Coffee Sauce paired with brownies . . . BLISS!

This recipe is a favorite, from Skagit Valley Fare (1996) by Lavone Newell. (Now sadly out-of-print, but used copies can be found! And frankly, some of the best cookbooks are out-of-print!)

Serve Coffee Sauce over pancakes, waffles, dessert crepes, fresh fruit, chocolate cake, bread pudding, vanilla ice cream or anything else you can think of!

Coffee Sauce

1/3 cup coffee beans, freshly ground
¾ cup boiling water
1 Tablespoon butter
1 ½ Tablespoons flour
½ cup milk
1 vanilla bean, sliced in half lengthwise.
2 egg yolks, beaten
Pinch of salt
½ cup sugar
½ cup whipping cream

Part 1:
The first part of this recipe you may want to make the day before your meal. Or if you are planning to eat the Coffee Sauce the same day you make it, leave plenty of time for chilling, at least 1 hour, before continuing to Part 2.

Make coffee with freshly ground coffee and boiling water. Let coffee cool to room temperature.
Melt butter in a saucepan. Briskly stir flour into butter and slowly whisk in milk. Continue to whisk over medium heat until sauce begins to bubble and thickens.
Add vanilla bean halves.
Stir some of this hot mixture into the beaten egg yolks, and then whisk this into the rest of the hot sauce.
Turn heat down to low, and constantly stirring, cook for 2 minutes.
Remove from heat and stir in room temperature coffee, salt, and sugar. Stir until all the sugar is dissolved.
Chill in refrigerator, at least 1 hour.

Part 2:
Make whipped cream. Do NOT add sugar. Remember, there is sugar in the sauce you have already made that is now chilled. Remove vanilla bean halves from the chilled sauce, and gently fold in the stiffly-beaten whipped cream. I did not have vanilla beans on hand, so I used real vanilla extract. I also tried 3/4 cup whipping cream, since I wanted my sauce to be a bit more fluffy. Experimenting with coffee sauce and whipped cream proportions is quite fun!

If not using immediately, you can refrigerate the sauce up to 2 days in a tightly covered container. Makes about 2 cups of Coffee Sauce. You may want to consider doubling the recipe!

Coffee sauce with waffles . . . a perfect morning!