The Perfect Late Night Pick Me Up

I have a good friend, Esther, who I would say is an excessive online shopper. Her New Year’s resolution was to stop impulse buying. Although, I completely support her with this, I can’t lie that her impulse buying benefits all. Sure she likes to buy things for herself, but more than anything she likes to buy things for other people. Her top purchases are certainly food.

            So Saturday night, besides venturing out to watch the Vagina Monologues, I was for the most part stuck in my room doing work, anticipating the busy week I had before me. Typically Rally Day means catching up on work, but this year, as a senior, it means a full day of activities. So as I was sitting on my bed trying to figure out what in the world I synthesized in lab, I hear a knock and in walks Esther. In one hand is a box and in the other is a container. I swear she just knows when people need a pick me up (and also she just knows I love food).  In the container is chai mix, as well as, instant coffee packets. Although the packets are completely in Korean, I am pretty sure they say “Ingredients: sugar, sugar, creamer, instant coffee, and more sugar.”

She then opens the box and inside are white and milk chocolate covered espresso beans. The speckled outer shell of the bean was made of coffee-flavored white chocolate and the inside layer was made of milk chocolate. For a college student trying to stay up through the night, eating a cup worth may have been a good idea. For someone trying to go to bed relatively early, not so much. Either way, they are a nice sweet treat that are very simple to make. The only difference between those that Esther purchased and making them yourself is their appearance. It’s harder than it looks to make them into perfect shiny spheres of chocolate, so I am guessing some type of mold would be useful. However, if you are only in it for the taste, the steps are simple. Melt chocolate in a sauce pan, stir in the roasted coffee beans, mix until they are all coated, scoop out a handful with a wooden spoon and use a fork to transfer them onto wax paper. I personally like dark chocolate, but white or milk chocolate is also good (or you can experiment with mint or peanut butter or attempt multiple layers). You also have to decide what type of roasted coffee bean suits you because some are more bitter than others. Once they are cool, you can throw them in an air tight jar and give them to friends as gifts.   

 

 

(I did not take these photos, but I thought they worked well. All of Esther's coffee beans were eaten before I got the chance to take a photo.)