Too hot to handle?

Has the summer heat made your favorite morning beverage too hot to handle? Try an iced coffee alternative that you can make right at home from The Kitchn. 

Making iced coffee is easy — you do it the night before. And when it's this hot outside, there's no better way to start the day. Get the details, below...

We're recent converts to making coffee at home. Yes, we know, we're not the norm. But we didn't drink coffee every day, it was a nice treat we enjoyed on a break from work, and, to be honest, all the paraphernalia intimidated us.

But in the summer, iced coffee is like the cool, fashionable friend we forgot we liked hanging out with so much. So when our mom recently bought us a little coffee maker (for her own sanity when visiting), we immediately researched the best way to make it at home.

Here's what we learned:

Brew it twice as strong. Our tiny coffee maker filter could hardly hold all the grounds, but we scooped twice as much as we normally would for hot coffee. Since iced coffee is diluted by the ice cubes, this is important. We tasted ours when it was hot and thought, "Yowza." But the next morning, over ice, it was mellow and perfect.

Add sugar while it's hot. As when making sweet tea, you need to add the sugar when the liquid is hot, so that it dissolves completely.

Make it the night before. We poured our sweetened coffee into a glass measuring cup and put it in the fridge, so it was ready to go the next morning.

Add flavor. We stirred in a tiny bit of almond extract (just 1/4 teaspoon for almost 2 cups of coffee). Delicious.

How do you make iced coffee at home? Any other tips?

Blueberry Coffee Cake

Ingredients

• Cooking spray
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup whole-wheat pastry flour or regular whole-wheat flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
• 2 tablespoons canola oil
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup plain nonfat yogurt
• 1 cup fresh blueberries, or frozen and thawed

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray an 8-inch square cake pan with cooking spray.

Whisk together the all-purpose and whole-wheat flours, the baking soda and salt. In a small bowl, stir together the granulated sugar, cinnamon and walnuts. In a large bowl, beat the brown sugar, butter and oil until fluffy. If necessary, use the back of a spoon to press out any lumps in the brown sugar. Beat in the eggs, 1 at a time, beating until fully combined. Beat in the vanilla and yogurt.

Add the flour mixture in 2 batches, stirring until just combined.

Spread half of the batter into the prepared pan. Sprinkle half of the nut mixture over the batter and top with the blueberries, gently pressing them into the batter. Spoon the rest of the batter into the pan, smoothing the top. Sprinkle the remaining nut mixture over the cake, pressing gently. Bake until a wooden toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, about 30 to 35 minutes. Let cool slightly and then unmold and allow to cool completely on a cooling rack. Cut the cake into 2-inch squares.

Source: 

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ellie-krieger/blueberry-coffee-cake-recipe/index.html