Lovers of the drink know how delicious that liquid dream can be. But delights abound in using coffee as an ingredient in food preparation too.

While commonly used in desserts – and we’ll look at a couple – the uses of coffee aren’t limited to sweets. Barbecue sauces and glazes for meat, chili and even pot roasts benefit from a dash of the ground bean.

In any recipe, freshness is essential, so either buy freshly ground or grind your own and use right away. And if the recipe calls for brewed coffee, make it just before preparing the dish with good filtered water. And remember, most recipes call for coffee two or three times as strong as you’d want to drink.

Here are only a few of the many possibilities…

Espresso Brownies

To make brownies surpassing even Alice B. Toklas’, try this one.

Heat a cup of sugar, a quarter teaspoon of salt, and a stick and a half of butter in a sauce pan. Add a teaspoon of vanilla and four ounces of chopped, semi-sweet chocolate and stir until well melted. Now add a tablespoon of your favorite finely ground dark-roast. For an interesting variation substitute with two teaspoons of espresso granules.

Stir until everything is well mixed, then transfer to a mixing bowl and let cool for a few minutes.

While still warm, fold in three eggs, a cup of flour and pour the result into a baking pan. Bake for 30 minutes and set out to cool. Yum!

Read the full article on coffee in food.

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