Hot Fudge Pudding Cake. What more could we possibly say? This incredibly tasty recipe was prepared by our resident programmer’s extremely thoughtful mother, Ellen. It’s a simple, low-effort desert featuring a rich chocolate fudge sauce that forms during the baking process. WARNING: do not taste test as you will end up with chocolate sauce all over your face. If you’re like us, you might also end up without any cake left. Serve with some ice cream for a nice balance of cold dessert and warm cake! Now, let’s get down to business.

Ingredients:

• 1 ½ cups of brewed coffee, cold (our Grandfather’s Blend works great, but you can use whatever you prefer.)
• 6 tablespoons of butter, extra for greasing the cake pan
• 1/3 cup of chocolate chips (chopped semi-sweet chocolate also works)
• 2/3 cup of cocoa powder, divided
• 1 cup of white sugar, divided
• ¾ cup of flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 tablespoon of vanilla
• 1/3 cup milk (preferable whole milk)
• 1 egg yolk
• 1/3 cup of brown sugar

Directions:

• Heat your oven to 325 degrees, and take an 8 inch square or round cake pan that is at least 1 ½ to 2 inches deep and grease it with butter. Combine the 6 tablespoons of butter, chocolate chips, 1/3 cup of cocoa in a double boiler over simmering water. Melt them together. Watch it carefully and stir frequently until combined. Remove from heat (alternatively, this can be done in a microwave on half power. Again, watch carefully and stir frequently.)
• Whisk together 2/3 cup of white sugar, vanilla and milk. Add egg yolk and whisk it to combine. Add this mixture to the melted chocolate and whisk together. Add flour and baking powder. Stir to combine. Pour this mixture into the cake pan and spread evenly. In a small bowl, combine the remaining 1/3 cup of cocoa, remaining 1/3 cup of white sugar, and brown sugar, breaking up any clumps with your fingers. Sprinkle this mixture evenly over the cake batter in your pan. Do not stir.
• Pour the coffee over the cocoa/sugar mixture. Do not stir. Bake until the cake is puffed and bubbling and just beginning to pull away from sides the sides of the cake pan, about 35-45 minutes.
• Cool for at least 15 minutes before spooning into bowls to serve.
• Magically, there will be a nice chocolate cake on top of a rich pudding sauce underneath! Make sure to store at room temperature.

This is not an elegant cake, frankly it looks like a mess. But it’s a mess of chocolate that you can eat, and you bet it is delicious. In our opinion it’s one of the easiest most impressive desserts you’ll ever make. Enjoy and let us know in the comments below how it turned out!

It’s almost Cinco de Mayo! If you’re unaware here’s a little background. The holiday itself is an annual celebration held on May 5. The date is observed to commemorate the Mexican Army’s unlikely victory over the French Empire at the Battle of Puebla, on May 5, 1862, under the leadership of General Ignacio Zaragoza. Traditionally, this holiday is not celebrated as widely in Mexico as it is in the United States. The common method of celebration is with Mexican food, chips, and margaritas. Though we do love those, too, we got a little creative and we came up with this awesomely tasty Mexican inspired Tequila Coffee. This is perfect for that 5 o’clock thirst you may have on a Friday afternoon. It also works great as an after dinner treat too.

Ingredients:

• 6 ounces of hot brewed coffee
• 1 ounce of coffee liqueur (Kahlua)
• 1 1/2 ounces tequila (tequila- rose cocoa cream)
• 1 teaspoon brown sugar
• 1 ounce whipped cream
• 1 teaspoon cocoa powder (garnish)
• 2 chocolate-covered coffee beans (garnish) (optional)

Directions:

• Add the coffee, liqueurs, and sugar to your mug, then top with whipped cream. Finally, sprinkle the cocoa powder on the cream and enjoy!

We hope you love this delicious treat as much as we did making it. How did yours turn out? Let us know in the comments below!

Good old Earth Day is rapidly approaching, and in our opinion, it totally deserves more than just one day of celebration a year. If we had it our way, it’d be Earth Day every day. That aside, there are numerous ways we can change how we live our lives day to day while also minimizing our footprint on the planet. You may be thinking that food has a large impact, but guess what else does? Coffee.

It’s easy to do something small. It may not seem like much, but when you think about it, your coffee routine can have a significant impact on our planet. Where do you buy it? How do you brew it? What are you drinking out of? But okay, enough of that. Let’s get to the good stuff! Here are a few tips on how to green your coffee routine.

• Brew at home in ways that limit waste: Skip the line, and brew at home. Not only will you save money, but you’ll reduce your footprint too. If you want to take it a step further and use a manual brewing method like a French press, pour-over, or Chemex to cut back on electricity. You’ll have a delicious cup you can feel good about!Of course, not everyone has time to use a more traditional coffee brewing method. We get it. If you can’t make traditional methods work for you, you can reduce your impact with an Ekobrew reusable filter for your coffee machine. Instead of piling up landfills with wasteful coffee pods, you can be satisfied knowing you have reduced your impact while you sip!

• Re-use your coffee grounds: Inevitably, you will end up with coffee grounds when you brew at home, and they can most certainly be re-purposed in a variety of ways. They will work great for composting because they are rich in nitrogen. You can use them to exfoliate your skin, clean dishes, deodorize your refrigerator, and even fix furniture in your home. Behold the power of coffee!

• Get a mug: This one goes without saying: get a re-usable mug! Not only will you help reduce the 50 billion discarded cups every year, but you will get cool points. Mugs are super customizable, and the choices are endless.

We hope these tips help you feel a bit better about doing your part to help make our planet a cleaner place. Have any tips of your own to share? Leave us a comment below!

It’s pretty safe to assume that we don’t need a reason to bake pie. We could eat it all day, every day. But if you’re hesitating at all, you’ll be relieved to know today is Pi Day. What is Pi Day you may ask?

Pi Day is the annual celebration of the mathematical constant Π. To be a little more specific, Pi is the ratio between the diameter and circumference of a circle. We celebrate this holiday today, on March 14 (3/14), because 3.14 are also the first three digits of Π!

Generally, Pi Day is celebrated with pie. Creative right?!? Well… maybe not, but who cares? Not only are pies delicious, but they’re usually a circle too. For us, festivities include activities such as baking pie, talking about pie, eating pie, and maybe even a pie in the face (be careful though, not everyone is a fan of that last one ;-D). So, like you, we’ll totally use Pi Day as an excuse to get at some scrumptious, pie.

This recipe for Apple Berry Pie was concocted by our resident baker and shipping expert Lori. Lori’s Apple Berry Pie is chock-full of apple slices and whole berries: cherries, blueberries, and raspberries. We would say it tastes like an explosion of tart, fruity goodness, but that would not do justice to how good this pie truly is!

This Apple Berry pie’s filling is gooey and sweet, with a crumble on top adding a satisfying spicy crunch to the fruit inside. It’s so tasty, we bet you’ll be having a slice for breakfast with your coffee or tea! Give it a try with our March Roaster’s Blend. The combination of piquant Panama Boquete & sweet City Roast Costa Rican coffee perfectly complements the fruity spice of this delectable pie. They go together like two pies in a pod. Give this tasty recipe a try, and let us know what you think in the comments below!

Ingredients:

1 frozen pie crust

For the fruit:

2 cups blueberries                             2 cups raspberries

1 cup cherries                                   2 apples, chopped

2 tablespoons flour                            1 tablespoon bourbon

½ teaspoon clove                              ½ teaspoon black pepper

½ teaspoon salt                                ½ teaspoon ginger

½ teaspoon chile powder                    1 teaspoon cinnamon

For the topping:

¾ cups + 2 tablespoons butter (in liquid form)

½ cup of brown sugar

1 ¼ cup rolled oats

½ cup flour

1 teaspoon cinnamon

½ teaspoon salt

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place the pie crust in a baking dish. Toss the apples with the flour and spices and spread in a single layer in the baking dish.
2. Whisk the butter and brown sugar together until smooth. Place the rolled oats, pecans, flour, cinnamon, and salt in a large bowl. Add the coconut oil and brown sugar mixture; stir until combined.
3. Pour the oat mixture over the apples to cover them evenly. Bake for 40-50 minutes until the topping is browning slightly. Let stand for 15-20 minutes.

“The equipment you use makes no difference. It’s the quality of the coffee beans that matters. Get yourself an inexpensive drip coffee maker at Wal-mart, use the metal filter (paper filters absorb some of the good compounds from the dripping coffee) and get brewing! As long as you are using fresh, quality coffee beans, your brewed coffee will taste fabulous.” – Anonymous

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