In this series, I’m sharing a behind-the-scenes look at the process of making my brother’s wedding cake, including the recipes I developed, the issues I encountered and all the things I learned.

If you missed Day 1, you can check out my post on the Chocolate Tier here! Today, though, it’s all about the Coffee Tier.

Let’s get into it, shall we?

Table of Contents

• A Bit of Recipe Backstory
• Making the Cake Layers
  • Photo Tutorial: Coffee Cake Layers
• Making the Coffee Buttercream
  • Tutorial: Coffee Buttercream
• Assembling the Coffee Cake
• Decorating the Coffee Cake
• Recipe

A Bit of Recipe Backstory

As you’ll have seen in the intro post to this series, I will be doing a whole post on how I went about developing these recipes, but, like I did with the chocolate tier, I wanted to share a little bit of coffee-specific backstory here too!

For this recipe, I used the Coffee Layer Cake recipe by Sugar and Sparrow as my starting point. I made a number of initial changes to the recipe, based on what I wanted for this coffee cake specifically, then made my first test and… it was pretty much exactly what I wanted it to be! I never expect the first try to be right, especially after I made so many changes to the starting recipe, and, particularly after the chocolate cake drama, this felt like an absolute miracle!

The problem with this one came when I tried to scale it up… I just couldn’t get the bake time/temperature right and, somehow, the flavour seemed to be affected by those problems too! It was no longer the perfect coffee cake, so, as I attempted to nail down the baking instructions I also had to embark upon a little bit more trial and error to get the really intense, not-too-sweet coffee flavour with the perfect, soft and moist texture that I really wanted.

A few more iterations later and I was finally happy: the coffee cake was ready to go!

Making the Cake Layers

For the 8-inch coffee cake (unlike the 10-inch chocolate cake), I was able to fit two layers at a time in my oven (though, sadly, not all three). As a result, I made and baked the batter for two of the layers at once, then made and baked the batter for the final, single layer afterwards.

In fact, I actually made the first two layers the day before the final layer (on the Wednesday, the same day I made the chocolate cake). To keep them from drying out overnight, I wrapped each layer individually in clingfilm, only unwrapping them when the final layer was baked and cooled, and I was ready to assemble the coffee tier.

Photo Tutorial: Coffee Cake Layers

The process of the making the coffee cake batter is the same, no matter how many layers you are making at once (1, 2 or, if you have a large oven, 3): the only thing that changes is the ingredient quantities.

Preheat your oven to 150°C (conventional oven, not fan-assisted). Grease the 8-inch sandwich tin(s) with Stork (or softened butter, if you prefer) and line the base with a circle of greaseproof paper. Set aside while you make the batter.

Add the brewed espresso to a large measuring jug.

Top up with boiling water (to 100ml for 1 layer, to 200ml for 2 layers or to 300ml for 3 layers), then add the instant coffee granules and whisk to dissolve.

I found that using this combination of coffee types gave the best flavour and colour to the cakes, but you can use one or the other, if you prefer. For the brewed espresso, I used these Ristretto Decaffeinato capsules from Nespresso.

Add the milk, sour cream and vanilla extract and whisk again.

Allow the mixture to cool slightly, then add the eggs. Whisk until completely incorporated, then set aside.

Sift together the flour, bicarbonate of soda and salt. Set aside.

Place the Stork, caster sugar and light brown muscovado sugar into the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment.

Cream the Stork and sugars together on medium-high speed, until well combined and pretty fluffy (there’s such a high proportion of sugar in this recipe that the mixture won’t be as pale and fluffy as you might normally expect, so just beat it until evenly combined and looking creamy).

Turn the mixer down to medium-low and gradually add 1/3 of the dry ingredients. Mix until just incorporated.

Gradually add 1/2 of the wet ingredients, still mixing on medium-low.

Repeat this process, adding another 1/3 of the dry ingredients, then the remaining wet ingredients, then, finally, the last 1/3 of the dry ingredients, making sure to incorporate everything after each addition.

Turn the mixer up to medium and give it a final, brief mix, just to ensure everything is incorporated and mixed together.

Divide the batter evenly between the prepared tin(s) (I find it helpful to divide it by weight, if baking more than one layer at a time) and bake in the preheated oven for 60-65 minutes, until a skewer comes out clean.

Allow the cake(s) to cool in the tin (until they feel cool to the touch), then run a palette knife around the edges of the tin to loosen them. Level the top(s) using a large, serrated palette knife (see the Chocolate Tier post for more detailed instructions on this), then turn out onto a wire rack, in case any traces of heat remain on the underside, to cool fully.

If baking in batches, repeat the whole process again, with the necessary quantities, until you have 3 baked, cooled and levelled coffee cake layers.

Making the Coffee Buttercream

Once your cakes are cooled and ready to go, you can make the coffee buttercream. Again, just like with the chocolate cake, this cake requires a fairly large amount of buttercream, so I’d recommend making the icing in two separate batches.

As I mentioned in the last post, I prefer to soften my butter in the microwave (blasphemous, I know!), rather than leave it at room temperature, because my house does tend to be quite cold. For such a large amount of butter, I weigh it out first, then heat it in the microwave on the medium setting for about 30 seconds, so that it’s soft enough for me to press my finger into relatively easily.

Tutorial: Coffee Buttercream

I’ll be honest, I did forget to take photos of the majority of this process— so sorry! Luckily, it’s super similar to the chocolate buttercream in the last post (just without the cocoa powder), so you can follow the full photo tutorial there!

To make the coffee buttercream:

Heat the milk in the microwave, just until it is warm enough to easily dissolve the coffee granules in (20 seconds on the high setting should be absolutely fine). Stir in the coffee granules and set aside to cool slightly.

Place the softened butter into the bowl of an electric stand mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat on high speed, pausing every now and then to scrape down the sides of the bowl, until the butter is smooth, significantly paler in colour and super fluffy.

While the butter is being whipped, sift the icing sugar into a large bowl.

Once the butter is ready, turn the mixer speed down to low and add half of the icing sugar, a spoonful at a time, to the butter. Doing it slowly like this may feel tedious, but it will help to stop the icing sugar from getting everywhere and ensure that the icing is thoroughly mixed, so it is important!

After you have added half of the icing sugar, with the mixer still on low, gradually add in all of the coffee-infused milk.

Add the remaining icing sugar in exactly the same way as before, a spoonful at a time, until all of the sugar has been incorporated. If the icing seems too stiff at this point, add another splash or two of milk.

Turn the mixer up to high speed and beat the icing for a minute or so, just to get it super fluffy and ensure everything is nicely mixed.

Then, remove the bowl from the mixer and transfer a generous amount of the icing (about 2 dessertspoon’s worth) to a small, microwaveable bowl.

Melt the smaller amount of icing in the microwave (the high setting for 10-15 seconds will be plenty), until smooth and fluid, then add back to the main bowl of icing and stir in by hand, using a large spatula.

This process may seem a little strange, but it really does help to smooth out the icing, while still allowing it to retain all of the fluffiness we whipped into it!

Assembling the Coffee Cake

With the cake layers and buttercream made and ready, it’s time to assemble! I’ll be sharing a detailed tutorial for how I assembled these layer cakes on Thursday, so be sure to check that out!

To assemble this, particular cake, I used the following equipment:

• 8-inch, circular cake drum.
• 10-inch, square cake board.
• Adhesive paper stickers (I used these, folded in half to make them ‘double-sided’ and easy to cut through with a cake lifter, but any thin, temporary adhesives will work).
• Cake lifter.
• Cake turntable.
• Piping bag and large round piping tip (I used a #1A tip).
• Offset palette knives (I used an 8-inch AND a 4-inch one, but you could get away with just one or the other).
• Cake dowels (I used these ones).
• Icing smoother (I used this one by Wilton).
• 10-inch, heavy duty cake box.

Just like the chocolate tier, I assembled the coffee cake directly onto a cake drum that was the exact same diameter/shape as the cake itself (and which I had temporarily adhered to a thinner, square cake board, the same size as the cake box I would be transporting the cake in, to prevent the cake from slipping in transit). I sandwiched up the cake layers with two thick layers of buttercream in between, added 4 cake dowels, applied a crumb coat then added a thick, smooth layer of icing all over the cake.

Then, the cake was done! I set the cake aside at room temperature until it was time to transport it.

Decorating the Coffee Cake

As I mentioned in the last post, the decoration on these cakes was very minimal. All three cakes were topped with a little arc of pressed, edible violas from Nurtured in Norfolk (you can find the tutorial for that in the last post!).

However, the coffee cake tier was going to sit in the centre of the deconstructed cake display, so it had a little extra bit of decoration, in the form of the gingerbread bride and groom ‘figurines’, which were my little nod to my brother’s sometimes-ginger hair and a fun, foodie play on the traditional wedding cake toppers.

I’ll be giving a full recipe/tutorial for the gingerbread bride and groom (and how to fix them to the top of the cake!) on Friday, so stay tuned for that! In the meantime, just know that they exist and that this coffee cake was their home for the evening!

Recipe

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The Coffee Tier (Wedding Cake Week)

The full recipe for the 8-inch, 3-layer coffee cake tier of my brother's wedding cake!

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Keyword American buttercream, Coffee, Espresso, Wedding cake

Prep Time 4 hours hours

Cook Time 2 hours hours 10 minutes minutes

Chill Time 30 minutes minutes

Total Time 6 hours hours 26 minutes minutes

Servings 36 wedding portions

Equipment

• 3 8-inch round sandwich tins (see Note 1)
• 1 piping bag
• #1A piping tip (or similar, large, round nozzle).
• 8-inch round cake drum
• 10-inch square cake board (see Note 2).
• Temporary adhesives (I used paper adhesive stickers, see Note 2).
• Cake lifter
• Offset palette knife
• 4 cake dowels
• Icing smoother (see Note 3).

Ingredients

For the coffee cake layers (quantities for 1 layer in italics, quantities for 2 layers in bold):

• 180 ml brewed espresso (60ml, 120ml) (see Note 4).
• 120 ml boiling water (40ml, 80ml) (see Note 4).
• 3 tsp instant coffee granules (caffeinated) (1 tsp, 2 tsp).
• 180 ml whole milk (60ml, 120ml).
• 240 g sour cream (80g, 160g).
• 3 splashes vanilla extract (1 splash, 2 splashes).
• 6 eggs (2 eggs, 4 eggs).
• 570 g self-raising flour (190g, 380g).
• 3/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda (1/4 tsp, 1/2 tsp).
• 3 pinches fine sea salt (1 pinch, 2 pinches).
• 330 g Stork baking spread (110g, 220g), plus extra for greasing (see Note 5).
• 420 g caster sugar (140g, 280g).
• 120 g light brown muscovado sugar (40g, 80g).

For the coffee buttercream (half quantities in bold italics):

• 500 g unsalted butter, softened (250g).
• 1 kg icing sugar, sifted (500g).
• 70 ml whole milk (35ml).
• 4 tsp instant coffee granules (caffeinated) (2 tsp).

To decorate:

• Pressed, edible violas (see Note 6).
• Gingerbread toppers

Instructions

Make the coffee cake layers:

• If you have 3 x 8-inch tins (and your oven is big enough to fit all three tins on one shelf), you can make the whole amount of batter at once and bake the 3 layers simultaneously. Alternatively, you can bake the layers one at a time (using the single layer quantities listed in italics in the ingredients list), or bake two layers at once (using the 2 layer quantities listed in bold), then make the final layer individually (which is what worked best for me).
• Preheat the oven to 150°C (conventional oven, not fan-assisted). Grease the baking tin(s) with Stork and line the base(s) with a circle of greaseproof paper. Set aside.
• Place the brewed espresso, boiling water and instant coffee granules in a large measuring jug. Stir to dissolve.
• Add the milk, sour cream and vanilla extract and whisk until smooth. Allow to cool slightly, then add the eggs and whisk again until fully incorporated. Set aside.
• Sift together flour, bicarbonate of soda and salt. Set aside.
• Using a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream Stork, caster sugar and light brown muscovado sugar together on high speed until well-combined and fluffy.
• With mixer on medium-low, gradually add 1/3 of the dry ingredients. Continue mixing until just incorporated.
• With mixer still on medium-low, gradually add 1/2 of wet ingredients. Continue mixing until just incorporated.
• Repeat this process with the next 1/3 of the dry ingredients, followed by the remaining 1/2 of the wet ingredients and finishing with the final 1/3 of the dry ingredients.
• Turn the mixer speed up to medium and mix briefly to ensure everything is incorporated and batter is smooth.
• Divide the batter between the prepared tin(s) and bake in preheated oven for 60-65 minutes, until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
• Allow the cakes to cool completely in the tins, then carefully run a palette knife around the edges to loosen them. Use a large, serrated palette knife to level the tops of the cakes while still in the tins, then carefully turn out onto wire racks.

Make the coffee buttercream:

• I recommend making the buttercream in two batches, using the half quantities listed in (bold italics) in the ingredients list.
• Fit mixer with paddle attachment. Beat butter until smooth, pale and creamy (about 3-5 mins), scraping down the sides when necessary.
• While the butter is beating, warm the milk in the microwave (20 seconds on high), then add the coffee granules and stir to dissolve.
• With mixer on low, add half of the icing sugar to the butter, a spoonful at a time, pausing to scrape down the sides of the bowl as you go.
• With mixer on low, gradually pour milk mixture into buttercream and mix until incorporated.
• Add the rest of the icing sugar with the mixer still running, a spoonful at a time. 
• Once everything has been added, turn the mixer up to high and beat until fluffy and fully mixed (about 1 minute). Add a little more milk if icing is too stiff.
• Remove a spoonful of icing and microwave on high for 10-15 seconds to melt. Stir to ensure evenly melted, then mix into the rest of the icing by hand to smooth.

Assemble the cake:

• Secure the 8-inch cake drum to the 10-inch cake board (if using), using paper adhesive stickers (or other similar, temporary adhesive). Set on a turntable, with a layer of non-slip fabric in-between the turntable and the boards.
• Spread a dollop of buttercream onto the cake drum, then set the first, cooled cake layer on top, making sure it is level and centred on the drum. It should line up with the sides of the drum.
• Pipe an even layer of coffee buttercream all over the surface of the cake layer, making sure to go right to the edges. Use an offset palette knife to spread the icing out evenly, ensuring there is some overhanging icing at the edges.
• Place the next layer of cake on top, making sure it is centred and level. Repeat the icing process, adding another even layer of icing on top, then topping with the final layer of cake.
• Smooth the excess icing around the sides with a palette knife/icing smoother, then chill in the fridge for 15 minutes.
• Add 4 cake dowels, if using.
• Apply a thin crumb coat, then chill again for 15 minutes.
• Apply a generous layer of icing all over the top and sides of the cake. At this stage, cover the sides of the cake drum with icing too. Smooth out the top, making sure to leave some overhanging icing all around the top edge, then use the icing smoother to smooth out the sides, moving the turntable, rather than the smoother, for best results. The overhanging icing should be pushed upwards and inwards during this process, forming a nice 'lip' around the top of the cake.
• If needed, apply more icing to any uneven sections and smooth again.
• Once happy with the finished cake, set aside at cool room temperature to firm up, until ready to eat/transport.

Decorate the cake:

• As close to serving as possible, lay the pressed flowers onto the surface of the cake (on which the buttercream is now hardened), making sure you are happy with the arrangement before sticking them down. Use a small amount of icing on the end of skewer to stick down each flower individually, then press the gingerbread cake toppers into the top, making sure they are centred.

Notes

Notes:

1. I use these 8-inch sandwich tins by Silverwood. If you only have one, that’s absolutely fine— just make and bake each layer individually using the single layer quantities listed in (italics) in the ingredients list. If you have two, you can make two layers at once (using the quantities listed in (bold) in the ingredients list), then bake the final layer using the single layer quantities. I did it this way, because my oven can’t fit 3 8-inch layers on the same shelf at once.
2. You can skip the extra cake board/adhesive if you don’t need to transport the cake— these just make it easier to manoeuvre the cake without worrying about it slipping/sliding.
3. If you want smooth sides on a cake, you really do need to invest in an icing smoother. I use this one by Wilton.
4. This roughly equates to 3 lungo settings on a Nespresso machine, so feel free to use that too (I used 3x Ristretto Decaffeinato on the lungo setting directly into a measuring jug, then made up the difference to 300ml (100ml, 200ml) with boiling water. If you prefer, you can omit the espresso, double the amount of instant coffee granules and use all boiling water, but the coffee flavour won’t be as strong.
5. Using Stork makes this cake extra light, fluffy and moist, but you can use softened, unsalted butter if you prefer.
6. I purchased the violas from Nurtured in Norfolk. On this cake, I used the colourways ‘Cream’ and ‘Midnight Blue & Cream‘.

 

Cake batter recipe developed using the Coffee Layer Cake recipe by Sugar and Sparrow as a starting point.

Today’s post is all about these super tiny (but super tasty), bitesize coffee éclairs! Choux pastry has a bit of a reputation for being difficult, but, after a lot of research and a good number of test batches, I’m pretty confident that I’ve got the hang of it! I have accumulated lots of tips and tricks to ensure perfect éclairs every time, so I’ll be sharing those with you in this post. If you want even more information, I found the éclair tutorial on ironwhisk.com incredibly helpful- it’s an excellent resource (particularly for those who would like a more scientific explanation of things!).

Table of Contents

• Inspiration
• Ingredients
• Making the Choux Pastry
• Whipping the Cream Filling
• Making the Coffee Glacé Icing
• Assembling the Éclairs
• Tips & Tricks for Making Perfect Éclairs
• Bitesize Coffee Éclairs Recipe

Inspiration

There’s been a pretty sizeable gap between the second and third seasons of Bridgerton, so, inevitably, fans of the show have had a lot of time to speculate on the upcoming season- what storylines will play out, what side characters will be involved and, of course, which book scenes will be brought to life. I’ve been keeping a close eye on all the theories, because I am obsessed very excited. While there are a couple of scenes from Romancing Mister Bridgerton (the book that the upcoming season is based on) that have been discussed a LOT (mirror/carriage scenes- I’m looking at you), I’ve also seen a lot of discussion about a certain éclair scene (which, thank goodness, from what I gather, is not sexual…). I thought it would be a fun nod to the source material to include an éclair recipe in this series, so I bit the bullet and resolved myself to master choux pastry. Funnily enough, after only a few attempts, I really feel like I’ve… cracked it?! I’ll share all of my tips and tricks in this post so you too can have deliciously crisp, neat éclairs for your own Bridgerton festivities!

In terms of flavour, much like my Pear and Almond Scones, this was a recipe where I opted to use a family-favourite flavour combination, as opposed to a specific Bridgerton-inspired flavour. Full disclosure: I’ve never been a massive fan of choux pastry… I remember when I was little all of my friends were just obsessed with profiteroles, but I… never really saw the appeal? Then, over lockdown, my mum decided to revisit one of her old favourite recipes, which was for these coffee éclairs and I… loved them. I think it was the first time I’ve ever enjoyed choux pastry and it was life-changing. I figured those coffee éclairs would fit perfectly into my Bridgerton dessert table, so I ran with it. I did, however, mini-fy them, to keep them in line with the whole petit four, afternoon tea vibe (and, yes, so they would fit nicely on the plates I intended to use). I ended up with these ADORABLE, teeny-tiny éclairs which are literally one mouthful. I realise that the tininess is probably not for everyone, so you are absolutely welcome to make regular-sized eclairs with this recipe, if you would prefer (or if you know that working in miniature would drive you CrAzY).

Ingredients

For the choux pastry, you will need:

• Unsalted butter

Don’t use a margarine (like Stork) here- it’s important that you use proper butter to ensure the éclairs have the right structure and flavour. I use unsalted so that I can control the amount of salt in the pastry, but you could use salted, if you prefer (just be sure to omit the additional salt from the recipe).

• Milk

Some choux pastry recipes use milk, while others use water. I find a 50:50 combination of the two creates the perfect look and structure, because the proteins in the milk give the pastry a stronger structure, but also cause the pastry to brown a bit too rapidly. By using half-milk, half-water, you get the best of both worlds!

• Water

One of the liquid ingredients in the pastry- the water helps to control the browning of the éclairs, ensuring that they are perfectly golden and nicely crisp (at the same time!).

• Salt

Whether you choose to add salt yourself for more control (like me), or use salted butter, it’s important that you do include some form of salt in your pastry. You only need a tiny bit, but it plays a big role! The salt not only temper sthe sweetness of the éclairs ever so slightly, it also gives even more structure to the pastry itself.

• Strong white bread flour

Some éclair recipes call for plain flour, but I find that I have much more successful results when using bread flour- the higher protein content gives a crisper, stronger pastry shell.

• Eggs

Much like macarons, choux pastry is very particular in terms of ratios, so I’ve listed the quantity of egg required in grams, rather than on a numerical basis. This is because eggs can vary so much in terms of size and weight, so, to ensure that your choux pastry is the correct consistency and turns out perfectly every time, make sure you weigh your eggs! I recommend cracking the egg into a bowl set over a weighing scale and beating well with a fork to combine the yolk and white. Once everything is combined, you can use the fork to remove some of the egg, little by little, until the correct amount is reached.

To fill and decorate the éclairs, you will also need:

• Double cream

You could also use whipping cream, but don’t use single cream as it won’t whip up enough to hold its shape! If you’re in the US, use heavy cream.

• Icing sugar

You need icing sugar to sweeten and stabilise the whipped cream, but also to make the coffee glacé icing. Keep extra on hand to ensure that you can add more, if needed, to thicken the icing and achieve the perfect consistency.

• Instant coffee

I flavour the glacé icing with instant coffee, because it means you can get a super concentrated coffee flavour in a small amount of liquid.

Making the Choux Pastry

Start by preheating the oven to 200°C (conventional oven). Line two baking trays with greaseproof paper and set aside.

Place the butter, milk, water and salt into a saucepan (not a non-stick one- this will be important later) over medium heat. Make sure that you have the ready-sifted flour at hand, so that it is ready to go.

Allow the butter to melt, stirring frequently, then bring the mixture to a strong simmer.

Once the mixture has come to a strong simmer, remove the pan from the heat and add in the sifted flour, all at once. Mix in the flour completely before returning the pan to the heat.

Keep stirring the mixture over the heat- it will be quite stiff, so just try your best to keep it moving with your spoon/spatula. You may notice a slight film forming on the bottom of the pan- this is exactly what you want (and why it’s important not to use a non-stick pan, or you might not get the film)! Try not to scrape the bottom of the pan and pick up that film as you stir, because it will interfere with the smoothness of your choux pastry.

After about 2 minutes, the flour should have cooked out. There are a couple of ways you can tell if the mixture is ready: firstly, the film on the base of the pan is a good indication- it should be thin, but still noticeable. A more accurate way, though, of telling whether the mixture is ready is to use a thermometer- the mixture should have reached 75°C.

Once the mixture has reached 75°C, tip it out into a bowl. Keep mixing it in the bowl until it cools down a bit- aim for about 60°C, but a few minutes of stirring should be fine if you don’t have a thermometer at hand.

At this point, you can start to add the egg. You want to add the egg to the mixture very gradually, completely mixing it in between each addition.

As you add the egg, you’ll notice that the mixture will go from a firm dough to a soft, smooth paste- this is your choux pastry! At this point, it’s ready to pipe and bake.

Fit a piping bag with a small, open-star nozzle (I think mine is actually a bit more of a closed star, but it was all I had) and fill with the pastry. Use a smaller piping nozzle than you think, because choux pastry puffs up a lot when it is baked. Using a piping nozzle with ridges like this helps to prevent the éclairs from cracking along the top, ensuring that your finished éclairs look super neat.

Holding the piping tip at a 45° angle against the prepared baking tray, pipe short lines of pastry- about 4-5 cm long. This length, combined with the small piping nozzle, will make the perfect, bitesize éclairs. If you want bigger éclairs, use a larger piping nozzle and pipe longer lengths- but do be aware that this will likely affect the baking time required.

It can be a little bit tricky to ‘finish off’ the éclairs when piping, because choux pastry is pretty sticky! I find that the best way to do it is to just gently touch the piping tip down onto the tray to break the flow, then neaten up any resulting ‘peaks’ of pastry by dipping your finger in cold water and gently flattening them back down.

Once all of your éclairs have been piped, you can bake them, one tray at a time, in the preheated oven. The éclairs will take about 15 minutes and, when done, they should be completely crisp- you should be able to pick one up cleanly off the baking tray and the bottom should feel crisp when tapped.

As soon as the éclairs come out of the oven, you need to pierce them with a small, sharp knife. This allows the steam to escape from the éclairs, which prevents them from becoming soggy and/or collapsing. I like to pierce them along the side, where I will be cutting them later on.

Now, just allow the éclairs to cool completely before filling and decorating. Unfilled, the pastry shells will last for a couple of days at room temperature, as long as they are stored in an airtight container.

Whipping the Cream Filling

I fill these éclairs with a simple, sweetened whipped cream filling. While this does mean that the only coffee flavour comes from the glacé icing, it also means that the éclairs aren’t too sweet or overwhelmingly strong- they’re the perfect balance of creaminess, lightness and coffee flavour.

Making the whipped cream filling is super easy- all you do is sift the icing sugar into the cream and whip it until it forms stiff peaks. I use a handheld electric mixer for this, but you could use a freestanding mixer, or even a hand whisk, if you prefer.

Once the cream is whipped, transfer it to a piping bag, fitted with a small star nozzle (you can even absolutely the same one you used to pipe the éclairs). I really would recommend using a piping bag for the cream, even if you use a different nozzle shape, because these éclairs are so small that spreading it on by hand would be a nightmare! If you’re making bigger éclairs, you can absolutely spoon the cream into each one (though I still think the piped creams looks particularly pretty).

Making the Coffee Glacé Icing

The final element is the coffee glacé icing. It’s super easy to make, but it is important that you make it thick enough so that it doesn’t run all over the place once you add it to the éclairs! Don’t be afraid to add more icing sugar if you feel it’s a little too runny (but also, don’t worry too much- a little mess never hurt anyone, they’ll taste great no matter what).

Start by preparing the coffee. Stir the instant coffee granules into the hot water until they have completely dissolved.

Sift the icing sugar into a bowl, then add the hot coffee, a little at a time, stirring in between each addition, until a smooth icing forms.

The icing should be thick, but not so thick that it has the rough texture of a ‘dough’- it should be smooth and silky, but still hold its shape quite well. If it is too thin, add more sifted icing sugar. If it is too thick, add a little extra water.

Once the icing is made, I like to transfer it to a piping bag for more control. I don’t bother with a piping tip- just snip the very end of the bag off to give the effect of a small, round tip. Again, you can put the icing on with a spoon if you’re feeling particularly nimble but, because these éclairs are so small, it is much easier (and neater) to use a piping bag.

Assembling the Éclairs

Once your éclair shells have cooled completely and your cream is whipped, you can fill the éclairs.

Start by splitting the éclair shells. For bigger éclairs, you would usually try to keep one edge ‘attached’, so the éclair opens up like a book. These éclairs are so small (and, as a result, more fragile), so I found it was easier to just slice them right through and ‘sandwich’ the two halves together with the cream. Use a small, serrated knife and a gentle sawing motion to cut through the éclairs horizontally, making sure to keep the corresponding halves of each shell together!

Once your éclairs are all split, you can fill them with cream. How you fill them is completely up to you- you could pipe a row of little shells, tiny dollops or just pipe a straight line right down the middle of the éclair (this will still look fancy if you’ve used a star tip). Pipe the cream onto the cut side of one half of each éclair, then sandwich the other half on top, cut side down.

Once all of the shells have been filled with cream, you can add the icing to the top of each éclair. Pipe a thick line of icing down the centre of each one, going right down the length of the éclair. And there you have it! Pefect, bitesize coffee éclairs.

Once filled, the éclairs need to be served straight away. The pastry will start to absorb the moisture from the filling/icing very quickly, which will make the éclairs sad and soggy, instead of crisp and delicious!

Tips & Tricks for Making Perfect Éclairs

• Use a 50:50 ratio of milk and water

Some éclair recipes use milk, some use water and some use a combination of both. I find that a 50:50 ratio works perfectly- the milk adds structure to the pastry, but the water prevents it from browning too quickly, before it is fully baked.

• Add salt to the choux pastry

Much like the milk, salt helps to give the pastry structure. Whether you add a small amount of your own (which is my preference) or use salted butter, make sure you don’t skip the salt.

• Use bread flour

Most éclair recipes call for plain ( or ‘all-purpose’) flour. I prefer to use bread flour, as it has a higher protein content, which helps to make the éclairs super crisp.

• Add the flour to the hot liquid all at once

There’s a lot of science behind this one that is a little out of my pay-grade, but essentially, you need to ‘shock’ the flour by adding it to the hot liquid, for the best results. If you add the flour gradually, it won’t be so ‘shocked’, so you really do need to add it all at once.

• Use a star tip to pipe the éclairs

By using a star tip, you give the éclairs these little ridges, which increase the surface area of each individual pastry. This helps to prevent the éclairs from cracking along the top. I did get a few cracks even with this method, but they all seemed to form down one side of the éclair, which is where I would be splitting them anyway, so it all worked out.

• Bake at a high temperature

Éclairs need to be baked at a high temperature to ‘shock’ them into puffing up (anyone else getting the feeling that éclairs are just adrenaline junkies? I definitely think they’d be horror movies buffs if they were, you know, animate). Some recipes call for starting off the bake at a high temperature then lowering the heat to finish drying them out, but I found that keeping the temperature the same throughout was fine. That could be because these éclairs are so small though- I’m yet to try it with larger, standard-sized éclairs.

• Pierce the éclairs straight after baking to release steam

Use a small, sharp knife or skewer to pierce through to the inside of each éclair as soon as they come out of the oven. This will allow the steam to escape, which would otherwise make the inside of your éclairs soggy and potentially even lead to them collapsing. I like to pierce the éclairs along the side, right where I will be splitting them later, to keep them as neat as possible.

• Use a serrated knife to split the éclairs

Choux pastry, particularly choux pastry when it is in a form as small as these éclairs, can be very delicate. Make sure to use a serrated knife and a gentle sawing motion to split the éclairs, so that they don’t crack/crumble as you work with them.

• Serve the éclairs immediately after filling

As soon as you introduce wet fillings/icings to the crisp choux pastry, it will start to absorb their moisture and lose its crispness. Trust me, you do not want to eat a soggy éclair. Unfortunately, this means you really do have to serve the éclairs as soon as you fill them, which can be a bit of a faff. If you want to get ahead, you can make the éclair shells and store them at room temperature, in an airtight container, for a couple of days.

Bitesize Coffee Éclairs Recipe

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Bitesize Coffee Éclairs

Crisp choux pastry shells, sweetened whipped cream filling and coffee glacé icing come together in a delicious, tiny package- perfect for afternoon teas, petit fours, or Bridgerton watch parties.

Course Dessert

Cuisine French

Keyword Choux pastry, Coffee, Éclair, Whipped cream

Prep Time 1 hour hour 45 minutes minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes minutes

Total Time 2 hours hours

Servings 40 mini éclairs

Equipment

• Small, open-star piping tip

Ingredients

For the choux pastry:

• 25 g unsalted butter
• 25 ml water
• 25 ml milk
• Pinch of salt
• 35 g strong white bread flour, sifted.
• 50 g eggs, beaten (about 1 egg).

For the whipped cream filling:

• 100 ml double cream
• 1 tsp icing sugar, sifted.

For the coffee glacé icing:

• 60 g icing sugar, sifted.
• 1/2 tsp instant coffee granules, dissolved in 1 tsp hot water.

Instructions

Make the choux pastry shells:

• Preheat the oven to 200°C (conventional oven). Line 2 baking trays with greaseproof paper and set aside.
• Place the butter, water, milk and salt into a saucepan over medium heat. Allow the butter to melt, then bring to a strong simmer.
• Remove the pan from the heat and add the sifted flour, all at once. Mix the flour in off the heat, then return the pan to the heat.
• Stir the mixture over the heat for a couple of minutes, taking care not to scrape the bottom of the pan as you stir, until the mixture reaches 75°C.
• Transfer the dough to a bowl and stir for a few minutes until the mixture has cooled slightly (it should be about 60°C).
• Gradually add the beaten egg, stirring well between each addition, until all of the egg has been incorporated and the mixture resembles a smooth paste.
• Transfer the choux pastry to a piping bag, fitted with a small, open-star nozzle. Pipe lengths of about 4-5cm onto the prepared baking trays to make the éclairs.
• Bake one tray of éclairs at a time in the preheated oven, for about 15 minutes, or until the éclairs have puffed up and are crisp and golden.
• As soon as you remove the éclairs from the oven, use a sharp knife/skewer to pierce each one, to allow the steam to escape. Allow the éclairs to cool completely before filling and decorating.

Make the whipped cream filling:

• Put the cream and sifted icing sugar into a bowl and whisk until stiff peaks form. Transfer to a piping bag, fitted with a small star nozzle, ready to fill the éclairs.

Make the coffee glacé icing:

• Add the dissolved coffee granules to the icing sugar, a little at a time, stirring between each addition, until a thick, but smooth, icing is achieved. If too thick, add more water. If too thin, add more sifted icing sugar. The icing should be smooth and silky, but be firm enough that it doesn't run off the surface of the éclairs.
• Transfer the icing to a piping bag, for extra control. You can either use a small, round tip or just snip the very end of the piping bag off for a similar effect.

Assemble the éclairs:

• Use a small, serrated knife to split each éclair horizontally.
• Pipe a line of whipped cream onto the cut side of one half of each éclair, then sandwich the other half on top, cut side down.
• Pipe a thick line of coffee glacé icing down the centre of the top of each éclair to finish. The éclairs should be served straight after assembling, otherwise they pastry will become soggy.

Notes

Make-Ahead: 

While the filled éclairs need to be served immediately, the unfilled shells can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for a few days before splitting and filling.

Recipe adapted from ironwhisk.com

These cookies just feel more… adult to me? I mean, sure, there’s toffee, but what is toffee if not the sophisticated older cousin of caramel? The coffee instantly adds a hit of ‘not your average 5-year old’s treat’, while the dark chocolate chunks tones down the typical sugary-sweetness of a chocolate chip cookie. For added maturity, I make these cookies with browned butter, which adds a really deep, nutty flavour to the cookie dough, echoing both the coffee and toffee flavours. In terms of texture, the cookies are perfectly crisp on the outside, while still being soft and chewy on the inside. I like them best when they are still warm from the oven (I have even been known to reheat cooled cookies the next day!), but they’re just as tasty cold.

I mean, I know I said I have the palette of a 5-year old and these cookies are supposed to be more suited to an adult palette, but I still love them SO MUCH! Does that mean I’m finally growing up? Hmm… not sure. I guess a cookie’s a cookie, in the end.

Anyway, let’s get into it, shall we?

Table of Contents

• Ingredients
• Equipment
• Making the Toffee Pieces
• Browning the Butter
• Making the Cookie Dough
• Baking the Cookies
• Make Ahead
• Recipe

Ingredients

Aside from a couple of extra mix-ins, the ingredient list for these cookies is pretty standard:

• Unsalted butter

You need butter for both the toffee pieces and the cookie dough itself. For the cookie dough, you’ll be browning the butter to give your cookies a lovely, nutty depth of flavour. I prefer to use unsalted butter, so that I have more control over the amount of salt in my cookies, but you can use salted if you prefer- you just won’t need to add the salt listed in the recipe to the dough!

• Light brown soft sugar

You also need brown sugar for both the toffee pieces and the cookie dough. Brown sugar gives the toffee its iconic, deep flavour and makes the inside of the cookies super moist and chewy. Make sure to use light brown sugar- if you use dark brown sugar your toffee will have a bitter, burnt flavour, while the flavour of the sugar will overpower the coffee in the cookie dough.

• Caster sugar

For these cookies, you use a combination of brown sugar and caster sugar. The brown sugar keeps the insides chewy, but the caster sugar gives the cookies a crispy exterior. This recipe uses a 4:1 ratio of brown sugar:caster sugar, which gives you the perfect crispy-on-the-outside, chewy-on-the-inside bake!

• 1 whole egg + 1 egg yolk

The addition of an extra egg yolk in this recipe makes for a super soft, tender cookie. I know it can be a bit of a pain to be left with a spare white, but it makes such a difference! You can use the egg white in another recipe, such as my macarons; use it alongside some whole eggs to make an omelette/frittata; or freeze it for another day.

• Vanilla extract

Vanilla extract is often used in chocolate chip cookie recipes to enhance the other flavours in the dough. You only need a little bit for this recipe (you want to enhance the flavours, not overpower them!), but it makes a world of difference.

• Plain flour

Don’t use self-raising flour, as this will affect the finished texture/look of the cookies.

• Baking soda

Don’t substitute baking powder here, as this will also affect the finished texture/look of the cookies.

• Instant coffee granules

To get the coffee flavour into these cookies, I use instant coffee granules. You don’t want to use brewed coffee, because the added liquid will affect the texture of your cookie dough, which will, in turn, affect how the cookies bake up. I like to grind up the coffee granules into a fine powder, using a mortar and pestle, to distribute the flavour more evenly and prevent large specks of coffee in my cookie dough, but this is optional. You could also use espresso powder, but I have not tried this. Espresso powder is more intense, so, if you do use it, you will want to decrease the amount.

I prefer to use decaffeinated instant coffee when I’m baking, so I don’t have to worry about being up all night if I want to have a midnight snack! Realistically, though, the coffee content per cookie isn’t massive, so if you’d prefer to use caffeinated coffee, go ahead!

• Salt

A touch of flaky sea salt really helps to bring out all the caramel-y, nutty flavours in these cookies. I like to add a pinch to the dough, then sprinkle some on top of the cookies as soon as they come out of the oven, to really amp up the flavour.

• Dark chocolate

Listen, I’m a milk chocolate chunk kind of girl through and through. I can just about stretch to a 50/50 milk + dark combo in my cookies. However, for these cookies, I use all dark chocolate. I know- the horror! I just think that the dark chocolate really compliments the coffee in these cookies and makes for a more sophisticated, grown-up cookie, which was, ultimately, my goal for this recipe. Also, I can still satisfy my sweet tooth with the toffee pieces that are mixed in alongside the dark chocolate chunks, so it’s all okay. If you prefer though, you can absolutely use milk chocolate instead.

For this recipe, I like to buy my chocolate in bar form and chop it up into rough chunks myself (I feel like chunks have a much more sophisticated vibe than chips- is that just me?), but go ahead and use chips if you prefer- on the plus side, it’ll cut out the extra chopping step, making these cookies easier to throw together.

Equipment

There are a few pieces of special equipment that I used for this recipe, but none of them are required to make these cookies. Where possible, I have tried to indicate alternatives, so that you can make these cookies whenever/wherever you are, regardless of the equipment you have available!

• Stand mixer

Making the cookie dough in a stand mixer, fitted with a paddle attachment, makes this whole process significantly quicker and easier, which is always a win. If you don’t have a stand mixer, you can absolutely mix the whole thing together by hand, using a large bowl and a wooden spoon- just be prepared for a little bit of an arm workout!

• Mortar and pestle

Again, this isn’t strictly necessary, but I like to grind the instant coffee granules into a fine powder before adding it to the cookie dough, to ensure that the flavour is distributed more evenly and there are no little bits of instant coffee in the dough. If you don’t have a mortar and pestle (or the enthusiasm to grind), you could use an electronic spice grinder, or just leave the granules whole and embrace the speckled-y cookie life!

• Sugar thermometer

I find that the easiest way to make toffee is to use a sugar thermometer- the sugar and butter need to be cooked together until they reach the ‘hard crack’ stage, which is about 146°C. I use a digital thermometer, but any accurate sugar thermometer will work. If you don’t have a sugar thermometer, I would highly recommend buying one- there are some relatively cheap ones available online and it will make working with sugar (and lots of other parts of baking!) much easier. If you’re desperate, you can check for the ‘hard crack’ stage by dropping a spoonful of the hot toffee into cold water and leaving it for a few moments to cool down, before trying to ‘crack’ it with your fingers. When the sugar has reached the ‘hard crack’ stage, it should be brittle and snap when you try to bend it.

• Regular-sized ice cream scoop

I am a huge proponent of using an ice cream scoop to portion cookie dough- it makes the whole process much quicker, easier and neater. Make sure that you use an ice cream scoop with a release mechanism- this method won’t work without it! If you don’t have an ice cream scoop, another of my favourite ways to make even cookies is to weigh the balls of cookie dough. For this recipe, aim to make each cookie dough all about 65g- this will give you the same size cookies that the ice cream scoop method would achieve.

Making the Toffee Pieces

These toffee pieces are really quick to make and work perfectly to balance the bitter coffee/dark chocolate in these cookies. You can also use these toffee bits for other bakes/desserts- they’re delicious sprinkled over ice cream!

If you don’t fancy making your own toffee bits, you could try breaking up some shop-bought toffee and using that instead! Just bear in mind that ready-made toffee comes in thicker chunks, which will be harder to break up. You might want to use a slightly more heavy-duty utensil than a rolling pin for this, like a hammer!

Really though, I would recommend making your own toffee pieces- it’s honestly pretty straightforward and even tastier than the store-bought stuff! To make the homemade toffee pieces, you only need 3 ingredients:

• Brown sugar

Brown sugar is what gives toffee it’s deep, nutty flavour, in comparison to typical caramel. Use light brown soft sugar for this recipe.

• Unsalted butter

Butter is a key ingredient in toffee. I like to use unsalted butter so I can control how much salt ends up in my bakes, but you can use salted if you prefer.

• Water

I mean, it’s barely even an ingredient, but I wanted to note it here because it does make a huge difference to the toffee. Toffee can be a little bit troublesome- often it will separate, leaving you with a pile of sugar and a pool of butter, but the water helps to prevent this.

To make the toffee, start by lining a small baking tray. Ideally, use one with a lip all around, so that the toffee doesn’t spill over the edge.

Then, put the sugar, butter and water into a small saucepan. The amounts listed in this recipe only make a small amount of toffee, so you don’t need a large pan, but do be aware that the sugar will bubble up a little bit as it cooks. If in doubt, use a slightly larger pan, rather than a slightly smaller pan.

Set the pan over a medium heat and stir gently while the butter melts and the sugar dissolves. If the toffee separates while this is happening, stir more vigorously to bring it back together.

Once the sugar has dissolved, stop stirring and allow the toffee to bubble away until it reaches 146°C. During this time, do not stir the toffee- stirring the toffee will cause it to crystallise and you’ll end up with something more similar to fudge than toffee! If you need to move the toffee around, give the whole pan a gentle swirl.

Once the toffee reaches 146°C, take it off the heat. Stir the whole thing vigorously until it forms a homogenous mixture, then pour it out onto the lined tray.

Leave the toffee to cool down completely- it should harden and become brittle. This will take about 20 minutes. Once the toffee is cold, use a rolling pin to smash it up into small pieces, ready to be used in the cookies. You can use the toffee pieces immediately, or you can store them in an airtight container for up to a week.

Browning the Butter

Part of what makes these cookies so deliciously nutty and toasty and flavourful is the use of brown butter in the dough. While it does mean that these cookies require a little more effort, I promise, the end result is so worth it. Also, browning butter is super easy to do- you only need one thing: butter!

Start by putting your butter into a small saucepan and place it over medium heat. Allow the butter to melt, stirring frequently.

Once the butter has melted, keep it over the heat, still stirring frequently. At this point, the butter will still be slightly opaque and you’ll see little white solids/foam floating on the surface- those are the milk solids! As they cook, they’ll start toasting and turn brown, which is how brown butter gets its name.

Eventually, those solids will break down and sink to the bottom of the pan. As this happens, your butter will become clearer (at this stage, you could pass through a coffee filter to remove the solids and you would have the aptly named clarified butter). Keep the pan over the heat and keep the butter bubbling, still stirring frequently.

After a little longer on the heat, the milk solids that sank to the bottom of the pan will begin to turn brown. Keep cooking and stirring the butter until those solids turn a deep, nutty colour, then remove the pan from the heat and there you have it! Brown butter.

Be careful at this stage because the brown butter will be very hot. For this recipe, you want to use room temperature brown butter- it can still be melted, but you don’t want it to be hot. You can leave the brown butter on the side until it cools down, but this will take a little while. I like to transfer the brown butter to a small, heatproof bowl, which I then place into a larger bowl that I have partially filled with ice water. The cold water will help to cool down the butter, so you should be ready to use it in about 10 minutes. Give it a stir every now and then, as it cools, to help things along.

Making the Cookie Dough

Once you have your room temperature brown butter, you can get on with making the cookie dough. As I mentioned earlier, I like to use a stand mixer to make the dough because it makes the whole process so quick and easy, but it’s not a requirement for this recipe. If you would prefer to make the dough by hand, just use a wooden spoon/strong spatula to mix everything together, as directed by the recipe.

A couple of notes on preparation at this stage:

• I like to use dark chocolate chunks in these cookies, but you can absolutely use an equal amount of chocolate chips instead. If you’re using dark chocolate chunks, I always recommend chopping the chocolate bars up before you start making the cookies (perhaps while the brown butter is cooling down) so you can just throw everything together at the end.

• As I mentioned, I like to grind the instant coffee granules beforehand. I use a mortar and pestle for this, but you could also use a spice grinder, if you have one. If you’re using espresso powder, or opting to leave your granules whole for a more speckled-y cookie, skip this step.

To make the dough, put the brown butter and both sugars into the bowl of the stand mixer, fitted with a paddle attachment. Beat on medium speed to combine the ingredients.

Add the egg, egg yolk and vanilla extract and beat again, until well-combined and fluffy.

Sift in the flour, baking soda and finely ground instant coffee granules. Add the salt (I’m using flaky sea salt, so I don’t bother sifting it- just break it up with your fingers as you add it in). Mix on low speed until the dry ingredients are mostly incorporated, then add the dark chocolate chunks and toffee pieces and mix briefly, just until everything is incorporated.

At this point, you need to chill the cookie dough. I know, I know, you want cookies now! However, chilling the cookie dough has 2 benefits:

• It ensures the cookies bake up all thick and chewy.
• It helps all of the flavours to develop and meld together.

Chill the cookie dough for at least an hour, or overnight. I know an hour can feel endless, but by the time you’ve washed up, had a cup of tea and preheated the oven to 190°C, you probably won’t be far off!

Baking the Cookies

Once the dough has chilled, take it out of the fridge and divide it into balls. This recipe makes about 16 cookies and I like to use a regular-sized ice cream scoop to divide up the dough (it makes the whole process SO quick and easy). If you don’t have an ice cream scoop (or one that works for this), you could also weigh the balls for super uniform cookies- each ball should be about 65g if you do this.

Space the dough balls onto 2 baking trays, each lined with greaseproof paper (you need to leave a good amount of space between the cookies because they will spread). Bake the cookies in the oven at 190°C for 10 minutes, until they have turned brown around the edges (typical cookie recipes will require you to check for a golden hue around the edges of the cookies, but these cookies have coffee in, so are naturally much darker anyway).

When the cookies come out of the oven, you’ll probably find that some of the toffee has melted and oozed out here and there. You can fix this and give your cookies back their perfect, uniform appearance by placing an upturned bowl over the cookie (making sure to catch any toffee puddles) and moving it in quick little circles, keeping it flush to the baking tray. This not only brings the toffee back to the cookie, but it also makes the whole cookie slightly thicker and much more circular. I actually do this to all of the cookies, not just the ones that had toffee mishaps. This will only work while the cookies are still warm, though, so make sure to do it as soon as they come out of the oven and to work quickly! Thank you, TikTok, for that little trick. I also like to sprinkle the cookies with a little more flaky sea salt at this stage.

Allow the cookies to cool on the tray for 5-10 minutes before serving. These cookies are best eaten warm (ideally fresh from the oven!), but they will keep in an airtight container for 4-5 days.

Make Ahead

I LOVE to keep cookie dough balls in the freezer, so that I am always ready for spontaneous cookie-snacking. This recipe freezes really well- you can even bake the dough balls straight from frozen! In fact, I think that freezing the cookies actually helps these cookies, because it ensures that the toffee bits stay nice and crunchy during the baking process (they have a tendency to melt away slightly more if the dough balls are not frozen).

I recommend freezing the cookie dough after you have rolled it into balls to make it easier for your future self. I like to place the balls onto a small, lined baking tray and put that in the freezer overnight, until the dough balls have frozen solid. The next day, I transfer the balls to a resealable bag and put them back into the freezer. Like this, the cookie dough balls will keep for up to 2 months, so you can have cookies at a moment’s notice, whenever you feel like it!

I find it helpful to label the bag, so that it’s super easy to tell what the cookies are and how to bake them. If you do this, I recommend including the following information:

1. Flavour (I maintain there is nothing worse than thinking you’re biting into a chocolate chip cookie and discovering that what you thought were chocolate chips are, in fact, raisins).
2. Oven temperature
3. Cook time

For these cookies, bake them, from frozen, for 12 minutes at 190°C.

And that’s how you make these grown-up, Coffee, Toffee and Dark Chocolate Cookies. I think they’re such a perfect, tasty treat for autumn. Let me know if you try them out- I’d love to hear about it!

Gemma

xxx

Recipe

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Coffee, Toffee + Dark Chocolate Cookies

Super delicious, chewy cookies, flavoured with coffee and brown butter and laden with chunks of melting dark chocolate and crunchy, homemade toffee pieces.

Course Dessert, Snack

Keyword Browned Butter, Coffee, Cookie, Dark Chocolate, Toffee

Prep Time 1 hour hour

Cook Time 10 minutes minutes

Chill Time 1 hour hour

Total Time 2 hours hours 10 minutes minutes

Servings 16 cookies

Ingredients

For the toffee bits:

• 55 g unsalted butter
• 100 g light brown soft sugar
• 1 tbsp water

For the cookies:

• 170 g unsalted butter
• 200 g light brown soft sugar
• 50 g caster sugar
• 1 whole egg + 1 yolk
• 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
• 240 g plain flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 1/2 tbsp instant coffee granules, finely ground (see Note 1).
• 1 pinch flaky sea salt, plus extra for sprinkling
• 300 g dark chocolate, chopped

Instructions

For the toffee bits:

• Line a rimmed baking tray with greaseproof paper and set aside.
• Place all of the ingredients for the toffee into a small saucepan over medium heat. Stir gently while the butter melts and the sugar dissolves.
• Once the sugar has dissolved, stop stirring and allow the toffee to bubble away until it reaches 146°C. You can gently swirl the pan during this time, but do not stir the mixture, or your toffee might crystallise.
• When the toffee has reached 146°C, take the pan off the heat and stir vigorously to ensure the mixture is homogenous. Pour onto the lined baking tray and set aside at room temperature to cool down and harden fully- about 20 minutes.
• When the toffee has cooled completely (it should be hard and brittle at this point), use a rolling pin to crack it up into small pieces. The toffee can be use immediately, or stored in an airtight container for up to a week.

For the cookies:

• Begin by browning the butter. Place the butter into a small saucepan over medium heat. Allow the butter to melt, then cook, stirring frequently, until the butter smells nutty and the milk solids have turned a deep brown colour. Remove the pan from the heat and allow the butter to cool to room temperature before using (see Note 2).
• Place the brown butter and both sugars into the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with a paddle attachment. Mix on medium speed until combined.
• Add the egg, egg yolk and vanilla extract to the butter/sugar mixture. Beat on medium speed until well-combined and fluffy- about 30 seconds.
• Sift the flour, baking soda and coffee granules into the mixture. Add the salt, then mix on low speed until the dry ingredients are mostly incorporated.
• Add the dark chocolate chunks and smashed toffee pieces and mix again, just until incorporated. Place the bowl into the fridge and allow the cookie dough to chill for 1 hour, or overnight.
• Just before the dough is ready to come out of the fridge, preheat the oven to 190°C. Line 2 baking trays with greaseproof paper and set aside.
• When the cookie dough has chilled, remove it from the fridge and divide it into 16 even balls (I used a regular-sized ice cream scoop for this, but you could also weigh the cookie dough balls- each ball should be about 65g). Place the cookie dough balls onto the lined trays, making sure to leave plenty of space between them (they will spread as they bake).
• Bake the cookies for 10 minutes, or until they have turned a deep brown colour around the edges (the coffee makes these cookies darker than average chocolate chip cookies, so look for a deep brown, rather than a golden colour).
• When the cookies come out of the oven, place an upturned bowl (you need one that is slightly bigger than the cookies themselves) over one cookie and quickly move it around and around in small circles, keeping it flush against the tray. This will make sure that your cookie stays nice and thick, has a perfectly round shape and, as a bonus, will bring any toffee that might have oozed out during the baking process back into the cookie. Repeat for the other cookies, then sprinkle with flaky sea salt and allow to cool for 5-10 minutes before serving. The cookies will last for 4-5 days if stored in an airtight container, but are best eaten warm (ideally fresh from the oven).

Notes

1. I like to grind instant coffee granules in a mortar and pestle for this recipe, so that I have a really fine powder that distributes evenly throughout the dough. You can skip the grinding step, if you would prefer, but your cookies will be speckled with the coffee granules. You could also use espresso powder, instead, but I would recommend reducing the amount of coffee if you do. Don’t use brewed coffee (it will make your dough too wet!) or coffee grounds (this would affect the texture of your cookies).
2. Your brown butter needs to be at room temperature before you make the dough, to ensure your cookies bake perfectly. You can leave it to cool by itself, but it will take a little while to come to temperature (brown butter is very hot when it has just been made!). I like to transfer my butter to a small, heatproof bowl and sit that in a larger bowl, filled with ice water. Stir it every now and then and, after about 10 minutes, the butter will be cool enough to use.

Make Ahead

This cookie dough freezes very well- I love to have some stashed in the freezer so I can have fresh cookies at a moment’s notice. For best results, I recommend rolling the dough into balls, placing them on a lined tray and freezing overnight until solid. Then, transfer the balls to a resealable bag (don’t forget to label it!) and store in the freezer for up to 2 months. The cookie dough balls can be baked straight from frozen- they’ll need about 12 minutes at 190°C.