Kahlua Parfait Recipes

HOMEMADE TíA MARíA: COFFEE LIQUEUR RECIPE

Steps:

• Find a glass bottle or jar large enough to store the rum with the coffee beans and vanilla beans for several days. Pour the rum into the container.
• Split the vanilla beans down the center with a sharp knife. This will expose the inner seeds, allowing the vanilla flavor to better infuse into the rum.
• Add the split vanilla beans to the bottle with the rum.
• Add the coffee beans to the bottle with the vanilla beans and rum, cover it, and give it a good shake. I use whole coffee beans because it's less messy and works great, but you can also use ground coffee if you don't have any whole beans.
• Store the bottle out of direct sunlight, shaking the bottle occasionally, when you walk by it, to help incorporate all of the ingredients so they infuse well into the alcohol.
• Depending on the strength of the alcohol used, the type of coffee, and whether it was ground or not, in just a few short days the rum will have taken on a dark color and a strong coffee flavor. You should also note the flavor of the vanilla beans, but the flavor is more subtle. At this point, it's really up to you how long you want to leave it infusing. When you are ready to stop the process, move onto the next step.
• Make a sugar syrup. The first time I made this liqueur, I made a simple sugar syrup by mixing together the water and sugar in a pan over low to medium heat until the sugar dissolved. I used equal weights of water and sugar to make a very basic sugar syrup, but you can make it sweeter by adding more sugar, or lighter by adding less. Once cooled, add the syrup to the coffee infused rum.
• I have since been experimenting with ways to alter the final flavor of the liqueur. If you want a more caramel flavor, you can caramelize the sugar first, before dissolving it in water to make the syrup. To do so, heat the sugar, without water added, to a pan over low to medium heat until it begins to melt and lightly brown. At that point, you can add water to dissolve the caramelized sugar into a caramel flavored sugar syrup.
• Strain out the coffee and vanilla beans, and add the sugar syrup to the coffee and vanilla infused rum. It's a good idea to add the sugar syrup little by little, tasting the mixture along the way, so that you don't make the liqueur too sweet for your taste. Stop when you've reached the desired level of sweetness. (If it's sweet enough, but too strong, you can add a little water. I'd wait a few days before adding the water, though, because the alcohol flavor seems to slightly mellow with time.)
• I wanted a stronger vanilla flavor, so I added a couple of vanilla beans back into the liqueur. Some people are very particular about not having little seeds in the final liqueur. If you want it perfectly smooth and clear of any seeds, you can do a final strain through a coffee filter or tight cheesecloth.
• Store at room temperature or refrigerated, and serve alone or in any Kahlúa or Tía María recipe. (My husband adds a dash to his espresso.) Enjoy!

INDIVIDUAL TIRAMISU PARFAITS

Steps:

• Mix together milk, coffee, 2 tablespoons Kahlua and 4 tablespoons of sugar in a bowl. Add the crushed ladyfingers to soak.
• Beat together egg yolks and remaining tablespoon of sugar. Add the mascarpone cheese, remaining Kahlua and Frangelico.
• With a hand or stand mixer, whip egg whites until stiff peaks form, then gently fold into the mascarpone mixture.
• Spoon half of the soaked ladyfingers between small glasses (mine were about 5 ounces each), then top with a layer of the mascarpone mixture. Add a second layer of the soaked lady fingers and top with more mascarpone mixture Smooth tops. Cover each with a dusting of cocoa powder. Refrigerate for at least 3 hours before serving.

MOCHA JAVA PIE WITH KAHLUA CREAM

Steps:

• Dissolve coffee granules in hot water. In a large bowl, beat cream cheese and confectioners' sugar until fluffy. Add vanilla and coffee mixture. Fold in whipped topping. Spoon into crust., In a small bowl, dissolve coffee granules in milk. In a large bowl, combine milk mixture and pudding mix. Beat on high speed until pudding is thick. Fold in whipped topping. Spread carefully over cream cheese layer., In a small bowl, beat cream until it begins to thicken. Add confectioners' sugar and Kahlua; beat until soft peaks form. Spread over pudding layer. Top with chocolate curls if desired. Refrigerate for 2 hours or until set.

KAHLUA PARFAITS

Steps:

• Combine coffee, Kahlua and marshmallows in the top of a double boiler. Stir until marshmallows are melted and smooth.
• Refrigerate until cool.
• Once the mixture is cool, stir in the sour cream.
• Layer in parfait or wine glasses: the chocolate crumbs and the cream mixture, ending with the crumbs on top.
• Refrigerate until firm.

KAHLUA PARFAIT

Steps:

• Lightly whisk egg yolks and sugar in a glass bowl.
• Put the bowl in a pan with simmering water.
• Add cocoa and Kahlua.
• Keep whisking until it thickens and doubles in size (about 10 minutes).
• Take the bowl out of the pan and keep whisking until the cream has cooled off (about 5 minutes).
• Gently mix the whipped cream with the eggcream.
• Transfer to 4 individual small bowls.
• Freeze several hours.
• When serving, garnish with a little melted chocolate, berries or whatever you fancy.

KAHLUA, TOASTED COCONUT, AND ICE-CREAM PARFAITS

Steps:

• Put 3 layers each coconut, liqueur, and ice cream in each of 2 wineglasses or parfait glasses, reserving about 1 tablespoon coconut and 2 teaspoons liqueur. Top parfaits with reserved coconut and liqueur and freeze, covered, 20 minutes.