While you’ve switched out that coffee maker long ago in exchange for more manual coffee preparation methods, chances are, the good ole coffee pot that served you for so many years is probably sitting in your basement collecting dust. Well my friend, it is time to resurrect it back to its glory. But not for coffee. Oh no, using a coffee maker to make coffee is so 1998. You’re bringing it back to cook with.
Oh wait, you’re not so sure about cooking with your coffee maker? Well, then Katja Wulff is here to quell your fears. She makes everything from testicle tacos (not kidding) to cheese fondue to birthday cakes for cats (again, not kidding) with her coffee maker. Katja’s blog Coffee Machine Cuisine has caught on, both in Swedish and in English.
Maybe it’s no surprise that a woman from coffee-loving land Sweden would put her coffee maker to a creative use, but we wanted to know a little bit more about what fuels the woman behind the Coffee Machine Cuisine craze. She kindly responded to our interview questions and even let us snag a recipe to share with you Sprudge readers who are ready to put your coffee maker to use again.
Viva la coffee maker revolution!
First thing first: Which one are you crazier about, cats or coffee?
Easy, cats! Always cats. I’m not at all a big consumer of coffee. Not for a Swede anyway. But I’ve got a couple of coffee makers though.
What inspired you to start making food in a coffee machine?
I started to cook with my coffee maker in 2009. I didn’t have a kitchen in my student room but since my grandma recently died I had recently inherited her coffee maker. There was a shared kitchen a bit further down the hall but the day I first tried coffee maker cooking I was hung over and extremely unsocial. Since it worked great it soon became a fix idea, what else can I cook with my coffee maker? Back then and there I couldn’t think of many recipes at all…
But here I am, five years and hundreds of recipes later. Me and my boyfriend Dan (he’s the photographer) even got to release a cookbook, the Swedish version of the blog won Food Blog of The Year 2010 and a couple of days ago my own cooking web-show was released. The episodes will get subtitles very soon I hope, but I think you should watch it anyway although I talk Swedish. You’ll get it of course, and even if you don’t speak Swedish at all you’ll get the hang of it. youtube.com/kaffekokarkocken
What was the first thing you ever made?
Noodles and instant soups. After that I continued with different sausage experiments. This is more or less how I learned to cook. When I moved in with Dan I didn’t know for example how long time an egg should cook on the stove. I knew it would take at least 45 minutes in my coffee maker though.
Weirdest thing you have ever made?
Testicle tacos, a birthday cake for my cat (I almost puked of the smell of it), Pig tail soup, Egg Cake, and Pork Knuckles.
Have you ever served food to someone and not told them it was made in a coffee machine?
Last Christmas I was in charge of the candy cooking. Were invited to my sister-in-law’s family for the first time. I brought lots of different christmas candies and people loved them all. Later that evening someone asked me if it was coffee maker cooked and everybody laughed. I said yes and it was followed by an awkward silence. Then they continued laughing. It wasn’t a joke.
What is the usual response when you tell people you cook in your coffee machine?
Most people think it’s hilarious and slightly odd. Some people don’t get it at all.
Do you cook all your food in a coffee machine?
I did it in the beginning when I lived in that dorm. But since it’s more of a hobby now I do it when I have time and feel like it.
Did you really cook a cat in your coffee maker?
Yes! And then I did a pet cemetery thing so now she’s with us again. Everything is back to the way it should be now.
For people that are looking to cook in their coffee maker, what are your top 3 tips?
Only use a spatula that doesn’t scratch the surface of your coffee maker (like a silicone one) whilst frying directly on the heater, don’t fall asleep whilst waiting for food to cook and unplug the coffee maker before washing.
Will any coffee maker do, or is there a certain brand/size that you prefer?
I would say a coffee maker that has a heater that’s not built in like a cave… Haha, I don’t know how to explain it. Look at my coffee maker–the heater is “free” and it’s easy to twist and turn food.
Thanks, Katja!
Ok, great. Now that we have Katja’s basic tips down, let’s get to cooking. How about a nice batch of crispy vanilla waffles to have with your morning coffee? While you won’t get the texture of regular waffles by cooking them on the coffee maker, you’ll still get a waffle taste, and if you must have the indented texture, Katja recommends using a meat hammer.
Crispy Vanilla Waffles
Time
- That depends on how many waffles you’d like. At least one hour anyway.
Ingredients
(for a whole lot of coffee maker made waffles)
- 75g butter
- 3 dl milk
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 2 tsp vanilla
- 3 dl flour
- 1 dl whipping cream
- Pinch of salt
- Jam and whipped cream for serving
Instructions
Start your coffee maker and melt the butter in the coffee maker carafe. Whip the cream so it thickens just a bit in one bowl and mix all the other ingredients well in another. Add cream and butter into this bowl and mix smooth.
Grease the coffee maker heater with butter and pour batter onto it. Cook until crispy and turn. Repeat with the rest of the batter. Turn off your coffee maker.
Serve for example with delicious cloudberry jam and whipped cream.
Anna Brones (@annabrones) is a Sprudge.com staff writer based in Paris and the founder of Foodie Underground. Her cookbook is due out next year from Ten Speed Press. Read more Anna Brones on Sprudge.
