Using Espresso Coffee In Recipes

Our answer

Nigella uses espresso powder in several recipes as it gives a pronounced coffee flavour without adding extra liquid. Unfortunately it will depend on the individual recipe as to whether brewed espresso coffee can be used as some recipes are likely to tolerate extra liquids, while others may not. It will also depend on how little liquid you can use to brew one espresso.

For Nigella's Coffee And Walnut Layer Cake it uses espresso powder to the equivalent of approximately four espressos. If you can brew four espressos with the equivalent of about 2 tablespoons (30ml) in volume then you could use this as a substitute for the powder and omit the milk in the recipe. For the One-Step No-Churn Coffee Ice Cream it is a little more difficult as it has the equivalent of 6 espressos and there is no other suitable liquid that can be subtracted from the ingredients to compensate. For this recipe you can try brewing the equivalent amout of espresso with as little liquid as possible and adding it once the cream has been whipped to soft peaks (if you are in Australia you will need to use whipping cream and follow the instructions in the method for whipping cream). There is a small risk that the extra liquid will make the ice cream a little firmer and more "icy" and it may need to stand for a few minutes to soften before you serve it. If you use the coffee liqueur then this is less of a risk, as alcohol helps to soften the texture of ice cream, though as we have not tried the recipe in this form we are unable to guarantee the results. We understand that espresso coffe powder is tricky to find in Australia, but Moccona now sell an espresso-style instant coffee that can be used if you dissolve the granules in a small volume of just-boiled water (we suggest 1 tespoon of water for each teaspoon of instant coffee).