The recipe is... Coffee Squares!

You might think I am describing nerds who talk about coffee way too much, but I'm not. Instead, coffee squares, or mocha bars, as we sometimes call them, are the latest "oh, this is so good, I have to share the recipe" treat at the Blue Hill Inn.

Coffee Squares
As suggested by the Summer Inn Bed and Breakfast in Haines, Alaska

Cake
½ cup butter
1 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
¼ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ cup hot coffee

Frosting
1 ½ cups confectioners’ sugar
1 tablespoon cocoa
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ cup melted butter
Cold coffee

In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar together. Add egg and vanilla extract, and mix well. Into a separate bowl sift flour, salt, and baking powder. Alternately add flour mixture and hot coffee to the creamed mixture. Mix well and pour batter into a 9-inch square pan. Bake in a 350° oven for 30 minutes.

Into a small bowl sift together confectioner’ sugar, cocoa, and salt. Pour in melted butter, and add the cold coffee one tablespoon at a time, mixing well, to make a spreadable icing. Frost the cake when completely cooled. Serves 9.
We of course use our Carrabassett Coffee Company organic coffee, which makes the squares especially delicious.

Guests have been hiking to Barred Island, climbing Blue Hill Mountain, jogging past the country club, kayaking in the bay and in Stonington and in Castine, biking all over, swimming in Walker's Pond, and wondering about town. All of which is to say, you can indulge in coffee squares and pancakes at breakfast (with an extra slice of bacon!) and pillow chocolates and still fit into your work clothes when you head home from vacation.

I've started a little collection of silly Maine art. A bright red lobster on a bright blue car is my idea of a color scheme!

If you aren't having a colorful season, come visit us! The blueberries are mighty blue, and so is the sky, and so is the water...