Did you know that Ethiopia is one of the top coffee producers in Africa? We’re celebrating their amazing coffee flavours with an elegant dessert (a modern fusion); Ethiopian coffee mousse. What is more decadent than a rich coffee flavour topped with dark caramel and smooth, sweet banana? Topped off with a crisp coffee tuile. Try this coffee mousse recipe.
Sponge the gelatine by adding about 15ml of water to the gelatine mix and set aside until needed.
Combine the milk, brown sugar, and coffee in a small saucepan and heat on medium heat until just warm and steaming – do not boil. Strain the coffee out and mix the egg yolks into the heated milk mixture. Set aside until needed.
In a separate bowl, whisk the egg whites until foamy. Add the caster sugar bit by bit and whisk to soft peaks. Set aside until needed.
In a separate clean bowl, whisk the cream to soft peaks.
Fold the French meringue and the whipped cream into the coffee base. Use a metal spoon and do not knock out all the air. Pour into your serving glasses or serving bowl and allow to set for about 2 hours or overnight.
Place the sugar into a pan and add some water to make the mixture look like wet sea sand.
The trick with making a caramel is that you stir the sugar mixture while it is heating up, but not at all when it starts to boil. All of the sugar granules need to be dissolved before the mixture starts to boil.
On a very low heat, allow the sugar to dissolve and cook until you have a deep caramel colour. Once your caramel is a deep brown colour, add the cream, butter and a pinch of salt. Add the banana slices and turn off the heat.
Place in a clean metal or glass bowl and allow to cool down completely.
Pre-heat the oven to 180°C.
Whip the caster sugar and egg white until foamy. Add the melted butter, coffee and flour. Fold in gently.
Use a silicone mat or line a baking tray with baking paper and spray with non-stick cooking spray. Use a desired cookie cutter and place it on the prepared baking tray. Take half a teaspoon of batter and spread it out in the cookie cutter. If you are using a large cookie cutter, you could use a full teaspoon of batter. Remember, the batter must be spread out very thinly to about 1mm.
Bake for 3-4 minutes or longer if the middle is not yet cooked.
We suggest that you do a test biscuit before baking the whole batch, to make sure you bake them according to your oven. Remember that the biscuit fully hardens upon cooling.
*The cooking time is 30 minutes, with 2 hours to leave the mousse to set.
What if I don’t have Ethiopian Coffee?
Can I have this without the banana butterscotch?
You can replace the coffee tuile with a few crushed nuts for crunch.
