Welcome!

Welcome to Simple Fare, Fairly Simple. This is a place for me to post recipes of all kinds...along with other miscellaneous fodder from my so-called life here in the south. Who knows what you will find here. Could be anything from my husband...known as IT Guy...to my kids and beautiful grandbabies that are growing up way too fast right before my eyes. But...mostly this will be a place for food. I hope you'll see something you like and if you decide to try something from the list...leave me a comment and let me know!



Friday, September 24, 2010

Pretty-Close Mocha Frappachinos

Okay....did I find something you coffee frappachino lovers are going to enjoy. For those times when you can't make it to your favorite coffee house....or you're up late at night and need something to keep you going.....or your hair is in a tangled mess from a bad night's sleep and you're too embarrassed to be seen in public...or because you missed out at the big sale at Macy's....try this recipe for a good substitute.


Pretty-Close Mocha Frappachinos

For the coffee ice:
2 cups leftover coffee
3 tablespoons sugar

Combine coffee and sugar and freeze in an ice cube tray. (I don't have ice cube trays so I used my granddaughters Popsicle mold.)


For the chocolate syrup:
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 ounce milk chocolate, finely chopped (I've used chocolate chips...worked fine. I also used a milk chocolate candy bar...also worked great.)
1 1/2 teaspoons honey
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract


For the frappes:
1 cup milk
Whipped cream, for topping

Directions:

Make the coffee ice:
Stir the sugar into the coffee until dissolved. Pour into a 16-cube ice-cube tray and freeze until solid, about 3 hours or overnight.

Make the chocolate syrup:
Combine the sugar and cocoa powder in a saucepan and slowly whisk in 2/3 cup hot tap water. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, whisking, until the sugar dissolves, 3 to 5 minutes; do not boil. Remove from the heat and stir in the chocolate, honey and vanilla until smooth. Transfer to a bowl and refrigerate until cool. (I put the pan in my kitchen sink sitting in cold water and ice.)

Make the frappes:
Puree 8 coffee ice cubes, 1/2 cup milk, 1/3 to 1/2 cup chocolate syrup and 1 cup plain ice in a blender until smooth. Pour into 2 glasses, then repeat to make 2 more drinks. Top with whipped cream and more chocolate syrup.

For an extra special treat....I drizzled the inside of my glass with some of the chocolate syrup along with some caramel syrup. Yum!

Here's the stuff....
Chop, chop...

...stir, stir....

...add chocolate and stir, stir...

.....blend, blend....

...drink, drink!!