Not just a cuppa

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Tea and coffee are not just beverages any more. Yes, there are the more exotic varieties of each of them but culinary experts all over the world are now discovering that a drop of tea or a splash of coffee decoction makes a huge difference to a regular mojito or good ol’ sponge cake. Here’s how you can get creative with tea and coffee.

Coffee cake with crunchy oat topping
Ingredients:
3 cups of all-purpose flour (maida)
1½ tsp baking soda
½ cup of strong coffee decoction (use filter coffee if you like, otherwise dissolve 2 heaped teaspoons of instant coffee powder in ½ cup of warm water)
2 eggs
1¼ cup castor sugar
¾ cup butter, melted
1 tsp vanilla essence
½ cup of warm milk (make sure it’s just a little more than lukewarm, if it’s too hot it will cook the eggs)

For the topping:
Blitz together 2 tbsp of almonds with 3 tbsp of oats in the mixie, and add 2 tbsp of brown sugar to this coarse powder.

Method
Sift the flour and baking soda together, keep this aside. Cream the butter and sugar in a wide pan and once this has combined, add the eggs, coffee decoction and vanilla essence to this. Beat for about 2-3 minutes using an electric beater until you get a smooth paste. Fold in the flour and combine well, slowly add the milk as you keep mixing to get a smooth batter-like consistency. Make sure there are no lumps in the mixture.
Pour this mixture into a greased baking tin, now spread the topping on this and bake for 40 minutes in a pre-heated oven at 180 degrees Celsius. Remove from the oven when a clean skewer or toothpick inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack and serve when it’s still warm.

Pancakes with coffee walnut cream
Ingredients
1½ cups all-purpose flour
3½ teaspoons baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp powdered sugar
1¼ cups milk
1 egg, beaten
3 tablespoons butter, melted

For the cream:
2 tsp of instant coffee powder mixed with 3 tbsp of hot water
1 cup of fresh cream
3 tbsp of powdered sugar
¼ cup of walnuts, crushed

Method
For the pancakes:
Sift the flour, salt and baking powder. Mix the melted butter, milk, egg and sugar together. Make a well in the centre of the flour and pour in the liquid mixture, quickly mix with a spatula to form a runny batter. Add milk if it is too dry. Keep this aside for half an hour and allow it to rest.
Heat a tawa and spread some butter on it, ladle out two tablespoons of the batter and spread to form a circle, cook this on both sides until golden brown. Repeat this with the rest of the batter.

For the cream:
Use an electric beater or a balloon whisk to whip the cream, sugar and instant coffee solution, whip until it begins to form soft peaks. Fold in the crushed walnuts.
Serve the hot pancakes with honey and coffee walnut cream.

Masala tea cupcakes with cardamom icing
Ingredients
1¾ cups of all-purpose flour (maida)
½ tsp of baking soda
¾ tsp of baking powder
½ tsp of cinnamon powder
¼ tsp of clove powder
¼ tsp of dry ginger powder
½ cup of tea solution (dip two tea bags in warm water for this)
1 cup of condensed milk
2 tbsp of sugar
1 egg, beaten
½ cup of butter, melted

For the icing
¾ cup of butter, softened at room temperature
3-4 cardamom pods, with seeds powdered
½ cup of icing sugar
1 tsp of flour (optional, use only if the mixture becomes too runny)

Method
Sift the flour, baking soda, baking powder and all the other spice powders together. Keep this aside.
Mix the butter, condensed milk, sugar and egg to form a smooth paste. Add the tea solution to this and mix well. Now, slowly add the flour to this and mix to form a batter.
Line a cupcake tin with liners and spoon the batter into the cavities. Bake in a pre-heated oven for 15-20 minutes at 180 degrees Celsius. When they are done, transfer to a wire rack and allow them to cool. Do not ice the cupcakes until they are completely cool, otherwise the icing will melt and ruin the cupcakes.
Meanwhile, beat the butter and sugar together using an electric beater, slowly add the cardamom powder to this. If you find that the mixture is too runny, then add a little bit of flour to it. Chill this mixture for about half an hour in the fridge.
Once the cupcakes have cooled down, use a butter knife to spread the icing on them. Chill them and allow it to set before serving.

Green tea martini
Ingredients
120 ml of vodka (unflavoured)
20 ml of Vermouth
30 ml of green tea decoction (this will be 1 mild green tea bag in ¼ cup of water)
Lots of ice
To garnish: A slice of lemon and a few mint leaves

Method
Mix the vodka and green tea in a glass jar, cover with cling film and refrigerate for two hours. Green tea has a very mild flavour so it won't infuse the vodka too much but will just give it a slight touch.
In a cocktail shaker add the flavoured vodka, vermouth and ice. Shake well, strain and pour into a Martini glass. Garnish with lemon and mint and serve immediately.