kolkafe.com

Now here is a coffee cake that will make you want no other coffee cake, and once you prepare this coffee cake and get a real working idea about this cake you can become very creative and use some different jams, jellies, fruits and so on.
Always remember that there is a lot that you can do with a recipe providing you don’t exceed the parameters of the original recipe.
All ingredients should be at room temperature.

¼ pound butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
8 ounces sour cream
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder

Cream the butter and sugar together then add eggs one at a time and mix the rest of the ingredients together slowly.
In a separate bowl combine 1 cup brown sugar, ½ cup diced walnuts and 1 teaspoon of cinnamon or as much as you like and mix them together.
Using a 10 inch x 3inch tube pan, make sure that the pan is well greased and floured, place some cake mix in the bottom and then some of the sugar, walnut and cinnamon mixture and then repeat this procedure until you have all the cake mix in the pan and the top layer is the cinnamon mixture.

Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for about 45 minutes or until a pick placed in the center of the cake comes out clean, cool and enjoy, I like mine warm with some raspberry jam on it.

About The Author

Andrew Krause is a Chef and Pastry Chef for over 30 years, at present I own a Gourmet Bakery called The Cheese Confectioner.
You can visit my site at For Free Recipes.net

Here I present you a little tutorial to use the French Press, for me, the best way to prepare a great coffee.

1. Use the ratio of one tablespoon (about 7.5 grams by weight) of coffee per 4 to 5 ounces of water. One cup of water is equivalent to 4.5 ounces of water. Be careful – some French Presses measure a slightly smaller cup as 4 ounces (not 4.5 ounces) of water.
2. Place the correct amount of freshly ground coffee beans in the glass beaker.
3. Add the hot water that you allowed to cool slightly from a full boil. The ideal temperature is between 195F (90C) and 200F (93C). Bringing the water in the tea kettle to a full boil and then removing from the heat and letting it stand for about 30 seconds will be just about right. Pour the water slowly and rotate around the beaker to saturate the grounds evenly.
4. The grounds will tend to float to the surface as you add the water. Fill the beaker to just below the bottom of the pouring spout. Stir with a wood spoon for a minute. A wooden chop stick also works well to stir with.
5. Then place the plunger filter assembly over the top of the beaker to hold the heat in, but don’t press down. Leave in place for about one minute.
6. After one minute, remove the lid and stir the coffee briefly with a spoon to agitate the coffee grounds.  This is an optional step, but helps to produce a more complete extraction.
7. Replace the plunger filter assembly back over the top of the beaker, but don’t press down. Leave in place to allow the coffee to steep. Steeping time will vary depending on how much coffee you’re brewing, but in general, 4 to 5 minutes for a coarser grind, and 2½ to 3 minutes for a slightly finer grind is optimal. The finer the grind, the faster the extraction time. Remember, a finer grind allows more of the flavor oils to infuse into the brew. If you don’t allow enough time for steeping, the extraction will be weak. If you allow the coffee to steep for too long, the coffee will become over-extracted and exhibit an undesirable bitter taste. With a little practice, you can determine the proper steeping time that matches the grind that you like to use to achieve the best result.
8. When steeping is complete, it’s time to plunge. Hold the lid in place with one hand and carefully start to push the plunger screen downward, forcing the grinds with it to the bottom of the beaker.
9. Use care to keep the plunger straight. It’s easy at the top to have the filter disc in crooked and allow a swirl of grounds to escape around it. Don’t worry if this happens, you can recover easily enough. Simply remove the plunger and filter assembly, rinse in hot water, quickly replace the plunger and start over.
10. Push the plunger steadily keeping it absolutely straight to avoid allowing any grinds to escape. There should be some resistance, but you should be able to reach the bottom in 20 to 30 seconds at the most. If you’ve used freshly roasted beans, you should have a nice crema on the top.
11. Pour right away and enjoy. Don’t keep the coffee in the press pot or it may continue to brew and become over-extracted. Coffee is always best within the first 10 minutes after brewing. If you must keep the coffee before drinking, always pour off or decant into a suitable thermos or vacuum bottle. Better yet, don’t try and keep it hot, just brew a fresh cup when you’re ready for some more!
12. One minor drawback with the French Press method of brewing coffee is the small amount of sediment that’s unavoidable at the bottom of your cup. The superior flavor and richness brewing with a French press more than offsets the inconvenience of a little extra sediment. If you prefer, the easiest way to avoid the settled coffee grinds that may wind up in your cup is to skip the last sip.

As many of you knows there is a great coffee considered bay many as the best of all, the Kopi Luwak, but do you know why is that?

Well, the coffee berries have to pass through the digestive tract of an Asian Palm Civet, a cat-sized furry mammal native to south-east Asia.

The small racoon-like creature eats the berries and the digest the outer flesh, but the beans inside pass through their system undigested.  The feces produced is then processed and the coffee beans are sold.  Enzymes in the stomach of the civet add to the coffee’s flavor by breaking down the proteins that give coffee its bitter taste.  A similar coffee in Vietnam, called weasel coffee, is made in a similar fashion.

Kopi Luwak retails for around $1,100.00 dlls. a pound (45 grs.), and up to $100 per cup.

If you want to taste and you can afford it you can buy it here.