Kenco Caff Free Millicano Coffee - and Coffee Kisses!

That's a jolly weak cup of coffee! (Sssh, don't tell, it's tea!)

The whole subject of coffee is almost as complicated as wine, it seems to me.  People apparently make a career out of coffee in differing ways - not least of which is serving what is (in my opinion, obviously) the best coffee in the world, from Macdonalds.  ~shrug~  Don't look at me like that - have you tried it?  No?  Well then.  Don't diss what you haven't tried.  Those of you have discovered Macdonalds coffee will undoubtedly be nodding and salivating at the very thought.

We have, I admit, driven to Macdonalds just for a coffee, it's that good.

Aaaah, coffee - that's better!

So, when I was offered some of Kenco's new Millicano Caff Free coffee to try, I was initially reluctant but then knowing that the original Millicano wasn't half bad, decided to give it a go.

You know, it's really very good!  ~surprise~  Not bad at all.  I've found that having a caffeine free coffee in the house is a good thing for those moments when you want a coffee but don't want the caffeine hit (like just before bed, for instance).  It's also great for teenagers who decide they'd like a coffee just before bed, too.

Puts a new perspective on the idea of a "cup of coffee" ...

Hubby reckons he can detect a flavour that separates the Caff Free version apart from the original, but I'll be darned if I can.  It's a perfectly acceptable, tastier than your average type of coffee, that I'd be perfectly content to drink.  I wish I'd had this available when I worked in the high pressure environment of a marketing department!  Maybe I wouldn't have suffered so many coffee headaches and palpitations.

The great thing about Kenco Millicano is the combination of instant coffee with finely milled coffee beans, which gives it that "fresh coffee" flavour that isn't quite as good as the "brewed from the bean" stuff, but that gets a lot closer than many.  Amazingly, this quality has been retained in the Caff Free version, which makes it one of the best decaffeinated coffees I've had in a long, long time.

You can find out more about it on its Facebook page, at http://www.facebook.com/kencomillicano.

Hopefully, by now, you know what I'm like and would know that having a tin of coffee would get me to thinking what else I could use it for.

Enter the Coffee Kisses - a small spherical coffee flavoured biscuit/cookie hybrid that is bi-sected by a helping of coffee buttercream and is absolutely gorgeous.

Empty kisses - bring on the buttercream!

Now I can remember my Mum making Coffee Kisses waaaay back when I was a child, probably when we lived in Germany and when she would have used Camp liquid coffee in the baking.

I know I made them once, probably around ten years or so ago.  I can remember this occasion because half way through the process it dawned on me that I didn't have the ingredients to make the buttercream - and we couldn't afford to go out and get them.  So we ate the dry biscuits, which were nice, but not the same.

It occurred to me that we were due to go visit my parents at the weekend and it would be nice to take some of the Kisses with me for them, so that they could have a blast from the past too.

I had forgotten just how easy they are to make (if you've got a food processor, that is!).  Just bung the ingredients for the buttercream in the processor, whizz it a bit and bingo, out comes buttercream.  Next, whizz up the ingredients for the biscuits, portion them out onto a baking tray and bake.

Does it get any easier than that?  I don't think so.

I used the Kenco Millicano Caff Free as flavouring in both biscuit and buttercream - just put the granules into a cup and wet them down with a tablespoonful of hot water.  The flavour was wonderful and the granules dissolved perfectly.  Couldn't have asked for better.

I can confirm that I took a bag of Coffee Kisses to my parents' house - but I didn't bring any back, so I assume that means they went down acceptably well!

The recipe for Coffee Kisses is available from the Be-Ro website here : http://www.be-ro.co.uk/f_insp.htm and I won't reproduce it on the blog as I didn't change it in any way.  If you have any problems accessing the Be-Ro website, let me know and I'll be happy to fetch the recipe for you.

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