I was planning to share some new cake recipes during Christmas 2020. However, I was completely occupied with the Christmas traditional snack preparations and school holidays. Finally, I am sharing one of my recent favourite cakes that received lots of appreciation from my friends who are neighbours. I made this as a 2 layer cake for Jany's birthday last year and we all loved it. However, I was not satisfied with the images that I clicked on that day. Recently I made it again, mainly for the blog post and I am satisfied with the end result. I have shared the step by step video of this recipe without the icing in my Instagram handle and saved it under the highlight "Coffee Cake". Do check it out if you are interested. Also, for more interesting cake recipes, please visit my Christmas Special page.
Ingredients:Plain Flour(Maida) - 1 and 3/4 cups (225 grams)Baking Powder - 1 and 1/2 tspBaking Soda - 1/4 tspSalt - 1/2 teaspoon
Granulated white sugar - 1/2 cup (100 grams)Light brown sugar(firmly packed) - 1/2 cup (100 grams)
Vanilla extract - 1 tspInstant coffee - 1 and 1/2 tblspChopped walnuts - 1/2 Cup
Ingredients at room temperature:Unsalted butter- 3/4 cup (170 grams)Large eggs- 3 (~ 165 grams in the shells)Full fat milk - 1/3 cup (80 ml)For the Frosting:
Thickened Cream/ Heavy cream - 2 Cups
Powdered Sugar or Icing Sugar - 1/2 Cup
Instant coffee granules - 2 tsp
Method:
Initial Preparations:
- Bring the cold ingredients like butter, egg and milk to room temperature.
- Whisk or sieve the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt for even mixing.
- Crack open all the eggs into a bowl. (just to check the quality of the egg)
- Chop the walnuts finely.
- Dissolve the instant coffee in 1 tablespoon hot boiling water.
- Butter the pan and line it with baking paper. (check the notes section for the size of the baking pan)
Steps:
1.Beat/whisk the butter until smooth. Add the brown sugar, white sugar and beat until the mixture is light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time and beat well after each addition.
2. Add the vanilla essence and beat again. With the hand mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture in portions and alternate it with the milk and coffee. While mixing the dry ingredients with the wet ingredients, always start and end with flour. 
3. I had split the entire flour mixture into 3 portions. Added the first portion followed by the milk and then added the second portion followed by the coffee liquid and finally added the third portion of flour. Mix only until combined and fold in the chopped walnuts. (I missed to capture adding the walnuts into the batter)
4. Pour the batter into the prepared pan(11x7x1.5 inch brownie pan) and smooth the top with a spatula. Preheat the oven at 180 degrees Celcius for 10 mins and bake it for about 30 to 35 mins(see notes) or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool it completely before frosting.
Frosting:
- Place the mixing bowl and beaters in the freezer for 15 minutes
- Dissolve the instant coffee granules in 1 tablespoon hot boiling water and cool it completely.
- Remove the bowl from the freezer. Add the thickened/heavy cream, powdered sugar, and instant coffee liquid and beat with an electric mixer for 4-5 minutes, or until stiff peaks form. When the whisk is lifted, the cream holds its shape and will not fall down. (see the below image)
- Just pipe it above the cooled cake as per your interest. Leftover cream can be transferred to an airtight container and stored in the fridge for up to 3 days.
After piping the coffee whipped cream, I sliced the cake into 4 equal portions.(I did this to share it with my friends). Finally, sprinkled with some chopped walnuts and chocolate buttons.
For my husband's birthday, I followed the same recipe and made a layer cake. I used two 6" cake tins and divided the batter equally between the two. Then baked it for 25 to 30 mins in the middle rack. After cooling the cake, frosted it with the same icing.
After frosting, arranged wafers and chocolates in the top. Sprinkle chopped walnuts in the sides. (See the below picture for the layered cake)
Points to remember:
- In Australia, we get the unsweetened dairy whipping cream called as thickened cream and it whips up really well and tastes delicious. In US and some other countries, this is called as heavy cream. A few years back when I was in India, I have used non-dairy whipping cream which we get it in powdered form. I am not sure about the availability of the dairy whipping cream and if you are going to look for that then find a cream with 35-40% butterfat content.
- This cake is mildly sweet, light and spongey. It goes very well with coffee whipped cream or coffee cream cheese frosting. If you are going to make only the sponge cake without icing, then you might need more sugar.
- The baking time varies depending on the size of the pan and quantity of the batter in each pan. For example, once I used an 8" inch pan and baked it for 40 to 45 mins to get one big cake . Also, I have used two 6" inch pan and baked it for 25 to 30 mins and got 2 small cakes. While clicking this recipe, I used a 11x7x1.5 inch brownie pan and baked it for about 30 to 35 mins to get one big cake.
- Egg, Butter and Milk should be in room temperature for best results and follow the exact measurements given in the recipe.
Warm Regards,
Happy's Cook - Divya
No comments :
Post a Comment