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Recipe: Espresso Caramel Pear Squares

May 15, 2013

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

[kitchenbug-your-recipe-appears-here-9649]

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…?

 

Filed Under: Baking and Desserts, Sponsored/Commissioned/Ad

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About Ren

Ren Behan is a British-born food writer of Polish descent. She is a mum to three young children (13, 10 and 5) and spends lots of time with them in the kitchen. Ren writes about seasonal, family-friendly food on her blog www.renbehan.com. She also contributes recipes and articles to online and print food publications, such as Food52.com, GreatBritishChefs.com, Huff Post Food and JamieOliver.com. She holds a Diploma in Food Journalism with Distinction and has completed a Food Styling course at Leiths School of Food and Wine.

Ren’s cookbook, Wild Honey and Rye: Modern Polish Recipes, draws upon her Polish heritage and regular travels to Poland.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. kellie@foodtoglow says

    May 21, 2013 at 7:07 am

    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. Hannah Jade says

    May 18, 2013 at 3:50 pm

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

    • Ren Behan says

      May 19, 2013 at 7:00 pm

      Exactly what I did, Hannah! x

  3. Laura@howtocookgoodfood says

    May 17, 2013 at 7:32 pm

    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!

    • Ren Behan says

      May 19, 2013 at 6:59 pm

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

  4. Denise @ magnoliaverandah says

    May 16, 2013 at 1:02 am

    What a great looking slice – I am very tempted! Love that coffee machine too.

    • Ren Behan says

      May 19, 2013 at 6:58 pm

      Thank you Denise x

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