Celebrate Good Times

On the occasion of today’s celebration, I had to return with a fresh treat of coffee wisdom. As I recently discovered, the United States has devoted national food holidays to every day in the calendar ranging from curiosities like National Bicarbonate of Soda Day (December 30th) or National Brown-Bag-It Day (May 25th) to the amusing National Pizza with the Works Except Anchovies Day (November 12th) or Kitchen Klutzes of America Day (June 13th). April 7th is American National Coffee Cake Day – very suitable for this blog.

However, unlike the name suggests, this holiday for cake connoisseurs is dedicated to a special kind of cake served alongside, rather than baked with, this wonderful hot beverage. Yet, I would never rule out the option of using coffee as an ingredient of course.

For someone who can always find a good reason to bake, National Coffee Cake Day provides the perfect incentive to cast an eye over the historic correlation between coffee and coffee cake. After all, can you think of any better complements than those two?

Just like the British value their tea time, many countries around the world cherish the tradition of an afternoon coffee break. In Germany, particularly women enjoy a so-called “Kaffeeklatsch” – getting together for a coffee-and-gossip break in the afternoon that is typically accompanied by a slice of cake. In recent years, however, the afternoon coffee break has been driven to near extinction by ever more busy and long work days. Without a doubt, such development is connected to the increasing popularity of coffeehouse chains in today’s to-go culture, responding to the demand for a quick caffeine boost at virtually any time of day for everyone whose time is precious and limited. Consequently, quiet coffee breaks with family and friends tend to fall solely on Sundays in many, foremost European, countries these days.

The history of coffee cake itself is rather difficult to trace back: This typically single-layer cake evolved over the centuries with ties to a variety of baked goods, including Christmas fruit cakes, ancient honey cakes, French galettes and Danish pastries. Cross-national movements of people have significantly contributed to the spread and changes of coffee cake recipes. Dutch, German and Scandinavian immigrants are believed to have introduced the concept of coffee cake to North America where it was gladly received and refined over time.

Nowadays, numerous variants in the shape and form of coffee cakes include bread, bundt or tube pan shapes, as well as ingredients of honey or maple syrup, fruits and nuts, spices, yoghurt, streusel or crumbs. Whilst many American streusel cake recipes give instructions for cinnamon and brown sugar swirls in the center of the cake, such a use of the term is misleading. The German word “Streusel” actually refers to cake crumbs (generally made from a combination of butter, sugar, flower and cinnamon if desired). In this way, what is widely believed to be crumb cake in the United States is in fact streusel cake. In the end, though, the correct name of individual coffee cakes is irrelevant considering that they are all equally delicious – and preferably enjoyed with coffee.

So, what’s better than celebrating this day accordingly by indulging in a scrumptious slice of coffee cake and a cup of steaming coffee? To try something new and different, I recommend this easy-to-make family recipe for “Babovka” – traditional Czech coffee cake.

Babovka

Ingredients:

• 2 cups flour
• ¾ cup icing sugar
• 2 ½ teaspoons vanilla sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 3-4 eggs
• 200ml whipping cream (not whipped)
• For variation: add coconut flakes, cocoa or raisins, or alternatively glaze with chocolate

Preheat oven to 175°C. Generously butter a bundt cake pan (22cm) and lightly dust with flour.

Combine eggs and cream in a bowl and mix well. In a separate bowl, combine flour, icing sugar, vanilla sugar and baking powder. Add to wet the ingredients and mix well. Add suggested ingredients as desired.

Pour batter into pan and place on a baking sheet in the center of the oven. Bake about 50-60 minutes or until a tester inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Cool cake in the pan for 5 minutes. Turn out onto wire rack and cool completely.

Lightly dust with icing sugar before serving. Enjoy!

Features: Gloria Jean’s Coffees

There are special acquaintances you never forget – you almost instantly take them into your heart where they leave an unfading impression no matter how much time goes by.  Maybe you’re thinking of an old friend or relative right now. However, such characteristics do not exclusively apply to human beings. I have something slightly different in mind: a coffeehouse.

When I walked through Prague this past summer on a sightseeing trip with my friends, the most unexpected thing happened: Just outside the metro station below Prague castle, I suddenly found myself in front of a Gloria Jean’s store. I could hardly believe my eyes! But as C.S. Lewis says, miracles happen totally out of the blue.

Such a sudden outbreak of excitement probably requires a little explanation: My admiration for Gloria Jean’s dates back long before I’d even known of the existence of Vanilla Lattes. I still have fond memories of a summer in Australia; up to this point the first and only time I encountered this exceptional brand. Yet there I was, in the heart of Europe with absolutely no kangaroos in sight, facing the recognizable logo of a hand holding a steaming coffee mug. Still widely unknown in the Old World, this coffeehouse is finally expanding – it’s time for a feature on Gloria Jean’s Coffees.

Like most global coffee chains, Gloria Jean’s Coffees started out in the United States. In 1979, Gloria Jean and Ed Kvetko opened a café and gift shop in a small town near Chicago. Their business concept of selling quality gourmet coffee proved successful and shortly after, Gloria Jean’s Coffees appeared all over the country. Until this day, the brand has maintained its focus on high quality coffee and teas. And this is exactly what distinguishes it from the competition: aside from a range of beverages, snacks and desserts, you’ll find an impressive selection of coffee beans, from classic roasts and blends, like Colombian Supremo and Italian Espresso, to flavored specials, like Chocolate Macadamia or Irish Crème. In the United States, seasonal treats actually include combinations like Caramel Apple Nut, Chocolate Raspberry Truffle and Southern Pecan Pie. You don’t even need to be a caffeine-addict like me to indulge in such a coffee heaven; many blends are also available in de-caf. 

No wonder Nabi Saleh and Peter Irvine, two Australian businessmen, fell in love with the brand when they visited the United States in 1995. As a result, Gloria Jean’s traveled around the world to Australia, which soon became its fastest growing market. Within eight years, gourmet coffee stores were established in every state and territory of the red continent. Indeed, Gloria Jean’s was a rather frequent sight during my stay in Brisbane in 2005 with stores on seemingly every street corner. But as we know very well, successful coffeehouses of today extend far beyond the high street. Books and coffee go together like hot cocoa and marshmallows – best demonstrated by the collaboration of Barnes & Noble and Starbucks in the United States. Whilst Seattle’s Best Coffee is featured in American Borders bookstores, the cooperation partner in down under is no other than Gloria Jean’s Coffees.

In this way, a little café from Chicago has turned into Australia’s largest specialty coffee retailer; it is now represented in more than 40 countries counting some 900 outlets worldwide – and still expanding.

Nabi Saleh has created an empire with the vision to make Gloria Jean’s Coffees the “most loved and respected coffee company in the world”. And this is where the factor of uniqueness – the true secret to success – lies. After all, countless coffee chains populate the planet these days. What sets this particular brand apart from Starbucks and numerous other – often copy cat – businesses? Where the world’s largest coffee company is sleek and stylish, Gloria Jean’s feels like home, perfectly complying with its idea of a “Gloria Jean’s Family”. Without a doubt, the cafés give the impression of a comfortable living room: kept in warm colors of chocolate-brown, orange and red, their leather benches, squishy chairs and dark wood coffee tables surrounded by beautifully decorated walls with bookshelves, coffee beans and oversized bedside lamps invite you to sit back and relax.

The ideal environment to enjoy one of Gloria Jean’s lovingly prepared drinks – visibly from the heart! In the UK earlier this year, various large coffee chains carried the same seasonal special originating from Australia: the “Flat White” – an extra-creamy milk/espresso drink topped with a foamy heart. At Gloria Jean’s Coffees, however, such a visual treat has always been a standard feature of all hot beverages. The secret lies in the way the coffee is prepared. Whereas most coffeehouses strictly follow a sequence of flavored syrup/steamed milk/espresso, Gloria Jean’s finishes off with steamed milk thus creating beautiful shapes of white foam over the dark espresso crema.

Another one of Gloria Jean’s trademarks is originality regarding food and drink items. The White Chocolate Mocha is legendary for it is not made with white chocolate flavor syrup, like in most cafés, but actual white hot chocolate. For research purposes, I returned to my recently discovered Gloria Jean’s coffeehouse in the golden city of Prague and experienced another culinary delight: Crème Brulee Latte (espresso, white hot chocolate and caramel) with a slice of gingerbread plum cake – a delicious fall treat with a hint of Christmas. Additional fun is guaranteed with the choice of toppings to customize your beverage however you please: besides the usual milk, cocoa and vanilla powder, there are rainbow sprinkles, honey, caramel sauce and marshmallows – free of charge.

If you are already familiar with Gloria Jean’s Coffees, you can hopefully agree with my little introduction. But if you have never had the pleasure of coming across an outlet of Australia’s largest coffee company – keep your eyes open. It is finally expanding in Europe – maybe you’re lucky enough to spot one yourself soon. Give it a go. You won’t be disappointed!

The Vanilla Latte Project

I still remember my first visit to a Starbucks coffeehouse as if it were yesterday: The variety of caffeinated drinks – hot and cold with numerous modifications available in strangely named sizes – seemed a little overwhelming. Fortunately, a daily customer with expertise acquired over many years of coffee drinking was by my side. “I recommend the Vanilla Latte – that’s what I always get.” And this was the beginning of true love.

When it comes to food and drinks I’m very much a repeater. Once I find something I like, I tend to get the same thing every time. In this way, it’s self-explanatory why I always order a Starbucks Vanilla Latte wherever I go – only ever so often falling for a seasonal drink in a bold moment.

On another dull day in the library during revision last May, my mind slipped away from Financial Accounting (hard to imagine but it does happen occasionally) to a far more enjoyable topic: coffee. How wonderful would it be to drink authentic Vanilla Latte every single day whilst saving time and money by avoiding a trip to the nearest coffeehouse? There has to be a student-friendly way to create the perfect recipe for my beloved flavored coffee! And by student-friendly, I’m thinking of something like a water boiler, a microwave and a French press instead of a thousand dollar deluxe coffee machine. Bring on the challenge!

First of all, it is necessary to understand every detail of a product in order to reveal its secret. Where else to start than with the beverage nutritional information as available on the Starbucks website? While looking at endless lists of trans fats, sugars and carbohydrates, something caught my attention: the amount of caffeine per drink was not in proportion to the drink’s size. My obvious reaction was to get out a calculator and do a little bit of math. The result was rather puzzling – instead of receiving the exact espresso/milk ratio I noticed discrepancies across the Starbucks range of beverages. To demostrate, a tall Vanilla Latte has 6.3 mg of caffeine per ounce compared to 9.4 mg of caffeine per ounce in a grande Vanilla Latte and 7.5 mg of caffeine per ounce in a venti Vanilla Latte. Sharing one name, you would expect them to be the same drink regardless their size, wouldn’t you? Then how come espresso/milk ratios differ? To avoid sleepless nights, I consulted Starbucks UK customer service right away. Instead of prosecuting me for the attempt to reveal the company’s coffee secret, Starbucks provided me with insightful information:

The variations in caffeine per ounce which you have identified are a result of the varying ratios of milk to espresso across our drink sizes. A tall latte is made with one shot of espresso, while both a grande latte and a venti latte are made with two shots of espresso. Accordingly, a tall latte has 75mg of caffeine in a 12oz drink, while both the grande (16oz) and venti (20oz) have 150mg of caffeine. While we do aim to make our drinks taste as consistent as possible across the sizes, the exact proportion of milk to espresso does vary.

Aha! A tall Vanilla Latte is therefore very milky whereas a grande has the highest amount of caffeine. “I’m so tired, I’ll take a venti.” – is consequently no longer a valid excuse to be greedy. The largest cup of Vanilla Latte at Starbucks contains just as much espresso as the medium cup. If you are desperate for the boost, it might be more sensible to settle for a grande or order an extra shot of espresso in the future.

Since Starbucks customer service had turned out to be extraordinarily approachable and friendly, I felt encouraged to make further enquiries regarding my project – an approach of which my sister disapproved. “It’s not an actual experiment if you ask for the recipe first,” she told me, “That’s as if Newton had asked in what direction the apple would fall and how fast it would be before formulating the Law of Gravitation.” Well, maybe. But then again, Newton hadn’t actually been contemplating gravity when walking through the garden. The fall of the apple may have triggered his theory; nevertheless, it was merely the coincidental side product of a different action. I, however, have no intention of accidently stumbling over a Vanilla Latte recipe whilst, say, drinking White Chocolate Mocha. On the contrary, I know exactly what I’m looking for and nothing else shall get in my way. If stalking Starbucks customer service is what it takes to bring my latte to perfection – so be it. After all, it works!

Thorough research was followed by a shopping trip to a local Starbucks coffeehouse for all necessary ingredients, several guinea picks were being volunteered to help dispose of the unavoidable coffee surplus, and thus the project commenced. It was a long process featuring numerous variations of flavored coffee to an extent that almost killed any desire to drink Vanilla Latte again. Ever. Although declared crazy by most of my family and friends, I kept experimenting with the assistance of my poor sister.

Seven liters of latte later, we had finally achieved a satisfying result. The initial goal of reproducing the perfect Starbucks Vanilla Latte might not have been met entirely, but I dare say, the recipe is as close as you can get with French-press-espresso. After all, this little project is not intended to drive away Starbucks’ patrons. Personally, I will most definitely remain a faithful customer, who, however, has identified the ultimate way of using store-sold coffee utensils and ingredients.

With this sweet secret revealed, the next academic year may begin. I am well prepared for long hours in the library because from now on, it will be possible to enjoy home-made Vanilla Latte every single day – feel free to do the same:

Tall Low-fat* Vanilla Latte

Utensils:

• French press
• Milk frother
• Measuring cups & spoons

Ingredients:

• 10 ounces (300 ml) hot semi skimmed milk
• 3,5 teaspoons (ca. 20 ml) Starbucks Vanilla Syrup
• 2 tablespoons (30 ml) espresso (Starbucks Espresso Roast – Bold)

In a French press, pour 6 tablespoons (90 ml) of hot – not yet boiling – water over three tablespoons of ground espresso beans and let sit for 10 minutes (makes about two servings of espresso for an extra shot or another cup of Vanilla Latte).
In the meantime, pour syrup into a cup. Add hot milk, stir well and froth as desired.
Add Espresso to milk mixture and stir well. Enjoy!

*Starbucks drinks are available in numerous variations, including four different types of milk: whole fat (=standard), semi skimmed, skimmed and soy. You can therefore customize the recipe according to your personal preferences.

Say my name! Say my name!

When I was first introduced to Starbucks in the United States in 2006, I found it most intriguing to discover that there was a coffee shop where you got high quality coffee with a personal touch. You ordered your favorite drink, told the barista your name and then got an individually customized beverage personally addressed to you. Somehow, having your name written on your drink makes the Starbucks experience even more special.

But I accidentally took it for granted that this was the place where they knew my name regardless of what strange drink I came up with.

A year later, I went to England and my coffee bubble burst. Nobody asked for my name the first time I ordered a drink at a Starbucks in beautiful little Canterbury. Instead, the barista took the time to correct my order of “a tall vanilla latte (emphasis on the “e”) to go, please”. The lady’s very British response was “Actually, it’s a ‘vanilla laaa-tte’ and it’s not ‘to go’ – it’s ‘to take away’”. Apparently, an American accent is not universally appreciated after all.

This is how I started paying attention to the coffee company’s culture worldwide. Whenever I went to a new Starbucks coffeehouse in a different country, I made a mental note as to how my order was received. After fruitful talks with my perceptive and almost-as-Starbucks-obsessed friends, I came up with the following observation:
In Austria, the Czech Republic, Australia and most parts of the United States – mainly on the West Coast – you can count on your Starbucks cup being personally addressed to you. Whereas in Germany, the United Kingdom and France, the baristas couldn’t care less about who you actually are. Of course, this is no scientific study leaving out lots of countries but I notice a general tendency: There is no consistent thread throughout the customer service culture of the Starbucks coffee company. 

How come we find varying levels of anonymity around the globe? Can we trace this back to individual countries’ national identity and culture? Maybe traditional features of different nations have left their mark on our coffee? While lots of western European states tend to be rather reserved and impersonal, the United States and Australia – both countries known for their people’s out-going and approachable attitude – enjoy being on a first name coffeehouse/customer basis. I could even go as far as to claim that there is a noticeable distinction between East Coast and West Coast within the United States. Hardly intending to fuel the ongoing rivalry, I am, however, convinced that West Coasters are generally more laid-back and fun whilst people from New England remain more serious and… well, European. 

Of course, you might question the point of having your – in most cases misspelled – name on a paper cup. If you don’t exactly have a mainstream name, the barista will almost certainly get it wrong. Personally, my favorite version so far was “Suzzey” on a drink in L.A. once.

There’s also the possibility of someone else with exactly the same name as yours ordering the exact same drink and thus involuntarily causing a mix-up. But what are the odds???

For some, being asked for your name mainly provides endless opportunities to antagonize poor baristas with ridiculous inventions of false names. I remember going to Starbucks with a friend who ordered a strong and manly black coffee for “Optimus Prime”. I give credit to the barista who wrote it down with a straight face.

But whether you prefer to remain anonymous or to have a creative interpretation of your name written on your cup; think about how you’d like to be called out. Who wants to be a “Tall-low-fat-extra-hot-easy-on-the-foam-double-shot-of-espresso-vanilla-latte-to-go”? Besides the fact that such an order is bound to earn you some exasperated looks from other customers and almost definitely causes the barista to twist his tongue, I much rather just be “Susi”. Thank you very much.