Sunday, March 23, 2014

Coffee Crisp Coffee Cake

I come from a family of coffee fans. One of my most concrete memories is when my parents, sister and I would go up to our sailboat on Georgian Bay on summer weekends - while the days could be hot and sunny, you could bet those mornings were as chilly as the lake, and definitely required a hot beverage alongside the cereal or pancakes that started our day. Without electricity for a coffee maker, though, my parent's brew was from instant crystals and usually milked way up - cafe au lait style. While my sister never got on the coffee bandwagon (she's a tea gal through and through), by the time I was 5 or 6, I got my foot in the "coffee" door and was matching them cup for cup, and now my cup is black and unsweetened. 

Two of the other things my parents and I share a love for are Coffee Crisp bars and coffee cake. What can I say? You stick "coffee" in the title of something and you can be sure we'd at least give it more than a passing glance. When I came into possession of a bagful of Coffee Crisp bars after the holidays (courtesy of my workplace), I threw them in the freezer with no definite plans. I figured something would eventually percolate (excuse the pun) into fruition.

And it did - a delicious combination of nutty whole grains, flax, and psyllium, the bitter edge of espresso and the sweetness of the chocolate bars all baked into a moist, rich cake. I used Truvia for half the sugar to cut down the sucrose a little bit (I was cooking with candy after all), but make no mistake - this is definitely a treat.

Note: I know Coffee Crisp is a Canadian product - if you can't find it, something like Loacker Quadratini Cappuccino Wafer Cookies is a good substitute, or use your favourite chocolate "sugar wafer" cookies and up the instant espresso a touch.

Coffee Crisp Coffee Cake

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Coffee Crisp Coffee Cake
Makes one 9" springform, 12 slices
¼ cup unsalted butter
½ cup granulated sugar
6 packets Truvia (or 1 ½ tbsp Spoonable formula)
1 tbsp vanilla
1 cup flour
Coffee Crisp Coffee Cake1 cup whole wheat flour
¼ cup psyllium husk powder
1 tsp instant espresso
½ tsp nutmeg
2 tbsp ground flax seed
1 tbsp baking powder
¾ tsp salt
1 ½ cups whole milk
12 miniature Coffee Crisp bars, chopped (about 2 cups / 144g)
  1. Heat oven to 375°F and grease a 9-inch springform pan. Line the bottom with parchment.
  2. Cream the butter, sugar and Truvia until fluffy. Add the vanilla and beat well.
  3. Whisk together the flours, psyllium, espresso, nutmeg, flaxseed, baking powder and salt.
  4. Stir half the dry ingredients into the shortening mixture, followed by the milk.
  5. Stir in the remaining dry mixture until just mixed. Fold in Coffee Crisp pieces.
  6. Bake 45 to 50 minutes or until tests done.
  7. Cool in the pan 10 minutes, then remove pan sides and cool completely on a rack.
Amount Per Serving
Calories: 250.0
Total Fat: 8.6 g
Cholesterol: 13.4 mg
Sodium: 54.2 mg
Total Carbs: 41.1 g
Dietary Fiber: 4.8 g
Protein: 5.0 g

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