MAKING OUR OWN EXPRESSO POWDER.- a lovely cup of coffee,

MAKING YOUR OWN ESPRESSO POWDER.-  Got tired of looking all over the place for Espresso Powder for baking and drinks in general so I gave up and decided to take matters into my own hands and produce what I need.  It's been quite a while since I found it at a store, in Las Vegas actually and in Merida what I did was get Espresso Coffee Pods from a Mexican Brand Los Portales or something like that, toast it and proceed. My measure was a pod and it served its purpose when I made Tiramisu. In CDMX I figured the problem would be non-existent but along with Kosher Salt (another impossibility which I can't understand) have been quite the search mission.
     This brings me to today's little project, come up with a decent alternative I can have on hand for whenever the inspiration hits that won't evolve into an all out do-or-die challenge, so here goes:

1. Like most of my endeavors, I do lots of research to come up with alternatives so this time I found that espresso powder comes from ground, brewed and dried coffee beans! Bingo! Lots of ideas, right? So I made some espresso coffee and once I enjoyed a lovely cup of coffee I set aside the leftover espresso grounds....
2. Took a hotel pan and lined it with aluminum foil, I would have used parchment paper but didn't have it at the moment, so just plain foil will have to do. I spread the grounds over the pan to make a thin layer, try to get as little liquid as possible in there. 
3. Turned the oven to the lowest setting, for mine it said 160 F but my oven thermometer said it was closer to 200 F, so took that into consideration, so keep an eye on things, ok?
4. Using the timer on my cell phone I set it for 30 minutes and put the pan in the oven. I would check it in 30 minutes and see how much it had dried.
5. After 30 minutes I checked the coffee grounds and found they were still humid, not a lot but certainly not dry. So I left the pan in the oven and reset the timer for another 30 minutes. No, I would not raise the temperature, I wanted the grounds dried out but not roasted or they would taste burnt. So low temperature and keep an eye on them. Another 30 minutes will make 2 hours, will check back. Guess an additional 30 minutes are needed but it's very close.
6. It took 2 1/2 hours until I could get a completely dry powder. Removed it from the oven, cooled it and placed it in my coffee / spice grinder. Ground it really fine and placed it in a baggie, pressed all the air out and sealed it. I have Espresso Powder.

    Now that I have Espresso Powder you might be thinking, now what? What's this good for that it would make all this worth it? Here are a couple of suggestions:

Mocha Chocolate Icebox Cake: An amazing dessert that is very easy to make, requires no baking so you can put it together, chill and be ready to serve, plus impress your guests too. 

2 cups cold heavy cream 12 ounces Italian mascarpone cheese 1/2 cup sugar 1/4 cup coffee liqueur, such as Kahlua 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder 1 teaspoon instant espresso powder 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract 3 (8-ounce) packages chocolate chip cookies Shaved semisweet chocolate, for garnish

Mix all ingredients except the last 2. Put in a bowl and whip until peaks form, slowly increasing speed. In your mold, can be lined with parchment or film, place one layer of cookies, follow with a thin layer of the whipped cream, alternating layers and finishing with a cream layer. Chill or freeze (but thaw before serving) and top with the chocolate shavings. Serve.

You can add Espresso Powder to any chocolate baked good to bring out even more flavor; sear scallops; put on steaks with other spices as a rub; cookies, brownies, etc.