Recipe: An Irish coffee dessert

"This idea came about after a conversation about liqueur coffees, and Irish coffee in particular, and I thought an Irish Coffee Mousse would make a lovely dessert, and so it does," writes Mercy Fenton in her weekly column.

"I also have a simple Blackberry Muffin recipe where I simply replaced the blueberries with blackberries. At this time of year, there can’t be too many blackberry recipes! 

"For my Irish Coffee Mousse, you will need six medium-sized glasses or glass jars, even maybe some used yogurt jars."

Irish Coffee Mousse

Biscuit base

Ingredients

150gr Café Noir biscuits

30gr melted butter

Method:

• Crush the biscuits in a bag with a rolling pin or use a food processor.
• Mix with the melted butter and spoon carefully into the base of 6 wine glasses or tumblers.
• Refrigerate until required.

Irish Coffee Mousse

Ingredients

35ml whiskey

20gr sugar

2 tsp instant coffee powder

40ml hot espresso

125gr white chocolate drops

80ml pouring cream

250ml cream for whipping to soft peaks

½ leaves gelatin

Cream Topping

175gr whipping cream

1 tsp vanilla essence

Method:

• Dissolve the coffee powder and sugar in the espresso - if necessary pop in the microwave, to help dissolve everything, then allow to cool a little.
• Soak the gelatin in cold water.
• Boil the pouring cream.
• Lift the gelatin out of the water and squeeze away the excess water, add soaked gelatin to the boiled cream and stir until dissolved.
• Pour the cream mixture onto white chocolate stir until smooth and melted
• Then add the dissolved coffee and the whiskey.
• Allow to cool until it is nearly set in the fridge.
• Remember to stir occasionally using spatula.
• Meanwhile, whip cream to soft peaks.
• When chocolate mixture is nearly set, fold in whipped cream.
• At this stage taste the mousse, if you would like an extra kick of whiskey add a splash onto the biscuit bases before filling.
• Fill evenly into the glasses, the easiest way to do this is weigh it in, pouring quickly before it becomes too set or it won’t fill the sides fully.
• Start with 80gr each, there should be a little left that can be shared between each glass.
• Tap each glass gently to smooth the top.
• Prepare the cream topping straight away by simply whipping the cream and vanilla to slightly thick pouring consistency and share between the 6 glasses.
• Sprinkle each glass with a tiny amount of fresh coffee grounds.

Blackberry Muffins

Ingredients

310gr cream flour

3 tsp baking powder

1 tsp bread soda

¼ tsp salt

¼ tsp cinnamon

115gr sunflower oil

200gr sugar

2 whole free range eggs

250ml buttermilk

3 tsp vanilla essence

110gr fresh or frozen blackberries

Method:

• Pre-heat oven to 180C.
• Line a muffin tin with muffin papers.
• Sieve together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, bread soda, salt & sugar.
• Whisk together the egg, buttermilk, sunflower, and vanilla extract.
• Pour on to the dry ingredients, mix well and finally add the blackberries and give a quick mix.
• Bake until cooked through and set on top. 18 to 20 minutes.
• Once cooked, lift carefully out of the tray onto a wire rack to cool.