Cafédirect Machu Picchu Coffee Recipe Review

This week we were sent some lovely Fairtrade coffee from the guys and gals at Cafédirect.  Now, I love coffee but as part of my blogging life, I also love to use everyday items in great recipes.  Cafédirect have a cool coffee matching guide with innovative reipes using the coffees they produce. All of their products are Fairtrade certified so you know that the growers are all getting a fair deal out of the growing and production of the coffe, tea and chocolate products.... so you can enjoy them even more!

I decided to make the Cardamom chocolate mousse on an Amaretti biscuit base with hazelnuts.  This is a recipe by Saskia Rogerson, winner of the Cafédirect coffee matching challenge.  I chose this recipe specifically for it's ingredients.  Coffee is quite widely used in desserts but here we have the addition of cardamom pods and chilli - combined with chocolate and carrot, I'm hoping the results will be quite spectacular!

So here we go.... recipe coming up!

Cardamom chocolate mousse
Ingredients
Biscuit Base
250g Amaretti biscuits, crushed
120g unsalted butter
2 tbsp chopped hazlenuts
3 cardamon pods, grated

Caramelised carrot and chilli layer
2 tbsp shredded carrot
2 tbsp shredded chilli
25g unsalted butter
4 tbsp Fairtrade muscavado sugar

Cardamom, Hazelnut & Chocolate mousse
300g Fairtrade bittersweet
chocolate, broken into pieces
2 tbsp hazelnuts
4 cardamom pods, grated
45g unsalted butter
5 free range separated eggs
4 tbsp Fairtrade caster sugar
230ml double cream
1 tsp vanilla extract
Shot of espresso made with Cafédirect Machu Picchu coffee

Method

1. Biscuit Base... Melt the butter in a pan, add the Amaretti biscuits, hazelnuts and grated cardamom. Transfer to a 28cm springform cake tin (or 6 individual ramekins) and leave to cool.
2. Caramelised carrot and chilli layer... Bring the carrot and chilli mixture ingredients slowly to simmer until it caramelises, then pour onto the biscuit so it forms an even layer.
3. Cardamom, hazlenut and chocolate mousse...  Melt the chocolate and butter in a bowl heated over pan of simmering water, add espresso, cardamom, hazelnuts and vanilla extract.
4. Leave to cool. Heat the egg yolks and two tbsp sugar over the simmering pan of water. Whisk until warm then transfer to an electric mixer and mix until the yolk is pale and fluffy.
5. Fold into chocolate mixture. Whisk the egg whites in a clean bowl until stiff, and fold into the chocolate mixture.
6. In a bowl set over ice, whip the cream until stiff and fold into chocolate mixture. Spoon onto the biscuit and carrot/chilli caramel layer, and spread.  Refrigerate until set.
7. Eat!

The recipe is a bit technical at points with the separating of eggs, whisking yolks over heat and whisking egg whites to peak!  But I can say that it is definitely worth the effort!  The flavours are absolutely fantastic - you can taste each flavour with the chocolate complimenting the chilli, hazlenut and cardamom perfectly.

It was quite rich and so would recommend this dessert as a spectacular finish to a dinner party, but a small slice would be fine with an afternoon cup of coffee... Cafédirect of course!

We shared this dessert with my neighbour and over a cup of Machu Picchu coffee we decided that it would be making an appearance over the Christmas festivities with both familes!

Cafédirect products - tea, coffe and hot chocolate - can all be purchased at all major supermarkets and selected independant stores.  There's a great range of teas, coffees and hot chocolate available... it would certainly take a good while to work your way through them!  I can certainly try though!