inside.Dissolve the gelatin in the boiling coffee.
Mix the coffee into the condensed milk.
Pour the mixture over the sponge cake, distributing so that mixture is evenly absorbed.
Place in your refrigerator for 3-4 hours or until set.
Top with cream and powdered chocolate.
Serve.
What do you think? It looks easy enough – no need to cook even!
Cool Innovations From Coffee Fest Seattle 2009
The Coffee Fest at Seattle is being held this weekend – from the 25th of September to the 27th – and inventors have been showing off their creations. Here are some of the more interesting ones, which I think have the potential to become mainstream.
Jeff Baccetti’s SmartCup
We all know that adding the word “smart” to your product ensures that it will get the attention it deserves, right? Seriously, the SmartCup might just be a staple in the traveler’s arsenal. In a nutshell, the SmartCup is a portable, disposable French press. More than having access to fresh coffee while you’re on the road, the general consensus is that coffee brewed in a French press tastes so much better anyway. The good news is that Jeff Baccetti is hoping to sell his innovation for home use in the near future.
SMUG Coffee by Chris and Mike Halberg
Their idea was to have your mug pay for your coffee. How? By using SMUG. The brothers dub it the world’s first intelligent mug. That is, it has an RFID chip which contains information. Users can visit a web site to choose their favorite coffee and load up their wallet. More than the convenience, using the reusable SMUG will also help lessen one’s carbon footprint!
Karen Porte’s TuGo
Frequent fliers can now have a place to put their coffee cups while waiting in line at the airport. Just get TuGo, a cup holder that can be placed in between the collapsible handles of any carry on bag. It holds the cup upright to avoid spills. It also folds to fit the pocket of the same bag it can be attached to. Neat, huh?
Have You Ever “Double-cupped” At Dunkin?
I hope not! I actually didn’t realize that this was happening, at least until I read an article by skirsner over at Boston.com. Apparently, some Dunkin’ Donuts customers have made it a practice to ask for an extra Styrofoam cup when they buy iced coffee. Their reason? They use the styro cup to keep their hands dry. Yeah, iced coffee is COLD so the outside of the cup gets condensation. Another reason is that some people say the extra cup makes the coffee cold for longer. Okay.
The writer is right, though. Do we really need the extra styro cup? We may have reasons – most of them for convenience – but the extra cup can do much damage to the environment, especially since its styro! Maybe one person asking for an extra cup doesn’t mean much, but count all the people that do ask for it and you’ll have countless cups.
Another thought hit me – where do these cups end up after the coffee is gone? The chances are they are not even recycled. As the writer pointed out, there are really no recycling facilities in Dunkin’ branches. And do you really think the people who ask for these extra cups will go out of their way to recycle them? I highly doubt it.
So here’s a challenge for you double-cuppers out there. Why not get rid of the habit and use paper towels made out of recycled material to keep your hands dry? Or maybe, bring your own reusable mug to keep your coffee cold. What do you say?
Coffee Shop Owners Shunning Free WiFi More
Remember my post on some New York coffee shops starting a ban on laptops and taking back their free WiFi facilities? I was aghast, just like many other people who frequent coffee shops. Now, it seems that the trend is going the way of those coffee shop owners.
More and more coffee shops are realizing that they might just be on the losing end with their offer of free WiFi. It is not uncommon to see a coffee shop filled with people, majority of them sipping coffee with the unmistakable glow of their laptops shining on their faces. While some make the trip to the counter more than once, many patrons actually sit there with their laptops plugged into a wall socket, nursing their drink for as long as they can. The result? Low – or almost no – sales.
This is what’s bothering coffee shop owners these days. They say that there are times when, even when there isn’t an empty seat in the shop, they are not making any sale. Coffee shop owners say that inherently, they are providing a value added service, but they also expect their “backs to be scratched.” To cut the long story short, people who use WiFi and plug their laptops in at coffee shops should not just sit there for hours and not buy anything.
One would think that this is common sense. Then again, with the economy being as bad as it is, it is also understandable that some people would want to spend as little as they can while using free WiFi and free electricity.
All I can think of is that if the two parties do not reach a compromise, we just might be seeing the death of free WiFi in our coffee shops. Nooo….
Photo courtesy of AskBoBrankin
Tell Me How You Like Your Coffee And I’ll Tell You Who You Are
I guess that’s a variation of the old saying “tell me who your friends are…” – you know how that one goes. But is there really any truth to this coffee preference thing?
I don’t really know, but an Australian coffee company claims to know a thing or two about coffee psychology theory. According to John Ronchi, co-founder of Campos Coffee on Wandoo St, Fortitude Valley, he has noticed a connection between coffee preferences and personality traits. His findings?
Mr Ronchi said well-dressed corporate types usually opted for an espresso or black coffee with no sugar, while patrons who liked to laze in the sun outside Campos ordered a latte.
What’s more, ice coffees and frappacinos are popular in the warmer months, but almost always among young women.
If you are scoffing (like I was when I first read the statements), you might want to know that Ronchi’s observations are also backed up by Dr Alan Hirsch, the director of the Smell and Taste Treatment and Research Foundation, a US institution. He says that based on research (and personal observation, of course), “those who drink short blacks are often ambitious, goal-driven and no-nonsense, while cappuccino drinkers were probably witty and classy. The humble latte is often drunk by mums or 20-something students, while the heart-starting espresso conveys sophistication.”
I now have a personality-identity crisis. After a huge meal, I like espresso. I guess I am sophisticated then? I normally get a latte at Starbucks, though. Then again, I am neither a mum or a 20-something student. Oooh, I alternate between cappuccinos and lattes, I just remembered. So does that mean I am witty and classy sometimes? I seriously doubt it.
You see what I am getting at here…? So what coffee do you drink again?
Dutch “Coffee Shops” Gets Government Support
Every year, millions of tourists flock to The Netherlands. This European country has so much to offer its visitors, but perhaps of the most distinct features are the coffee shops that dot the city of Amsterdam. We all know, however, that while the coffee may be good, there is another reason altogether for people wanting to visit the shops.
Cannabis. Weed. Marijuana. Call it what you wish, but the well known Dutch coffee shops are places where one can buy and use cannabis at will. This practice has been going on for many decades, but lately, the government has been cracking down on it.
Many coffee shops have closed, and the supply of cannabis has been restricted. Police are more vigilant, some say oppressive. The rationale behind the move is that tourists clog the city with the purpose of visiting the coffee shops. The crime rate and other activities related to drug use and sales have escalated, which is of course not a good thing.
Naturally, this move did not sit well with most everyone involved in the industry. In a surprising twist of events, however, it seems that there are some people in the Dutch government who want to retain some of these coffee shops. A leaked report shows that some officials want to continue allowing these coffee shops, but only on a “members only” policy. This means that members can procure up to 3 grams of weed each. The means of payment has to be a Dutch bank card. The idea is to discourage tourists who go there for the sole purpose of buying weed, while allowing the locals to enjoy what they have always enjoyed.
Do you think this will solve their problems?
Aussie Doctors: Gulp Down More Java!
What do you do when you have been up for a day and a night working feverishly to finish a deadline and you still have 12 hours or so to go? Option number 1 – go to sleep, deadline be darned. Option number 2 – drink your favorite energy drink. Option number 3 – drink all the coffee that you can.
I would choose the first option if I could, but that is not always possible. If the Queensland Health Department is to be followed, though, doctors should just increase their caffeine intake if they find themselves in a similar situation. Based on a policy paper on fatigue risk management, Queensland Health proposed a plan for the “strategic use of caffeine” that will be “beneficial to doctors.”
Initial thoughts: I can’t believe they even considered the idea, much less wrote it down on paper! This is what the paper says:
“The recommended dosage for a prolonged and significant reduction in sleepiness during a night without sleep has been suggested at 400mg of caffeine… equivalent to about five to six cups of coffee.”
Now if they were talking about an office worker, maybe I wouldn’t be so befuddled. But they’re talking about doctors here – people who actually work to save lives! If they are exhausted, shouldn’t they get some rest instead of trying to keep going?
This is exactly what medical associations in Australia are saying:
“Lives are being put on the line, that’s why the AMA has repeatedly drawn attention to this, we’ve got to change the attitude, we’ve got to change the rostering.”
Well I hope they do something about it. We all love coffee but having your doctor see you (or operate on you!) while on a caffeine high is a scary thought!
Photo courtesy of Getty Images
