This month’s Sugar High Friday challenge is hosted by The Passionate Cook and the theme is going local. So, being in the Pacific Northwest and all, I thought coffee. And the one coffee dessert I have always wanted to make but never have is Tiramisu!

So, Sunday afternoon, jwa and I walked to one of the coffeehouse closest to our house — Haven — and got 8 shots of espresso (that’s about a cup total). Woo! On the short walk home, it was very hard not to take some slurps of the espresso but I made it — all the coffee made it back for use in the dessert.

I’m not sure tiramisu counts as a local specialty — does Portland have a local dessert specialty? But, Stumptown coffee is definitely a local specialty, so hopefully that’s close enough. Besides, a dessert that requires about 8 shots of espresso? Yeah, that seems very Portlandesque to me.

The recipe that I based this on is one by Sara Moulton (minus the the hazelnuts). This rendition of tiramisu which uses both marscapone and low-fat ricotta, turned out quite well. I used two bigger than single serving glass bowls and made out 3/4’s of the recipe posted below — which made about 4 servings total.

Stumptown Tiramisu
1 cup low-fat ricotta cheese
3/4 cup marscapone cheese
1 tbsp dark rum
1/4 cup superfine sugar
1 1/2 cups very strong espresso or good quality coffee, cooled
1 tbsp kahula
16 ladyfingers
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa, for dusting
Optional: 1/4 cup hazelnuts, toasted and chopped for the top — this makes it extra Oregon-y!

Beat the cheeses, rum and sugar with until light and creamy and set aside.

Pour the espresso into a large shallow dish. Quickly dip one side of half the ladyfingers into the coffee and lay closely together with the dipped side down over the base of a large flat-based serving dish or smaller, single serving cups.

Spread half of the cheese mixture evenly over the ladyfingers. Dust with half the cocoa then repeat layers with coffee-dipped biscuits and cheese.

Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 6 hours or overnight. Dust with remaining cocoa and sprinkle with the toasted hazlenuts just before serving. I accidentally dusted with the cocoa before storing it in the fridge. You should wait and dust yours before you eat it — but mine turned out just fine dusting with the cocoa earlier.

Unfortunately, per the announcement, I don’t know any spooky stories about tiramisu or Stumptown coffee. I wish I did, that’d be really cool if I had a spooky espresso story.

Thanks again so much to The Passionate Cook for hosting this round of SHF and thanks to Portland for having such great coffee!

So, for this week I’m going to try really, really hard to post more frequently. I’m going to shoot for three posts this week. Let’s all cross our fingers.

First off, Happy Bastille Day. Second — I can’t believe that started this blog one year ago today. Let’s see, what has changed in the last year — I have a new job and uh, I guess I’m a year older but that’s not really important. What is important is– I’ve had this blog for a whole year! To celebrate the one year anniversary of Je Mange la Ville, I suggested a cake-athon. While deciding what kind of cupcakes to make, I found two recipes that intrigued me — so I made both.

Lemon cupcakes with a lemon and cream cheese frosting and chocolate stout cupcakes with an espresso cream cheese frosting. Very different flavors but both cupcakes were really good. Seriously, the best cupcakes I’ve ever made. And, the nice thing about making two kinds of cupcakes is that I made a half recipe of each and then made one full batch of cream cheese frosting, that I divided to make frosting for both types of cupcakes. See, math can be fun.

The lemon cupcakes started with a recipe for lemon cake. I had made it a couple of years ago for one of jwa’s birthdays. We both liked it a lot and I thought it would make great cupcakes. I was right.

Lemon Cupcakes
(Full recipe — this will make about 20-24 cupcakes, depending on your muffin tin size and how full you fill them. This recipe will also make a cake. If going that route, divide among 2 cake pans and bake for about 30-40 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean.)
2 1/2 cups cake flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, slightly softened
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
2 large whole eggs, at room temperature
3 large egg yolks, at room temperature
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp grated lemon zest
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup whole milk
extra lemon zest and mint leaves for garnish

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line two muffin tins (12 muffins each) with paper muffin cups. Next, in a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside. In an electric stand mixer, using the paddle attachment or beaters, beat the butter on medium speed for about 30 seconds, or until creamy. Gradually add the sugar and increase the speed to medium-high, and continue to beat until the mixture is light, about 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Then, add the whole eggs and egg yolks, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the vanilla and lemon zest. Reduce the speed to low and gradually beat in the lemon juice.

Beat in the dry ingredients, alternating with the milk in. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and beat for another 10 seconds. Scrape the batter into the prepared muffin tins.

Bake for 22-30 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Let cool on a wire rack. When they are cool enough to eat, you will have a very lemony, rich, delicate tasting cupcake. And with the tangy cream cheese frosting? Wow, they are amazing.

Now, open a bottle of stout.

These next cupcakes are very rich and very moist. They also have a nice stout taste to them. So, uh, I guess if you don’t like beer, they are probably not the cupcakes for you. If you do like beer — you will love these. They’re originally from Dave Lieberman (on Food Network) and jwa and I both liked them quite a bit. A fresh raspberry or two on top looks both very visually appealing and tastes great with the chocolatey, coffee taste of the frosted cupcakes.

Chocolate Stout Cupcakes
(Again, this is the full recipe — will make 24 cupcakes)
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa, plus more for dusting finished cupcakes
2 cups sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
Pinch fine salt
1 bottle stout beer
1 stick butter, melted
1 tbsp vanilla extract
3 large eggs
3/4 cup sour cream
raspberries for garnish

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the cocoa, sugar, flour, baking soda, and salt. In another medium mixing bowl, combine the stout, melted butter, and vanilla. Beat in eggs, one at time. Mix in sour cream until thoroughly combined and smooth. Gradually mix the dry ingredients into the wet mixture.

Divide the batter equally between muffin tins, filling each 3/4 full.

Bake for about 12 minutes and then rotate the pans. Bake another 12 to 13 minutes until risen, nicely domed, and set in the middle but still soft and tender. Cool before turning out.

When the cupcakes are cool, it’s time to make the frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting
8 oz cream cheese, room temperature
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
zest of 1 lemon (for lemon frosting)
1 tsp instant espresso powder (for espresso frosting)
1/2 tsp vanilla (for espresso frosting)

Beat the cream cheese with an electric mixture until lighter and fluffy. Gradually add the sugar until it’s well incorporated and the mixture is still fairly fluffy. Divide frosting into two bowls (I made a bit more of the espresso frosting, as I had 12 chocolate cupcakes and only 9 lemon ones).

To one bowl add the lemon zest and to the other, add the espresso and the vanilla. Mix each well to combine.

Now, it’s time to frost. Use a knife and spread the lemon frosting on the lemon cupcakes and the espresso frosting on the chocolate ones.

When you are done, they will almost be too pretty to eat.

But, you will manage. If it is a warm day, you might want to pop them in the refrigerator for the frosting to firm up a bit. I’ve found that a good way to do this is to place them all in a deep dish lasagna pan and then cover that wit plastic wrap. That way, the wrap doesn’t mess up the frosting, as the pan sides are taller than the cupcakes.

So, there are my amazing, celebratory, cake-athon cupcakes. Please send me your cake-athon snacks, if you feel inspired to whip up a cake or some other type of baked good this weekend! I know, I know, it’s hot — I totally understand if it’s too hot for cake baking. Also, feel free to send a previous cake post. I’d say anything you’ve posted in the last two months or so would work too. I’m not picky!

jwa has promised to make me a pineapple upside down cake this weekend, so that is nice and I’ve already gotten two other cake entries so far! I will recap the cake posts that I get on Monday.

Thank you all for reading my blog this past year and hopefully getting something out of it. For me, it’s been really fun to write and photograph my kitchen exploits. I hope to try more recipes in the coming year and document them all here!

Monday: Cake-athon round-up.

Tacos are the perfect year-round food. In hot weather, you have the cool cheddar cheese, tomatoes, lettuce and sour cream or yogurt and in the Winter, there’s the sides (rice and beans) as well as the chicken, beef, pork, veggie or soy filling to warm you up.

As announced in the title, this week is all about vegetarian meals, a theme that is very near and dear to me as I was a vegetarian for about six years. This meal is of the faux-meat variety. Soy crumbles replace the ground beef in the sort of All-American, pan-taco filling of my youth — hamburger, onion, bell pepper and seasoning mix. But this one is a little different as I stared and my Penzey’s-stocked spice rack and pulled jars down with reckless, carefree abandon. Then I reached for the instant espresso. Mahahahahaha!

Today’s post is the tacos, taco shell making and a lime-tequila-tomatillo salsa. Tomorrow is Spanish Rice (Arroz). When will the fun end?

Chile-Espresso Soy Tacos
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 Pkg soy meat crumbles
1 small onion, diced
1 small bell pepper, diced
1 jalapeno, seeds and ribs removed, diced
1/4 cup water

Seasoning:
3 tbsp chile powder
2 tbsp cumin seeds
1 tsp instant espresso
1/2 tsp dried cilantro
1/4 tsp dried orange peel
1/4 tsp dried jalapeno

Accouterments:
Romaine or Iceberg lettuce, sliced
tomatoes, diced
cheddar cheese, grated
Plain, low or nonfat yogurt
cilantro, chopped
Salsa
Taco shells

Combine all seasoning ingredients into a container with a lid. Stir leftovers in a cool, dry place.

Start by heating about 3 tablespoons of your seasoning mix up in a dry pan over medium heat for a minute or so, until you can smell all of the spices.

Add the oil and mix until you have a thick paste, then add the onion, bell pepper and jalapeno and saute until soft, 3-4 minutes. Add the soy crumbles and break those up with a wooden spoon, until it all resembles dry, seasoned ground beef. Add the water and simmer briefly, until liquid is mostly absorbed and it looks and smells like something you really want to put in a taco shell. Add a little fresh cilantro and serve in a bowl, ready for taco assembly.

Sometimes I add a little baby spinach to the taco filling, while it is still in the pan, and let it wilt down. I didn’t this time, as jwa usually complains about my tendency to perform last-minute spinach inclusion on meals.

Now, the idea here is to create a (huge) taco bar. So, have all of the toppings ready and positioned in bowls. This is the cheese, tomato, lettuce, chopped cilantro, salsa and yogurt or sour cream. Chopped black olives, as well as sliced jalapenos are also nice. Oh and have a big bowl of chips, too. If you do this right, you will barely have room at you table to sit and eat your meal.

Taco Shells
This is a fun little contraption that I found at cooking.com a couple of years ago. I just brush a little oil on the taco-making pan, pop the tortillas in the microwave for 30 seconds to make them pliable and the put them on the molds. Brush the tortillas with a little more oil and bake them in the oven for 10-15 minutes and we have taco shells!

Rounding out this taco feast is a tomatillo salsa from the El Paso Chile Company Margarita Cookbook. Yes, it has tequila in it. You need something in the meal to balance out the coffee, no?

Lime-Tequila-Tomatillo Salsa
6 tomatillos, husked
1 jalapeno, roasted, peeled and chopped
1 tbsp tequila
1 clove garlic
1/4 tsp salt
1/3 cup white onion, chopped
1 handful cilantro
juice of 1 lime

In a saucepan, cover the tomatillos with cold water and bring to a boil over medium heat. Simmer until tender, about 10 minutes. Drain, rinse under cold water and cool. Core the tomatillos when they are cool enough to handle, being careful to retain juices.

Add the tomatillos and any liquid to a food processor. Add the jalapeno, tequila, garlic, onion, cilantro and salt. Process until smooth.

Enjoy the salsa with chips and all the taco fixin’s, including refried beans and Spanish rice.

This meal all started with a trip to Zupan’s (fancy-pantsy grocery store). I went for some tuna, I left with tuna and this spice rub. Which, just now, when I looked it up, I realized was affiliated with Michael Chiarello. I bought it anyway because I am a sucker for pretty packaging and coffee products.

But, later it dawned on me — I should have just copied down the ingredients and made it myself! So, here you go:

grey salt ( you could also probably use kosher)
instant espresso
coriander (ground)
paprika
cumin
orange zest
chile powder (chipotle or a blend)

Ta da — you’ve just saved $7.95. As far as measurements go, I’d use a tablespoon of everything, except the salt, maybe 1 teaspoon of that and the zest, again, maybe a teaspoon. Oh, and for this pork recipe, I also mixed some brown sugar into the spice rub I used — so, throw a tablespoon of brown sugar in there too just for fun. But, I am just kind of guessing on the measurements here, so it might take a bit of trial and error.

If you are not feeling that adventurous, the recipe that I ultimately found to use my spice rub with, came with its own spice rub recipe, which I will list below. You can also use whatever spice rub you know and love.

I found this recipe on Food Network and it is one by Bobby Flay. I know! I changed a lot of it, though, including: using my own spice rub, cooking it differently, using a pork loin roast instead of tenderloins, using different peppers in the sauce and using masa harina instead of corn meal for the tamales. Ha! So there!

Spice-Rubbed Pork Tenderloin with Chipotle Chile Mustard Sauce:
Chile Mustard Sauce:
2 cups chicken stock
3/4 cup apple juice concentrate
3 black pepper corns
1-2 chipotle peppers
2 tsp Dijon mustard
1 tbsp sour cream or plain yogurt (can be light, but not fat free)

Combine chicken stock and chipotle pepper(s) in a blender or food processor and puree. Add to a pan with the apple juice and peppercorns. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat and reduce to a sauce consistency, about 20-30 minutes). It can be made to this point and then refrigerated until needed. When ready, bring back up to temperature, then whisk in mustard and sour cream or yogurt and cook for 1 minute. Season with salt and pepper to taste. This sauce was awesome — spicy but sweet. jwa and I both loved it.

Pork Loin:
1 pork loin roast, approximately 2 1/2 - 3 pounds
Spice rub
1 cup chicken stock
2 tbsp olive oil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Dredge the tenderloin in the spice rub mixture and pat off any excess. Heat olive oil in medium oven-proof skillet. Add the pork loin and sear well on all sides — about a minute or two each side.

For the rest of the cooking, I followed something similar to how I cooked my last pork loin roast. Add 1 cup of chicken stock to the bottom of the pan and tent with foil. Place in the oven and continue cooking until pork is done (155 degrees), about 1 hour. When done, transfer pork to a plate and recover with foil. Let rest for 5-10 minutes and slice into 1-inch pieces on the diagonal.

Spoon the yummy, yummy sauce onto a platter and top with the slices of pork.

Alternate Spice Rub:
3 tbsp ancho chile powder
1 tsp chile de arbol
1 tbsp pasilla chile powder
1 tblsp guajillo powder
1 tsp allspice
2 tbsp brown sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
Salt and freshly ground pepper

Combine all ingredients in a small bowl and season with salt and pepper.

With this pork loin roast, I also made tamales as a side dish. Settle down. Just simple tamales. This recipe made about seven, so there were leftovers for us. They were good the next day with leftover pork and black beans.

Roasted Garlic and Goat Cheese Tamales
15 dried corn husks
3/4 cup corn kernels (fresh or frozen)
1/2 medium onion, coarsely chopped
7 cloves of roasted garlic (Wrap separated cloves in aluminum foil and bake 30-40 minutes at 400 degrees until soft)
1 cup chicken stock
3 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
3 tbsp vegetable shortening , melted
3/4 cup masa harina
1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp fresh thyme leaves (less if using dried thyme)
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1/2 cup goat cheese, crumbled

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Turn off the heat. Add the dried corn husks and weight down with a plate. Let soak until soft, about 30-40 minutes. Pat dry and set aside the best 8 husks. Cut the other husks into strips for tying.

If using frozen corn, place in a microwave safe bowl add a tablespoon of water and cook, 2 minutes or so until done. Drain excess water.

Puree the corn, onion, roasted garlic, and stock in a food processor. Transfer the mixture to a mixing bowl and mix in the melted butter and shortening. Add the masa harina, sugar, and salt and pepper to taste. Fold in the goat cheese.

The mixture will seem very loose — that’s okay. Lay a husk flat on a work surface. Place about 1/4 - 1/3 cup of masa mixture in the center.

Roll up. Tie each end of the bundle with a strip of corn husk.

Arrange the tamales in a single layer on a steaming rack, cover tightly with foil or a lid, and steam over boiling water for 1 1/2 hours.

We had the pork and tamales with a simple side of sautéed Swiss chard. For true crazy decadence, put a dollop of butter on the hot tamale. Mmm!

Planning:
I made this on a Sunday, so I had all afternoon to work on it and take breaks. I roasted the garlic first, then made the sauce. Next, I soaked the corn husks. Then, if I remember correctly, came a little TV and a beer.

I made the tamales next and while they steamed, I seared the pork and got it in the oven. When done, the tamales can sit covered with foil, off the heat, for a bit. Nice. The pork also rests. Hey, this is a great time to sauté the greens.

Lastly, the sauce can get heated up and combined with a little sour cream (or plain yogurt) to finish it off.

Sit down and eat!

Well…four if you get fancy. These, like the pistachio bars, are in the Jan/Feb issue of Everyday Food. If there’s one thing I love — it’s cheese. If there’s another thing — it’s coffee. So, this really is the perfect dessert at my house.

In addition, there’s just a little bit of sugar and you can use low fat ricotta if you want to be a semi-healthy.

Cappuccino Parfaits:
1 15-oz container of ricotta cheese
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp instant espresso powder
Fancy garnish: 4 mini biscotti or amaretti cookies

In a food processor, puree the ricotta, sugar and espresso powder until smooth. Let it go for a minute or so to get the lumps out of the ricotta. Scrape down the sides as needed.

Spoon mixture evenly into four serving dishes. Refrigerate at least 30 minutes and up to one day. Just before serving, place cookie on top (just stuck into the mixture a bit) or you can also crumble it.

These kind of reminded me (flavor-wise) of tiramisu. I really liked mine and jwa seemed pleased with his. I think this one is a keeper.

One of my new toys this Christmas was a coffee press. It’s quite stylish, with a kind of Art Deco/Arts & Crafts kind of look (that even goes with the house)! We’ve used it a few times and it’s very good. The last few cups are a bit thicker.

I still use my Braun coffee maker during the week, but on the weekends, when my mornings are lazier, I use the coffee press!

This is from what is quickly becoming my favorite baking book, Martha Stewart’s Baking Handbook. It’s the one batch of cookies I’ll have time to make before leaving for California on Friday. Oh, they are good! I decided to bring them into work today. I followed the recipe exactly, except (and of course there’s an except), I added 1/2 teaspoon of instant espresso to the granulated sugar — making these Cinnamon Chocolate Espresso Shortbread!

Cinnamon Chocolate Espresso Shortbread:
3 sticks butter, room temperature
2 1/3 cups + 2 tbsp AP flour
4 1/2 tbsp Dutch process cocoa powder
1/2 heaping tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking powder
1 cup superfine (baking) sugar

For sprinkling:
2 tbsp granulated sugar
1/2 tsp instant espresso

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Spray a baking sheet with non-stick cooking spray and line with parchment paper. Leave a 1-inch overhang on the long sides — set aside. Ina medium bol, whisk together flour, cocoa, cinnamon, salt and baking soda.

Beat the butter and sugar in an electric mixer (or hand-held) until light and fluffy (3-4 minutes). Scrape down the sides of the bowl a couple of times. Add flour and beat on low speed until combined. The mixture will be crumbly, like a pastry crust dough.

Evenly spread and press dough onto baking sheet. My batch didn’t go all the way to the ends. I just pressed it into a rectangular shape on the sheet. Chill in the refrigerator for 15 minutes. Prick the surface all over with a fork. Bake until just firm to touch, about 20 minutes.

Transfer to a wire rack and cut into 4-inch x 1-inch rectangles while still hot.

Mix instant espresso and granulated sugar in a small bowl. Sprinkle on warm cookies — use as much as you want. I ended up having a little leftover. I’m thinking it’ll go in my coffee this morning! Shortbread can be kept in an airtight container at room temperature for up to one week.

I seem to have caught a cold, which is very annoying in August. Coffee monkey understands and makes me coffee anyway — Stumptown.

Later, jwa makes me tea — Stash Fusion Green & White and coffee monkey understands once again.