Suddenly I’m a coffeecake fan

Anyone who’s ever looked at my Twitter feed will know I’m a coffee addict. Always ready to share a photo of my cup, preferably with an enticing slice of something sweet beside it.

At home, it’s the taste, aroma and inevitable caffeine buzz which draws me to it. When I’m out there are the additional pleasures associated with a good coffeeshop. Familiar faces, favourite places, spending time doing very little and not for a moment worrying about it. Nothing revives the spirits quite like an hour in a good coffeeshop.

Given all that I should be a fan of coffee cake, but until recently I’ve always been left distinctly underwhelmed. Something I put down to the fact I drink my coffee black and ideally quite strong, whereas the flavour of coffeecake puts me in mind of a cup that’s had far too much milk added to it.

It’s all changed now though. A couple of weeks ago I saw a recipe by Ravneet Gill in the Guardian which has completely changed my mind. Suddenly I’m a coffeecake fan.

This one has more spice in it than the average version, and a combination of the coffee, oil and buttermilk makes for a much softer cake than any I’ve had before. 

In her recipe, Ravneet puts frosting in-between the sponges and on top. I felt in-between was enough so have halved the frosting ingredients. Just double them up if you want to do the top as well.

I should warn, the recipe makes two quite substantial sponges. A combination of the soda and baking powder means they rise very well. If you don’t have many mouths to feed you could probably half the cake ingredients as well. 

Ingredients for the cake

• 2 medium eggs
• 150ml buttermilk
• 150ml vegetable or sunflower oil
• 20g of instant coffee in 130ml of boiling water
• 0.25 tsp ground cardamom seeds
• 100g caster sugar
• 125g light brown sugar
• 3g salt
• 7g baking soda
• 5g baking powder
• 250g plain flour
• 50g grounds almonds
• 80g roasted chopped almonds

Ingredients for the frosting

• 75g white chocolate
• 1 tbsp instant coffee granules
• 50g unsalted butter – softened
• 125g mascarpone
• 75ml double cream
• pinch of salt

Method

• Heat the oven to gas mark 4 and line two 20cm cake tins.
• Whisk the oil, buttermilk and eggs together in a bowl and set aside.
• Brew the coffee in a jug, add the cardamom seeds then set it aside.
• In another bowl stir together the caster sugar, light brown sugar, salt, soda, baking powder, plain  flour, ground and chopped almonds.
• Pour the coffee into the wet ingredients and mix them together. Then tip the combined wet ingredients into the dry ones and stir well to bring them together.
• Divide the batter between the two tins and bake for 35 minutes.
• To make the frosting melt the white chocolate either in a bain-marie or use a microwave in short bursts.
• Whisk the coffee and butter together until soft. Add the mascarpone, cooled chocolate, cream and salt, then beat until well combined.
• Once the baked cakes have cooled add the frosting and enjoy the best coffee cake you’ll have tasted.