I know that St. Patrick’s Day is right around the corner and I should probably be posting about that, but the thought of making some green-frosted cupcakes or Irish soda bread or shamrock cookies just didn’t inspire me, despite the fact that I’m a ‘Boyle’.
Yes, I’m told there’s even a town in Ireland called Boyle, but even that didn’t sway me to participate in the “kiss me I’m Irish” fun surrounding the day. I have been known to imbibe green beer when offered on March 17, but don’t ask me to be the one to add
the food coloring; it’s against my principles. So I opted to hold off on the St. Patrick’s Day celebration until next week, and decided to make one of my favorite comfort desserts, crème caramel, instead. This one is flavored with coffee — instead of using instant espresso
powder to flavor it though, I infuse the milk and cream base with whole coffee beans, which keeps its ivory color intact and gives it a lovely, subtle coffee flavor that pairs wonderfully with the sweet caramel. I guess, if you wanted, you could add some Bailey’s Irish Cream to the custard and serve it after your corned beef and cabbage dinner on the 17th. Just don’t color it green.
