Did I already mention that I love coffee? If not – I have days when I could drink coffee every second hour, every time with the same pleasure. I always say “yes” to every new way to prepare this nectar of gods. I’m sure if gods knew that coffee exists they would immediately swap wine with it.

Today though we won’t move so far back to the ancient Greek, only to 80’s. We are moving to my childhood, when my grandma was making kogel-mogel (/kɔ.ɡɛlˈmɔ.ɡɛl/) for me. Without coffee, that’s my own modernization. Kogel-mogel making is time consuming and laborious, so each time grandma was making it I was waiting impatiently until it was ready. But when it was ready (eventually) and you could finally put the first spoon into your mouth – it was like you’ve been sitting on the candy floss cloud.

OK, that’s enough of my childhood memories, I’m sure you’re dying to now what the heck is that kogel-mogel thing? I won’t keep you in suspense any more.

Kogel-mogel it’s a dessert made with egg yolks (very keto) with sugar (not keto at all). Years ago very popular in the Eastern and Central Europe, when such a variety of sweets as we have today didn’t exist. It was also a folk medicine used for treating colds or flu, sore throat and chest colds. It’s something kind of similar to eggnog, but of course with no alcohol.

Why it was so hard to make? (at least for a kid)

Because raw egg yolks and sugar, have to be beaten and ground until they form a creamy texture, with no discernible grains of sugar. And grandma always did it with a teaspoon and small cup. And for me as a kid it was taking ages. In the process of grinding sugar, making multiple moves of your wrist, egg yolks become fluffy and thick. Modern grandma would probably use a blender, but kogel-mogel would lost its charm of impatient waiting. So don’t use blender! Take your time, you can meditate or watch one episode of “The Good Place” and kogel-mogel will be ready.

You’ll probably ask if it’s safe to eat raw egg yolks?

They are super gentle on the digestive system as long as the egg is good quality and fresh. If you are wondering about salmonella – again, fresh raw eggs from a quality source are even less likely to contain salmonella. So, it’s completely safe if you use fresh eggs from a good source. And you’ll get nutritious bomb of vitamins and minerals (A, D, B2, B6, B9, B12, iron, and zinc), omega 3 and 6 fatty acids.

So let’s get to the recipe. For the sake of the keto diet use some kind of sugar replacement like xylitol or erythritol. For those who don’t care about carbs – you can use regular sugar. It’s not healthy option, but everyone needs to comfort themselves from time to time.

kogel-mogel coffee

INGREDIENTS (for one portion)

· about 100 ml hot espresso (I made my using old Bialetti coffee maker)
· 1 ½ tsp regular sugar or 2 – 2½ tsp xylitol or erythritol
· 1 egg yolk

DIRECTIONS

To be on a safe side – pour some boiling water over the egg, it should kill any potential bacteria existing on the shell. Carefully separate egg yolk from the egg white (you can freeze egg white and use them in the future for meringue).

Place egg yolk in a small cup, add sugar or it’s replacement and using a small spoon grind the sugar, making circular motions with your hand. Try to do it quite fast, other way it will literally take ages. Your wrist will be painful but keep going. Egg yolk will get lighter in color, thick and fluffy with time. There should be no sugar grains left. When it’s fluffy, creamy and smooth, means it’s ready.

Now make a portion of espresso. Pour it to the mug or coffee cup and slowly pour kogel-mogel in. The froth will stay on the surface for a long time (even if you stir) giving you the sweetest mustache ever 🙂 Enjoy!