# Coffee flavored whipped cream?



## jblade (Dec 9, 2010)

Hey gang I wanted to make coffee flavored whip cream.

I was gonna to make a strong cup of coffee and mix in some with the whipping cream.

My question is should I pour the coffee in after whipping or whip with it?

EDIT: I just added the coffee powder to the cream with some sugar and whipped away, it was great with a little orange zest.


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## kyheirloomer (Feb 1, 2007)

Well, you figured it out for yourself.

I was going to suggest that. Plus, for future reference, this is one of the instances in which instant coffee (instant espresso is even better) works better than regular.


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## jblade (Dec 9, 2010)

Thanks for the tip.


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## kyheirloomer (Feb 1, 2007)

Wish I could take credit for it, JBlade. But it comes from Camilla Saulsbury, in her book _Panna Cotta. _

Instant espresso powder is like hen's teeth around here, so I take regular instant and pulse it a time or six in the spice grinder. Works like a charm.


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## katbalou (Nov 21, 2001)

I like King Arthurs espresso powder, kind of pricy, $16.95 for 8 oz. but it lasts a long time.

Espresso Powder - 8 oz. 

hope i got the link right.

kathee


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## kyheirloomer (Feb 1, 2007)

I don't know what they're smoking, but 17 bucks is outrageous. The only difference between regular instant and espresso is the grind.

It's hard to remember, because a jar lasts so long, but I think I paid something like four bucks for an 8-oz jar or regular instant. At that price difference, I'll continue to pulse in the grinder, thank you very much.


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## petemccracken (Sep 18, 2008)

KYHeirloomer said:


> I don't know what they're smoking, but 17 bucks is outrageous. The only difference between regular instant and espresso is the grind...


Now you've piqued my curiosity!

I understand that one may use the same beans that are roasted for espresso to make regular brewed coffee by varying the grind. However, I was under the impression that the instant powders were actually dried or freeze-dried espresso or brewed coffee. Am I mistaken?

I find the coffee flavor is much more pronounced in a cup of espresso though I understand the caffeine content is less due to the dark roast. Is that simply because there is less water or does the pressure extraction differ from the infusion typical of brewing?

Is espresso actually nothing more than a reduction of brewed coffee?


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## siduri (Aug 13, 2006)

PeteMcCracken said:


> KYHeirloomer said:
> 
> 
> > I don't know what they're smoking, but 17 bucks is outrageous. The only difference between regular instant and espresso is the grind...
> ...


No, not the case.

Espresso is roasted dark, while american coffee is roasted light.

Espresso is made with some sort of steaming contraption (though the "napolitana" was actually a drip coffee maker and is still the preferred method for many italians) but in both cases, the coffee is dark-roasted.

I actually prefer (don't pelt me with burnt coffeebeans!) american coffee. I find it more congenial, more sociable (someone says "let's go for a coffee" here and you go, stand at a counter, get a tbsp of coffee, swallow it down, while standing, in one gulp, and walk out. No time to chat, no time to sit, no excuse to have to spend any time together!. I also like the flavor. But that's just a matter of taste.

Any kind of coffee bean can be roasted for espresso or for american coffee - and some coffee here is really horrendous (the kind they call "robusto" which is very acidic) but the same goes for american coffee. A good arabica can be roasted for espresso or for american, it's still arabica and a higher quality. You can get blue mountain coffee roasted dark or light and it will still cost a small fortune for an ounce and if you're rich enough you can decide it's the only kind to drink. BUt it can be roasted for american or italian coffee.

You can also grind espresso beans large for a filter coffeepot, and you can fine-grind american coffee and put it in an espresso pot. the grind is not really relevant, though the process of making espresso with the steam pressure calls for a fine grind.

it is NOT reduced. Oh no! it would taste horrible!

In fact, one of the reasons espresso tastes so bad in american places like starbucks is that they send too much water through it. It's not that they use bad coffee. If you want a really good espresso, you can even get it at starbucks. I've gotten it for italians who complain you can't get a reasonable espresso in america and they were surprised. You have to tell them to only run a little water through, and the coffee should only come up to half of a demitasse cup - a very tiny cup. If you run more coffee through the machine you get the same effect as if you took americaqn coffee and boiled it ten minutes - GROSS! The machine is made to run a TINY bit of steam through the grinds. People who want a "longer" coffee, will ask for hot water to be added. Same for a cappuccino - if you want a nice cappuccino at an american coffeebar, make sure they only put a TINY amount of coffee through the machine - one finger width in a cup. no higher. It will taste soft and not bitter like it does if you let more steam pass through the coffeegrinds.

American coffee is only ground bigger because it's done in coffeemakers that have larger holes because otherwise it would pass through.

as for INSTANT coffee, it's made by freeze drying _brewed_ coffee. There are no grinds, the grind of the coffee is entirely irrelevant. You probably get some brand of instant espresso that is finer than your usual american instant because it's probably not freeze-dried but is the old fashioned instant, just dried. freeze-dried makes big chunks of instant coffee. I'm old enough to remember when freeze dried coffee first came out - before that, all american instant coffee was fine powder. Then they discovered freeze dried and made a big advertising campaign. It forms bigger crystals that then are dried, so you get that chunky effect. Not very good for using in whipped cream!


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## kyheirloomer (Feb 1, 2007)

You left one thing out, Siduri.

The finer the grind the more extractive surface there is. So a given weight of coffee, ground for esperesso, and made in the same amount of water, will produce a stronger brew than one ground courser. This is true no matter what the roast. But, of course, dark roasting produces a more full-bodied flavor.

With instand coffees the same effect applies. The difference is, rather than being extracted, instant coffee basically melts. The smaller the individual "crystal", the faster and easier that takes place in something like whipped cream or panna cotta.

_American coffee is only ground bigger because it's done in coffeemakers that have larger holes because otherwise it would pass through. _

You've got me confused with that one, Siduri. The only coffeemakers with holes that I'm aware of are percolators. Not that many people use them, anymore. I'd guess that 90% or more of American coffee is made in a drip machine with a filter, maybe 80% of the rest in a French press, and the balance in a coffee machine. I'm talking home-brewed. But the figures would probably be similar for commercial coffee, because, for every coffee-bar type place using a machine, there are a couple of dozen restaurants still using drip coffeemakers.

Everthing else being equal, the way flavor is inhanced in a drip system is to either grind the coffee smaller or slow down the water flow. In either case, the steeping time is, in practical terms, extended. In a French press, on the other hand, size of grind is important because too small a grind can clog the filter screen. So you control flavor by the quantity of coffee used, and how long you let it steep.

_I actually prefer (don't pelt me with burnt coffeebeans!) american coffee._

I think you mean you prefer the American coffee culture over the Italian coffee culture. That is, not the brew, per se, but the social conventions surrounding it. Or am I misreading you?

_However, I was under the impression that the instant powders were actually dried or freeze-dried espresso or brewed coffee. Am I mistaken?_

Pete, that was pretty much my understanding as well. Which means the very idea of "instant espresso" is kind of a shuck. I guarantee, used in something like whipped cream or panna cotta, there would be no discernable difference in taste between the two. You'd just get a generalized coffee flavor infusing the cream.


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## siduri (Aug 13, 2006)

KYHeirloomer said:


> You left one thing out, Siduri.
> 
> The finer the grind the more extractive surface there is. So a given weight of coffee, ground for esperesso, and made in the same amount of water, will produce a stronger brew than one ground courser. This is true no matter what the roast. But, of course, dark roasting produces a more full-bodied flavor. *you're right, i didn't bother to go into that. I actually always order my american coffee ground fine, because i use a filter and it's expensive and we use a lot and i can use a little less that way. I only disagree that it's more "full-bodied" - for me it's just more of a burnt taste. (But consider that i don;t much like dark crust on bread either)*.
> 
> ...


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