A pair of winning recipes from Kona coffee festival

By Wanda A. Adams
Advertiser Food Editor

The cooking competition of the annual Kona Coffee Cultural Festival, Hawai'i's oldest culinary celebration, held in November each year, is always a source of interesting recipes.

Kona Coffee Apple Torte was this year's dessert winner.

But you won't find this recipe there: It's this year's dessert winner, in the nontraditional category, the work of Dianne Weitzel.

Kona Coffee Apple Torte

For the crust:

• 1/2 cup freshly roasted macadamia nuts. Chop in food processor and reserve.
• 1/4 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup fresh medium-roasted Kona coffee beans, ground very fine
• 1/2 cup (1 cube) butter, chilled, cut into pieces
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons chilled Kona coffee (brewed)

For the filling:

• 3 large apples, peeled and sliced
• 1 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon flour
• 1/4 teaspoon fresh grated nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon cloves
• 1 teaspoon Kona coffee, ground very fine
• 3 tablespoons butter, chilled, cut into pieces

For the sauce:

• 1/4 cup espresso coffee (brewed)
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 teaspoon Kona gold coffee liquor

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Chop and reserve mac nuts, cream butter and brown sugar, add flour and ground coffee. Process until mixture is evenly fine-textured, add nuts. Combine vanilla and coffee liquids together, then add them to the mixture processing only until mixed. Turn mixture into pie plate, spread evenly and lightly over bottom and side.

Arrange apple slices around edge of crust-covered pan. Chop some pieces in cubes for center. Combine brown sugar, spices and coffee, pour over apples, dot with 3 tablespoons of butter.

Bake for 10 minutes at 400 degrees. Reduce to 350. Bake 15 minutes more until apple begins to bubble.

Combine sauce ingredients, microwave 3 minutes. Stir until smooth. Chill.

Place puddle of sauce in plate and set torte slice on top of sauce and serve.

Another recipe winner, in the beverage category, was from Miki Van Osdol.

Kona Coffee Nog

• 1 1/2 cups half & half
• 1 1/2 cups coffee liqueur
• 1 teaspoon rum
• 1/2 cup sugar
• Dash salt
• 5 egg yolks
• 3 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1/2 cup pure Kona coffee, finely ground
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg (garnish)
• Dash cinnamon (garnish)

Combine half & half, coffee liqueur, rum, sugar & salt. Cook over medium heat until hot. Blend egg yolks and cornstarch and whisk into hot mixture slowly. Stir for 2 minutes; add butter and coffee cook for one minute. Remove from heat and store in cooler over night. Serve with sprinkled nutmeg.

Another winner was Ke'o Velasquez, who created a complex lamb entree coated with coffee grounds and spices and served with mashed taro, pineapple-peach chutney and wild berry coffee jus.

Merle Wood, a family-run coffee farm in Captain Cook, received the coveted Gevalia Kona Coffee Cupping Competition award. Second place was Aikane Farm and third place was Kona Mountain Coffee.