If you’re a coffee drinker, you probably go to Starbucks. There are a few stragglers who still hold out for independent coffee houses and those who prefer the Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf (CBTL) chain. I like Starbucks coffee, but for other drinks I prefer the CBTL menu. If they were on every corner like Starbucks, they’d probably get more of my money. For the Starbucks frequenters, you’ve most likely had a muffin or coffee cake at some point. Everyone has their favorites and everyone agrees that not everything is great. Sometimes it’s only worthwhile when the seasonal goodies are out. In any case, for every commercial baked good produced there is someone wanting the recipe to make it at home. For reasons beyond my comprehension, the Starbucks cranberry bliss bar is one of the most requested clone recipes out there. I think it’s too sweet and not very good, but that’s just me.
Starbucks is now marketing some new African coffees by offering a suitable paired baked good. They’ve done this before, when they had a lemony coffee they would suggest the lemon pound cake. A spice cake to go with the gingerbread latte, and so on. What’s new is that they are now offering recipes for these new coffee-food pairings (via Baking Bites). To get to the recipes, click on “Pairing Coffee and Food” to the right.
The two recipes being offered are Carmelized Apple Pecan Coffee Cake and Chocolate Cinnamon Bread. Never mind that the Chocolate Bread recipe reads more like a cake recipe. I suppose if they market it as a bread people are more likely to justify eating it for breakfast? I’m curious how the mass-produced products compare the home-baked recipe.
You can also look at six African-inspired recipes from Chef Marcus Samuelsson’s new cookbook (he’s the one teaming with Starbucks to come up with these coffee-food pairings).
Totally off-topic, but to the person who is searching for the “olive oil dip for bread macaroni grill“, I would like to tell you that it’s simply olive oil, poured into a dish, topped with freshly cracked pepper. That’s it. I’ve watched them make it at the table, I swear that’s all they do. We like to jazz it up with a couple shakes of salt. It’s really the bread that is outstanding – warm with scents of rosemary, rubbed with more olive oil and sprinkled with salt. Yummy.
Also, “is trader joe’s good” – Yes, it is. It is one of the best places to stock up on frozen foods, although not everything frozen there is worth eating. Now, as for “dog from trader joes” – dude! Your Trader Joe’s sells dogs?? Where do you live and how much are they? I totally want one. Although, the only way I get to bring home another dog is if I happen to find a bag of puppies on the side of the road. T said so. He also specified that I can’t have someone bring a bag of puppies to leave by the side of our street, I have to find them myself. I think he’d give in, though, if I happened to find one in Trader Joe’s. How can you resist being able to say your dog came from there?
Three Dog Kitchen 