Espresso sub

[faygs]

I want to make the Espresso Granita from "Everyday Italian", but I don't have any espresso. Do you think it would be ok to sub strong coffee, or should I buy espresso for it?
Thanks!


Espresso Granita with Whipped Cream Recipe courtesy Giada De Laurentiis
See this recipe on air Tuesday Jun. 07 at 11:00 AM ET/PT.




Recipe Summary
Difficulty: Easy
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Inactive Prep Time: 5 hours
Yield: 12 servings
User Rating:




6 cups hot espresso
2/3 cup granulated sugar
2 cups heavy whipping cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 teaspoons confectioners' sugar
2 ounces bittersweet chocolate, grated or shaved
Fresh mint sprigs, for garnish


In a 13 by 9-inch glass baking dish, carefully pour in hot espresso and whisk in granulated sugar until dissolved completely. Place dish in freezer and every hour, scrape the mixture with a large fork to create the granita texture. The granita will need approximately five hours to completely freeze. The first time you scrape, the granita will not be frozen solid. You want to start scraping while it's still slushy so that texture of the granita will be even throughout.
Right before serving, make the whipped cream. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer with a whisk attachment, beat the heavy cream until soft peaks. Add the vanilla extract and confectioners' sugar and continue to beat until stiff peaks.

Line up 12 glass Champagne flutes. Place 1 tablespoon of granita in the bottom of each glass. Using a different spoon, spread a layer of whipped cream. Continue layering the granita and whipped cream, ending with the whipped cream. Sprinkle chocolate over the top of each glass. Garnish with a sprig of mint. Serve immediately.

[Judy K.]

Speaking for myself, I would use really strong coffee. But I don't usually make recipes that use espresso, so I'm not the expert. I know you can buy powdered espresso. Even when a recipe calls for powdered espresso, I've substituted a larger amount of a good instant coffee (that's an oxymoron!!)

[Kingwell]

I would just make regular coffee, but use twice as many beans/grounds to get super-strong coffee. For true coffee fiends (like my husband) they could tell a difference, but for a coffee dessert I think it would make a fine substitution.

[Beth]

For most things, they say to double the amount of instant coffee for instant espresso, so making double strong coffee would be a similar substitution. I think that works great where you are adding a little espresso flavor to an overall item. Here, the espresso is the star. It won't be the same, but you'll get the idea. Six cups is a lot of espresso. I'm thinking I'd be brewing a lot of shots.

[indianabrc]

You could always go to the local coffee shop and have them brew you 6 shots.

Brenda

[bobmark226]

I agree with Beth where she says "Espresso is the star." Sure, you could use regular strong coffee, but espresso has a very distinctive caramel-like quality that you'd be losing.

Bob

[Grace]

You could buy one of those stove-top espresso makers (like most Italians have) - they make more than a shot at a time and I think there's a super large sized one too. Even then, you'd probably have to make a couple of batches, but still easier than doing single shots! A whole cup of espresso would probably be about 6 shots - so that would be 36 shots of espresso! :eek:

Here's a picture of the espresso maker I'm talking about:

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B0009K6YCE.01-A1L4LS2KNDBWYV._SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg

[Beth]

I hadn't measured our shots, but I was guessing about 4 per cup. That would still be 24 -- or 12 double shots. I think breathing would be enough to get a coffee fix in the kitchen for a while. ;)
That doesn't sound all bad - maybe I should go make a cup. :p

[Grace]

I guess every machine is calibrated differently, and you probably would have to measure, but a standard shot of espresso is 1-1/4 ounces, and a double shot is 2 ounces.

[faygs]

Thanks for the replies! I'll probably just buy a stovetop espresso maker and some espresso. That way I could use it for the recipe, but also have it in the house to have for a change instead of coffee. I'm probably not going to make the granita for another couple weeks, so I have time. I guess subbing coffee wouldn't be bad, but I'd rather have the real thing.
Thanks again!