The Simple Way To Infuse Coffee Flavor Into Your Bakes

Espresso martinis — the drink of 2022, according to CNN — don't seem to be going anywhere in 2023. And why should they? A little taste of coffee in the hours after you'd be slurping a typical cup of morning Joe is a nice treat. But because we can't drink espresso martinis all day, and switching to decaf in the afternoon isn't gonna cut it, you can always add some coffee to your baking to make sweet treats that have a little get up and go.

The king of all coffee desserts is probably tiramisu, an Italian delicacy made with coffee-soaked sponge, mascarpone, and cocoa. It's so iconic that you can, ironically, even get tiramisu-flavored coffee. There are tons of other coffee-flavored treats out there, however, including mocha cakes, coffee-flavored frostings, coffee cookie truffles, and, of course, coffee ice cream to bridge the gap between breakfast and cocktail hour.

Adding coffee to a baking recipe isn't as easy as brewing a cup and stirring it into your cake recipe, however. All that extra liquid will change the composition of the recipe, which could result in a flat bundt or a broken buttercream. There are a couple of tricks to getting the right flavor from your espresso maker into your dessert without all the extra water, such as adding instant coffee flakes or using dried espresso powders.

There's an easier, cheaper way to make your cakes and cookies coffee-flavored that doesn't involve buying special ingredients, and it takes a cue from cold brew: steeping regular coffee beans overnight in any of the liquids you're going to use in the recipe.

Melanie Wanders, a research and development specialist at King Arthur Baking Company, told Food & Wine that infusing milk or cream when making a panna cotta, flan, or ice cream is a great method if you plan ahead a little. "Steeping whole beans in cold milk or cream (as opposed to crushing the beans and heating the mixture) is a great way to add subtle coffee flavor without changing the color of the final product," she said.

Infusing also works with a sugar solution, according to Wanders. All you need to do is make a simple syrup with equal parts water and white sugar and then steep crushed or whole coffee beans for a night or two (or longer if you want a stronger flavor). You'll have a solution that's perfect for making a coffee glaze, whipping into mousse, adding to a frosting, or soaking your cake to bring it back to life.

For an extra layer of coffee complexity, you could also try making a dry infusion by storing a bundle of crushed beans in your sugar in an airtight container for a few days to impart some of their aromatics into the granules. This method works great with vanilla beans for making homemade vanilla sugar, according to the Food Network. When you're ready to use the sugar, just remove the beans and measure it out as normal. 

In addition to using the sugar in your cake or cookie recipe, you can also toss a few tablespoons of your coffee sugar into the bowl when you're making whipped cream, which is great for garnishing a mocha cake or plopping on top of an Irish coffee.

If you love coffee's flavor, consider making a big batch of your infusions to have around for other uses besides baking. For instance, for a big-kid version of chocolate milk, you can drink your coffee-infused milk alone or add cocoa powder to make a glass of mocha milk. You can also use your coffee milk to make a coffee banana oat smoothie. Extra coffee syrup is great for sweetening your iced coffee or latte for a little extra kick, but it's especially useful for making cocktails. Add some to a white Russian or an iced Mexican coffee. And, naturally, it'll build flavor and complexity in an espresso martini.