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Recipe: Espresso Caramel Pear Squares

This week something new and something blue arrived in my kitchen for a coffee challenge.  My task was to use this DeLonghi coffee machine – called the Vintage Icona Bar Pump Espresso Machine to create a coffee-inspired recipe. So, with a cup of freshly-brewed coffee to hand, I set about creating a perfect afternoon treat and came up with a traybake with a twist – my Espresso Caramel Pear Squares.

DeLonghi Coffee Machine
Vintage Icona Bar Pump Espresso Machine in action

Since we’re travelling to Italy quite soon, my initial thoughts of a coffee-inspired recipe turned to Affogato. Affogato in Italian means “drowned” and there is a simple dessert where a scoop of ice-cream or gelato is topped with espresso. I look forward to plenty of those in Emiligia-Romagna. However, my thoughts then drifted to cake (this usually happens) and so I began tinkering with my mother’s fail-safe tray-bake recipe to create these espresso-infused baked topped with a very simple espresso caramel chocolate drizzle. I also love adding fresh fruit to my cakes and so a couple of British seasonal pears found their way in, too. I found the milk chocolate caramel drops in my local supermarket in the baking section. I often add a tablespoon or two of yoghurt to my traybakes, but using the pears and the liquid espresso gave this cake a lovely moistness in itself. You could use sliced apples, and it would work with stoned plums, too.

DeLonghi Coffee Machine Cake

I hope you get a chance to try this recipe. The shot of espresso adds a very subtle coffee flavour – it doesn’t so much taste like a traditional ‘coffee’ cake. The pears keep the bake lovely and moist and if there is any left, it keeps superbly well, too, in an airtight container.

DeLonghi Coffee Challenge

The Vintage Icona Bar Pump machine has a milk steamer, called the ‘cappuccino system’  just on the right-hand-side, so you can either serve your cake with an espresso, or create a longer cappuccino of latte – from the comfort of your own home.The machine will even warm you coffee cups for you, too!

espresso caramel pear cake

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The British seasonal pears also make this recipe a great candidate for my Simple and in Season monthly community blog event.

With many thanks to DeLonghi UK for inviting me to take part in this coffee challenge and for sending me this beautiful machine to try at home. You can follow our progress on Twitter using the hashtag #coffeechallenge.

Espresso Caramel Pear Squares

Can I tempt you with a square…?

 

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10 Comments

  1. This sounds so much nicer than a coffee walnut cake! I want to try this but I’ve never seen the chocolate caramel drops. Can you tell me the brand and where you bought it? PS how are the pop up plans going??

  2. Oh wow, these look amazing! Absolutely making me want to snuggle down with a coffee and a book

    1. Ren Behan says:

      Exactly what I did, Hannah! x

  3. O love the idea of your espresso caramel pear tray bake. I love coffee both to drink and it’s flavour in cakes is one of my favourites. This looks just about perfect as does that lovely coffee machine!

    1. Ren Behan says:

      Thanks Laura, hope you’ve had a lovely weekend and have managed to bake x

    1. Ren Behan says:

      Thank you Denise x

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