CreativeFlux

Coffee Cake

December 16th, 2006

I’ve got another nice recipe here that I actually used today as it happens. It’s basically a spin off of a Victoria Sponge with a few tweaks here and there to turn it into what, for me, may be one of the best cakes ever…

Coffee Cake…

This is a tad more complicated than the Oat Crunchie recipe I wrote up a week or so ago, but it really is worth it…

Ingredients

For the sponge

• 3 eggs
• 3oz / 75g brown sugar (castor is okay too)
• 3oz / 75g self raising flour

For the coffee essence

• 4 tsp (20ml) of instant coffee powder
• 2 tbsp (30ml) of hot water

For the icing

• 2oz / 50g butter or margarine
• 4oz / 100g icing sugar

Method

First… the coffee essence

This is what will flavour the sponge and also the icing so it’s important to do this first. It’s actually extremely straight forward. Place the 4 tsp’s of coffee in a cup and mix in 2 tbsp’s of hot water. Continue to stir until all of the coffee has dissolved.

Second… the sponge!

1. Grease two 7 inch/18 cm round, shallow cake tins. Grease and then line with greased, grease proof paper. (Try saying that 3 times fast!)
2. Place the eggs, sugar and half of the coffee essence in a heat proof bowl over hot water. Whisk continuously until thick and creamy and the whisk leaves a trail. (This may take up to 10 minutes of whisking so be patient).
3. Sift the flour into the whisked mixture and fold in gently using a metal spoon. It’s important to do this gently to keep as much air in the mixture as possible. More air means a lighter sponge.
4. Divide this mixture into the two cake tins, then place in a hot oven (on the top shelf) and bake for 10-15 minutes at 200C / 400F or Gas mark 6.
5. When cooked, turn out onto a wire rack to cool.

While the sponges cool, make the icing…

1. Cream the margarine in the bowl and then gradually add the icing sugar, continuing to mix into a lovely thick, creamy texture.
2. Add in the other half of the coffee essence and continue to mix until combined.

And finally…

When the sponges are cool place one on a plate, smear the icing evenly over the sponge and then press the other sponge down on top (not too hard.. just to let some of the icing ooze out a bit). Sprinkle icing sugar and some more coffee lightly over the top of the cake.

If all went well you have a delicious coffee cake that looks like the images above! Now go forth and eat!!