Coffee Butter Cake … from The Australian Heritage Cookbook
Deeba @ PAB
“I have measured out my life with coffee spoons.”
T. S. Elliot
If you’re looking at making a comforting cake, to enjoy with a cup of coffee, or maybe to gift, or then just for the kids to snack on…& are kind of short on time, look no further. Is hard to believe the ease of making this cake, quite similar to a pound cake in all respects, but just much simpler to put together. It’s as simple as mixing the dry ingredients together, then adding all the wet ones in & beating till smooth. The result is amazingly delicious. If coffee is not your cup of tea, substitute it with grated chocolate & chocolate chips, or cinnamon, or chocolate chips & walnuts…whatever!This is my new favourite choice of cake which is currently jostling for first place with the original pound cake that I often make. Of course it’s buttery, like a good coffee cake should be, living up to its very name. Still not more buttery than a pound cake. Just right for that ‘occasional indulgence’!
Going back to the handful of days spent vacationing in Sydney, where a significant part of our time went in taking care of my daughter who fell ill, & therefore, me reading cooking books. (If you are wondering what I am talking about…you can find it here/here/here & here as part of my Sydney travelogue). This was another recipe I bookmarked from an interesting book called ‘The Australian Heritage Cookbook’. Of course it was the coffee in the title of the recipe that caught my eye…& this turned out to be an out & out delicious cake.
COFFEE BUTTER CAKE from The Australian Heritage Cookbook, pg 104. I’ve added my notes/changes at the bottom of the recipe. Ingredients: Self-raising flour – 1 1/4 cups Brown sugar – 3/4 cup Coffee – 2 tsp Butter – 90 gms; melted Cream – 3 tbsps (I use 20% low fat cream) Eggs – 2 Chocolate – 100gms; melted Slivered almonds for the garnish Method: Place flour + sugar + coffee in a bowl & mix. Stir in melted butter + eggs + cream & beat till smooth. Pour into a loaf tin & bake for 35-40 minutes. Cool. Gently spread chocolate over the top & sprinkle slivered almonds. Allow to set. Notes: I doubled the recipe & made the cake in a 12 cup greased & flouredbundt tin. I substituted 1/2 cup plain flour with 1/c cup whole-wheat flour, ie 2 cups flour + 1/2 cup whole-wheat flour.
I added 1tsp baking powder + a pinch of salt for every cup of plain flour. I use 5 tsps of instant coffee granules (medium roast), & 1 tsp of home-made vanilla extract. I melted the chocolate in the microwave with a tbsp of low fat cream to get a firm ganache like topping.
And I leave you with a bunch of colourful pictures my hub took on the last day that we spent in Sydney. The dads took the kids to Koala Park, while we stayed back home to pack & wind-up etc.
