flipLate Night Coffee with Cinnamon and Zest
Late Night Coffee with Cinnamon and Zest
Why this dish? Coffee and tea accompanied, it is written, the long working and conversational evenings of the Mendelssohns. For Fanny, who composed more than 460 pieces often late into the night, this spiced coffee was the faithful companion of the hours when music came to her pen.
An old-style coffee, gently infused, enlivened with a cinnamon stick and a lemon zest, lightly sweetened: the drink that stays awake with those who work late.
When the house sleeps and I finally hold my pen, I have them bring me a very hot coffee, perfumed with a sliver of cinnamon and a lemon zest. The night is my hour, you see: that is when the melodies come, docile, without anyone demanding my attention. A sip, a measure; another sip, and the phrase finishes. Without this faithful brew, many pages would never have been born.
- •Freshly roasted ground coffee — two spoonfuls per cup (base)
- •Spring water — in proportion (infusion)
- •Cinnamon stick — one (flavor)
- •Lemon zest — a strip (freshness)
- •Sugar loaf — to taste (sweetness)
- •Cream — a splash (smoothness (optional))
Late Night Coffee with Cinnamon and Zest
An old-style coffee, gently infused, enlivened with a cinnamon stick and a lemon zest, lightly sweetened: the drink that stays awake with those who work late.
Why this dish? Coffee and tea accompanied, it is written, the long working and conversational evenings of the Mendelssohns. For Fanny, who composed more than 460 pieces often late into the night, this spiced coffee was the faithful companion of the hours when music came to her pen.
When the house sleeps and I finally hold my pen, I have them bring me a very hot coffee, perfumed with a sliver of cinnamon and a lemon zest. The night is my hour, you see: that is when the melodies come, docile, without anyone demanding my attention. A sip, a measure; another sip, and the phrase finishes. Without this faithful brew, many pages would never have been born.
Ingredients (period version)
- Freshly roasted ground coffee — two spoonfuls per cup (base)
- Spring water — in proportion (infusion)
- Cinnamon stick — one (flavor)
- Lemon zest — a strip (freshness)
- Sugar loaf — to taste (sweetness)
- Cream — a splash (smoothness (optional))
Ingredients
- Quality ground coffee — 12 g for 2 cups (base)
- Water — 300 ml (infusion)
- Cinnamon stick — 1 (flavor)
- Organic lemon zest — 1 wide strip (freshness)
- Sugar — to taste (sweetness)
- Heavy cream or milk — a dash (smoothness (optional))
Method
- Heat the water with the cinnamon stick and lemon zest, without boiling, to infuse for 5 min.
- Add the ground coffee and let infuse gently for 4 min (in a saucepan or French press).
- Filter into cups.
- Sweeten to taste, optionally add a splash of cream.
- Serve piping hot, with the cinnamon stick as a stirrer.
How it was made : In the 19th century, coffee was often roasted and ground at home, then prepared by decoction or infusion in porcelain or copper coffee pots. Sugar was sold in compact loaves that were broken with tongs. Spicing coffee with cinnamon or zest was common in Central European bourgeois households.
The contemporary twist : Serve it as a 'café concert' in fine porcelain cups, with a small almond biscuit placed on the saucer like a quaver.
Fanny Mendelssohn · Charactorium
