Tina's Chic Corner

Cafe Frappe

Are you the kind of person who drinks your iced coffee fast or slow? I could be either depending on my mood. I had a lot of errands to run this weekend so I drank my favorite iced coffee, this cafe frappe, like it was a race. The result…I felt like Speedy Gonzales for the rest of the day. Am I dating myself? He’s a Warner Brothers Looney Tunes cartoon character, a Mexican mouse that runs around really fast. Anyway, I had a lot of energy.

If you love iced coffee then you’ve come to the right place. A cafe frappe is a Greek iced coffee topped with foam, made from instant coffee.

Cafe Frappe Recipe
(1 Serving)

Ingredients:

1/2 cup skim milk
1 heaping tablespoon pure instant coffee
2 tablespoons creamer
1 tablespoon, or to taste, of white sugar (optional)
glass of ice
cold water

Directions:

Put the milk, instant coffee, sugar (optional), and creamer into a blender and mix until you don’t see the coffee grounds, about 2 to 3 minutes.
Fill a 16 ounce glass with ice.
Pour the iced coffee into the glass. It should fill about 2/3 of the glass.
Top the iced coffee with cold water and serve immediately.

Instant coffee can be found at any grocery store. Today I used Nescafe. Make sure the coffee is a heaping tablespoon, piling it high on top of the spoon.

Typically a cafe frappe is made with cream or whole milk. Today I’m going for a low fat version by using skim milk and creamer instead.

Don’t forget to add the cold water after you’ve poured the iced coffee into the glass full of ice.

I take my coffee with just milk. However, instant coffee is a bit stronger than regular coffee so I take my cafe frappe with a little sugar. I would suggest you use the same amount of sugar that you normally use and if you need more then you can stir in more at the end.

And ta-da, done! Isn’t the foam top cool? Okay, maybe I’m easily amused. The longer you blend it, the more foam you get.

My husband and I were lucky to have traveled to Greece a few years ago and we enjoyed sitting at various cafes sipping a Cafe Frappe. That wasn’t the first time we were introduced to a Greek cafe frappe. I’m half Greek so I’ve grown up with this tasty coffee treat around me.

It’s nice to be able to mirror a cafe experience at home by making this simple cafe frappe. If I wasn’t running errands I would have been relaxing on the couch with my husband, sipping my cafe frappe, and reminiscing about our Greece vacation.

Are you a coffee drinker too?

Rating:

Source: www.tinaschic.com

Perhaps you liked some of my other tasty drinks, like a Skinny Strawberry Chocolate Shake

Or a Banana and Peanut Butter Smoothie

High Domed Chocolate Chip Muffins

A chocolate chip muffin is one of my favorite baked goodies on earth. I rarely eat them anymore because I always seem to be on a diet, but every now and then I’ll splurge. Funny thing is that lately I find that many coffee shops or bakeries make their chocolate chip muffins too greasy or heavy. Part of what I love about muffins is the base muffin itself, which is why I made these wonderful bakery like chocolate chip muffins…only better!

I’m in love with these high domed chocolate chip muffins! Every bite is simply scrumptious. Crunchy top…buttery and moist muffin base…filled with sweet chocolate. What more could I ask for?

High Domed Chocolate Chip Muffins Recipe
(Makes 6 standard size muffins)

Ingredients:

1 and 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup white sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/3 cup oil
1 egg
1/3 cup skim milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup chocolate chips
sprinkling of white sparking sugar (as the topping)

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, and chocolate chips. Set the dry ingredients aside.
In a medium bowl, mix together the oil, egg, milk, and vanilla extract.
Add the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients with a spatula or wooden spoon and stir just until the dry ingredients are moist.
Grease 6 standard sized muffin cups then scoop the muffin batter evenly into them. (They should be filled almost to the top.)
Sprinkle the tops of the muffins with the sparkling sugar.
Bake the muffins in the preheated oven for 5 minutes.
Reduce the oven temperature to 375 degrees F and bake them for 18 additional minutes or until a tester inserted in the center comes out clean.
Let the muffins rest in the baking pan for about 5 minutes and then remove them to a wire rack to cool.

Store the muffins in an air tight container on the counter or wrap them up individually in plastic wrap, place them in a freezer friendly bag, and freeze them.

Muffins are so quick and easy to make. Mix and then bake. No need to hit that bakery or buy a box mix when it’s this simple.

Don’t forget, do not over mix the batter otherwise you may end up with tough muffins. I actually mixed the chocolate chips with the dry ingredients first so I wouldn’t have to risk over mixing by adding them at the end.

I used the same muffin base recipe that I used for my Strawberry Muffins With Crumb Topping. That muffin base is so awesome that I just had to use it again!

It’s so buttery and moist it’s borderline ridiculous. Plus it’s so light and fluffy, not like some of the ones sold in stores.

The sparkling sugar is a wonderful ingredient that can be found at most craft stores. I bake a lot but I had never heard of it until recently. Typically I like to use everyday ingredients because it tends to keep my cooking hobby inexpensive. However, I also like to try new things. I found Wilton’s White Sparkling Sugar at my local craft store and it is inexpensive so I decided to try it.

I am so happy I tried it because the sparkling sugar gives these muffins a wonderful crunchy texture and it makes them look pretty. (And it’s available in about a zillion colors!) I know I’ll have other uses for this fun food decor. While I hope I inspire others to try new things, like I did, it’s not a key ingredient here so feel free to omit it from this recipe.

I used a different technique to bake these muffins as opposed to how I baked the strawberry muffins in order to get that bakery-like high dome affect.

To achieve a high domed muffin:

I filled the muffin cups to the top of the muffin tin (instead of the usual 2/3 full).
I baked them in two stages. First, I baked them at 425 degrees F for 5 minutes . Then I lowered the temperature to 375 degrees F and baked them for an additional 18 minutes. The initial high temperature allows for steam to be released quickly and thus lift the top of the muffin high. The temperature is then reduced in order for them to bake evenly. Otherwise, if you left them at the initial high temperature the whole baking time you will end up with a hard crust and raw center.

Since this recipe is only for 6 muffins I spread them around the muffin pan so the muffins tops wouldn’t stick to each other if they spilled over. Then I filled the empty muffin tins with water to help prevent the pan from warping in the oven. Next time I make these I think I’d double the recipe and fill the muffin tins with more batter to see if I can get the domes even taller.

Anyone up for an awesome muffin? Be aware that these are not diet friendly but you won’t care as soon as you take a bite out of this perfect morning treat.

Look at all that chocolaty goodness! My husband says it’s a tad too sweet for him, but not for me. What can I say, I have a bit of a sweet tooth. By all means feel free to reduce the amount of chocolate chips to your taste.