A Little Something to Quench my Thirst for Coffee

I like coffee.

A lot.

I think my parents first let me try coffee around age 3, and although it was years later before I started drinking it regularly, they certainly woke my tastebuds up to the bitter-sweet drink.

On Doctors orders, during my pregnancy, I barely drank any of it (what a good girl) and what I did have was decaffinated. For eight months of breastfeeding, I kept avoiding it, again only having the occassional decaf and now I find myself in a bit of a predicament.
I can't drink the real stuff anymore. It gives me the jitters. Boooooo. This is seriously upsetting news.

The lights on the coffee machine at the restaurant blink at me and every now and then I hear Leo frothing milk for a customer. Although I can have a cappuccino made with some instant coffee granules, I miss knowing that the sound of the coffee being freshly ground, levers being twisted, and water almost dripping through the machine is for a cup of coffee for me to enjoy.

As a result, I have determined to get my fix in other ways. Leftover tiramisu often hits the spot with its soft biscuits and sweet, creamy mascarpone. One of my favourite cakes is a good old fashioned coffee and walnut sponge, made heavy by a brown sugar icing (but oh, how it makes my sensitive little teeth hurt!) and studded with walnut halves.

Considering what a strong and distinctive taste coffee has, it i surprises me how many flavours it pairs well with.  A few days ago, we found ourselves having these coffee meringues stuffed with raspberries and whiskey flavoured cream. No pictures though sorry, we ate them rather too quickly!

Ingredients

250g caster sugar

3 tsps ground up instant coffee granules

1/4 tsp cream of tartar
4 large egg whites

Method
Preheat the oven to gas mark 1 and line two baking trays with baking paper.
In a medium bowl, mixt together the sugar, coffee and cream of tartar until well combined.

Whisk the egg whites in a clean grease free bowl (you can run a cut lemon around the inside to be sure it is greasefree) until they are foamy. One tablespoon at a time, add the dry ingredients until the meringue is thick, glossy and ivory in colour.

Pipe or spoon the meringue in 4cm diameter rounds on to the lined baking sheets, giving about 3cm between meringues.

Put in the oven for about 45 minutes until they have dried out. After this time, turn the oven off and leave them inside for another hour with the door slightly ajar to cool.

Use a palette knife to lift them off the baking paper.

These will last a week in an airtight container.