Caribou Coffee – Caribou Blend: K-Cup

Caribou is a brand of coffee that I’ve been y earning to try for awhile now. Where I live, we don’t have any of their cafes. Nor can I track down a bag of their beans at any of my grocery stores – except for the K-Cup.

I’m so glad I tried this K-Cup. For a medium roast, it’s actually quite lovely. And this is coming from a gal who typically prefers her coffee to be a darker roast.

This Caribou Blend is very smooth, earthy and nutty. I can smell the nutty-ness and I can taste its nutty-ness. I can also detect a tinge of chocolate. Overall, this is a wonderful K-Cup. I highly recommend it to anyone who’s on the fence of purchasing it. Climb on over the other side and buy a box.

Coffee Smores

A few weeks back, I was thinking of smores. And of course, I was thinking of how that I could bring coffee into the picture somehow. Through much searching and pondering, I came across this recipe.

I altered that recipe into something that I like to call a Coffee Smore. A whole new twist on the classic American smore. This recipe creates coffee flavored marshmallows with a fudge swirl; that are lightly coated in graham cracker crumbs.

These Coffee Smores would make lovely gifts, too. Wrap them up in cellophane bags with a packet of hot cocoa mix and you’re set! They’d also be a decadent dessert to have for a dinner party. All of your guests will be amazed.

Coffee Smores

Recipe was adapted from this recipe.

Makes 30.

• 1 tbsp. instant coffee, dissolved in 1 tsp. water

• 1 package unflavored gelatin

• 1 cup water

• ½ cup granulated sugar

• 1/3 cup light corn syrup

• 1/8 tsp. salt

• 2 sheets graham crackers, crushed (Use store bought or make your own.)

• 2 tbsp. butter, melted

• 1 tbsp. granulated sugar

• 3 tbsp. fudge sauce (The type that you use for ice cream topping. You could also make your own.)

• 2 sheets graham crackers, crushed

Combine gelatin and ½ cup of water in a large mixing bowl. Give it a stir and set it aside.

Combine ½ cup sugar, corn syrup, salt and the other ½ cup of water in a saucepan. Cook mixture over medium heat until the sugar has dissolved. Raise the heat to high and cook until the temperature reaches 240 degrees Fahrenheit on a candy thermometer (also known as the ‘soft ball stage’). Remove sauce pan from heat.

Slowly pour the melted sugar mixture into your gelatin mixture. Using an electric mixer beat on low speed until the two are incorporated. Turn your mixer on high and beat until the mixture is very thick and fluffy. This will take about 15 minutes.

Whip in the 1 tbsp. sugar, butter and coffee. Set aside the whipped marshmallow.

Grease an 8×8 pan with butter or cooking spray. (Or use a silicone pan like I did. Just don’t grease it at all.) Sprinkle in enough graham cracker crumbs to coat the bottom of the pan.

Return to your marshmallow mixture and fold in the fudge sauce. Slowly pour it into your pan. Take your remaining graham cracker crumbs and evenly coat the top of your marshmallow. Allow your marshmallow to sit 6-8 hours or overnight.

Remove your large marshmallow from the pan by dumping to face side down onto a cutting board. Using a sharp knife cut the marshmallow into 30 squares. Taking your remaining 2 sheets of crushed graham cracker crumbs, coat the sides of your marshmallows. This will prevent them from sticking to each other. Enjoy.