Do It Yourself Chocolate and Coffee Pairing

For many people, two words can elicit all kinds of warm fuzzy feelings. If they’re like Rachel Kossman, those two words are chocolate and coffee. Like Rachel they would be excited to attend an upcoming event (tomorrow) in her neighborhood, a Coffee and Dessert Pairing at a dessert restaurant. So what is this kind of event and what do you do if you’re a chocolate and coffee fanatic but can’t get to such a happening?

Rachel describes some of the combos of coffee and dessert. For $17, she gets to try five of them. The coffees are Illy Caffe blends. Some choices include: - tiramisu martini with a mascarpone mousse cup, - cappuccino viennese with an almond cranberry biscotti, - cloud nine hot toddie with a peanut butter whoopie pie, - caffe sera with a white chocolate cranberry cookie - carmelo caldo with a chocolate cupcake Rachel lives in Boston. If you don’t, not to worry, you don’t have to salivate in vain when reading the above choices. You might have to simplify your desserts and coffee drinks, but if you want to invite a few friends, you can have your own Chocolate and Coffee Pairing event.

Have each guest bring a different coffee and one dessert. For ideas you can go to - http://coffeetea.about.com/od/foodmeetsdrinks/a/ClassicCoffeePairings.htm Lindsey Goodman has provided many ideas for coffee pairings. For example, how do fruit scones with winey coffees from Yemen, Haiti and Kenya sound? Or peach pie with Tanzanian coffee? Dark chocolate brownies with Indonesian or Guatemalan coffee? Bring in biscotti of various flavors and mix and match. She provides many ideas plus more links for an almost endless list of other sources. You can get more creative and include flavorings in your coffees. Let’s see – there’s Torani Tiramisu syrup; pair that with a chocolate mascarpone-filled chocolate cupcake and you’re on your way to nirvana. Have fun with it. Combine dessert and coffee pairing with the upcoming Halloween holiday which naturally means pumpkin flavorings and pumpkin treats. Pumpkin nut bread is a good pairing with a Costa Rican coffee. Chocolate pumpkin cake, chocolate chip pumpkin cookies….. recipes for these and much more are on the web. Check with local bakeries for special holiday goodies. Brew on, chocolaty.