Coffee cake
My first real cake, made with delicious coffee-flavored buttercream. It was really good, and simple! Because this cake doesn't require leveling, you can simply bake two layers separately, then stack them — a perfect recipe for beginners! :-)
I made my cake with normal instant coffee, but you can also use decaf coffee for same taste, but caffeine-free cake! :-)
Ingredients for 12 portions
- Flour: 85g
- Cocoa powder: 20g
- 4x Egg (200g)
- White sugar: 110g
- Butter: 80g
- Butter: 250g
- Powdered sugar: 250g
- Instant coffee: 5 teaspoons (25g)
- Milk: 60ml (60g)
Step #1: Utensils
- mixer, best standing one
- large bowls
- 2 baking spring forms
- parchment paper
- scissors
- large palette knife
- small palette knife
- large scraper
- cake board
- cake turntable
Step #2: Prepare the spring forms (10 minutes)
Prepare parchment paper circle by placing the bottom part of the spring form on a large sheet of parchment paper, and paint the outline with a pencil, then cut it out.
Then, use the leftover paper to cut long strips of the same height as your form, or fold a large sheet of parchment paper twice or three times, then use a sharp knife to separate each strip.
Cover inner sides of each spring board with butter or oil, then place the bottom parchment paper circle, and finish by placing strips of parchment paper on the form walls.
Step #3: Prepare cake dough (7 minutes)
Beat 4 eggs and all 105g of sugar for about 5 minutes, until the mixture is pale and fluffy.
Then, fold-in gently 82g of sifted flour and 20g of sifted cocoa powder, and when roughly mixed, add 80g of melted butter.
Split the dough into 2 spring forms.
While folding, be careful not to release too much air that was pumped during the beating phase, because it will be needed for the baking!
Step #4: Bake the cake (20 minutes)
Preheat the oven to 180°C (356F), and bake both of the cakes for 20 minutes.
When baked, remove from the oven, and set to cool completely.
Step #5: Prepare the coffee buttercream (10 minutes)
Place 250g of softened (at room temperature) butter in a bowl, and beat it for 4-5 minutes until pale and fluffy.
Stop the mixer, add around half (roughly 125g) of icing sugar, and beat it again until well combined.
Stop the mixer again, and add rest of the icing sugar, then beat again to combine.
Mix 5 teaspoons of instant coffee with 60ml of cold milk, then pour it into the icing and beat for another 2 minutes to well combine, and fluff the cream (not a real scientific term :P)
You can use the vanilla buttercream recipe to make the icing without coffee.
Step #6: Crumb-coat the cake (20 minutes)
Now the fun begins! Place your turntable on a counter, and the cake board in the center of it.
Place and smear a bit of icing on the cake board to prevent the cake from sliding around, then place one of the cake layers in the center of the cake board, bottom-down.
Place a large blob of icing on the cake top, and spread it gently with the small palette knife, make sure to cover as much of possible of the area, also the border (don't worry if the icing falls over, it's good).
Now, place the second layer of the cake, but make sure to place it bottom-up (top of the cake should be on the bottom now, laying on the icing layer) — with this, you won't need to level your cakes, and you will end up with a nice, flat top!
Place small amount of icing on top of the cake, and spread it around to make a super-thin layer of icing and lock the crumbs in, then make the same with the sides, using the part of icing that was sticking out. You don't have to make it even, this step is only to stop crumbs from messing up the real layer of icing later!
Place the cake in the fridge for 15 minutes to let it set, before you ice it for real!
Crumb-coating is performed in order to lock crumbs in place, and prevent them from polluting into the real icing. This step is also making it a little bit easier to ice a soft or crumbly cake, because the super-thin icing layer will be a sturdy foundation for a more smooth and thicker icing.
Step #7: Ice the cake (5 minutes)
Place the cake again on the turntable, then place lots of icing on the large palette knife, and start spreading it all over the sides of the cake. When you're happy with the thickness, clean the large palette knife and rotating the turntable, smooth it out a little to form a rough, column-like shape of the cake.
Then, place a large blob of icing on the top of the cake and using the small palette knife, spread it all over.
Now comes the tricky part: using a scraper, smooth out the sides from bottom to the top until you're happy with the result, then clean the scraper. You should have nicely straight and smooth side of the cake, with a little fence or crown, where it bends into the top of the cake.
Slowly rotating the turntable with each stroke, try to smooth and bend the little fence or crown from outside to the inside of the cake. Be gentle, it's not that hard. After 6-10 steps, you will have a perfectly made top of the cake with nice, clearly visible edge. Or you can smooth the side again a bit, to make a small edge on purpose, it's your decision!
You can now decorate the cake with some chocolate sprinkles or piped cream!
Make sure that the cake, cake board, and the turntable are as centered as possible in order to make a perfect, column-like shape of the cake!
Nutritional value of 1 portion (90g of 1080g total)
|
372.96
Calories (kcal)
414.4 in 100g
16% GDA
|
3.77
Protein (g)
4.19 in 100g
7% GDA
|
36.9
Carbohydrates (g)
41 in 100g
13% GDA
|
29.75
Sugar (g)
33.06 in 100g
28% GDA
|
24.4
Fat (g)
27.11 in 100g
29% GDA
|
14.78
Saturated fat (g)
16.42 in 100g
59% GDA
|
30.0
Sodium (mg)
0.03 in 100g
0% GDA
|
The nutritional information on this site is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding proper nutrition.