BAKING,  CAKES,  DESSERTS,  LAYER CAKES

Espresso Coffee Cream Cake … Happy Birthday to me!!

2010/11/14 / 102 Comments

“Oh good look its coffee o’clock :))…”
Linda@goodshoeday via twitter

Espresso Coffee Cream Cake How sweet that tweet was, music to my very ears! I saved it the minute I tripped across it ages ago. I’m a 100% coffee person, and it easily wins hands down as my most favourite flavour in sweet stuff; {garlic holds first place for savoury}. The PAB family is a coffee happy one too, and I am glad the kids are big enough to enjoy the odd coffee doused cake. Year after year, when it comes to my birthday, I always have this coffee cake plan in my head, and the day before, I leave a coffee cake sponge to mature beautifully in the fridge. This year was complete madness! My sis is over  from the US with her kids, leaving me hair-brained with no time to plan. So I trashed all plans to bake me a cake…

Espresso Coffe Cream CakeMr PAB came back from work, asked if I had baked me a cake {I ALWAYS DO … because I like to}, and I shook my head in  negative, in despair and tiredness. He said he’d go and get me one first thing in the morning. Just then the lad said he and his sister would bake me one the next morning…”You just sleep late Mama,” he ordered with a twinkle in his eye! {Words like that are enough to give me sleepless nights!}Espresso Coffee Cream Cake

I shot out of bed very early in the morning in sheer fright. My kitchen in their hands, a mess that would be unbelievable, one that I would not be able to shriek about … party pooper, yes that’s me. I was in the kitchen in a heartbeat, and back to my books. First stop was Ottolenghi: The Cookbook, but that didn’t have a coffee cake recipe. Coffee coffee coffee…that was the only mantra in my mind, with a cuppa coffee in my hand! Then I leafed through Indulge, which I reviewed for Blogger Aid a while ago. The options seemed far too involved given the time frame… I had to get the cake into the oven before the kids woke up!

Espresso Coffee Cream CakeMy next stop was this beautiful cake decoration book by Roland Mesniers – Basic To Beautiful  Cakes that I had won at an event hosted by the Daring Kitchen. My Cinnamon Buttercream Autumn Cake cake got me this gorgeous book which landed at my doorstep, with a sweet note from the ‘daring ladies‘,  Lisa of La Mia Cucina and Ivonne of Cream Puffs in Venice! In January this year, I was inspired to bake this Strawberry Bavarian Cream Cake from the book.

Espresso Coffee Cream CakeI reached for the index and got to the coffee pages pronto. A Coffee Genoise Sponge – holy yum! This was just the thing.

About the sponge, the author writes, “Mrs Clinton’s Coffee Genoise … Mrs Clinton loved coffee desserts in every form. The Mocha Cake in my book Dessert University was a favourite. Espresso sorbet, served with a cinnamon whipped cream, was another. I turned to this recipe for Coffee Genoise again and again because it is so versatile, and because the genoise, flavoured with instant espresso powder, takes on a strong, pure coffee flavour.”

Espresso Coffee Cream CakeJust reading the introduction had me walking on clouds, dreaming of coffee nirvana, making me forget everything else but coffee! Pure Coffee Flavour? YES PLEASE! It was even better that my sis had got me a jar on instant espresso powder. I also got a heavy duty angel cake tin {Ahn, I got it, I did!!}, bags of spices from whole foods, chocolate chips, almond meal … never-ending delights, just how I like my goodie bag !  The espresso gave me pure delight, and I had the bowl of water on simmer in no time.

Espresso Coffee Cream CakeIt’s a simple and versatile sponge to make, largely fuss free. It rises thanks to air beaten into it over simmering hot water. Be careful not to release the beaten air as you fold the flour in. The melted butter adds just the right luxury to the crumb… not heavy at all, but moist. It’s a cake we went FAST! Mr PAB didn’t look particularly pleased with the smallish size.

baking galoreThe cake was inspired by a series of bakes I did for a project a short while ago; {will write more about that when and IF it sees light of day}. For the project I made a Kiwi-Strawberry Cream Cake, a Espresso Coffee Cream Cake and a Deep Chocolate with Burgundy Cherries Cake. For two of the cakes I used my trademark scrolls, this time in the lace border again, as it seems to have caught on as my signature style, and I love doing it!

Kiwi-Strawberry Cream Cake, Espresso Coffee Cream Cake,Deep Chocolate with Burgundy Cherries CakeI have to shout out a big thank you to this crazy girl Nachiketa from Crazy Over Desserts, who drove miles down to visit me late at night on my birthday with a cake baked especially for me. A coffee-cinnamon cake, with a chocolate ganache, rum soaked raisins within. A gorgeous cake, with a beautiful card made by her little niece just for me.

Cinnamon Coffee Cake

Espresso Coffe Cream Cake SIMPLE COFFEE GENOISE
Adapted minimally from Roland Meisner’s Basic to Beautiful Cakes, pg 190
4 large eggs {I added and extra yolk because the eggs were a medium size}
1 cup sugar
1 tbsp instant espresso powder
1 cup flour
Pinch of salt
1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled
Espresso Coffee Cream CakeMethod:
Preheat the oven to 190C. Line the bottom and sides of a 8″ spring form round tin. Grease and dust with flour.
In a large bowl, beat the eggs with the sugar over a bowl of simmering hot water for about 5 minutes till thick and mousse like.
Take off water and continue to beat till the mixture cools down, about 5-7 minutes. Add the espresso and beat in again for a minute.
Fold the flour through gently, in 3 goes, lightly till it’s mixed through well. Be careful not to release the beaten in air.
Take a cup of this batter in another bowl, and mix the melted cooled butter through it. Now gently fold this back into the rest of the batter.
Turn the batter into the prepared baking tin, and bake for 30-35 minutes, till a tester comes out clean.
Filling:
1 tbsp coffee dissolved in 3 tbsp water with 1 tbsp sugar
400ml low fat cream
2 tbsp powdered vanilla sugar
1 tsp coffee essence {or 1 tsp instant coffee}
Method:
Whip together till medium peaks form.
Brush each side of the cake with the coffee syrup, and sandwich with the filling. Resrve any remaining cream for garnishing the top.
Topping:
300ml low fat cream
2-3 tbsp vanilla powdered sugar
1 scant tbsp instant espresso powder
Dark chocolate for garnishing
Method:
Whip together until stiff peaks form. Frost the sides of the cake first, and then the top. Garnish as desired.
Espresso Coffe Cream Cake ♥ Thank you for stopping by ♥

~

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A reminder for this months MONTHLY MINGLE. If you are BAKING WITH FRUIT this month, do send it in to Monthly Mingle posted HERE. You have until November 23rd, 2010.

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deeba
Related link: Low Sugar Coffee Cream Cake

About me: I am a freelance food writer, recipe developer and photographer. Food is my passion - baking, cooking, developing recipes, making recipes healthier, using fresh seasonal produce and local products, keeping a check on my carbon footprint and being a responsible foodie! I enjoy food styling, food photography, recipe development and product reviews. I express this through my food photographs which I style and the recipes I blog. My strength lies in 'Doing Food From Scratch'; it must taste as good as it looks, and be healthy too. Baking in India, often my biggest challenge is the non-availability of baking ingredients, and this has now become a platform to get creative on. I enjoy cooking immensely as well.

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102 Comments

  • Meeta

    2010/11/16 at 12:31 pm Reply

    OH my! all three cakes sound decadent and while coffee great – i am the chocolate cake. Sounds very much like what I made last week.

    Cakes aside, my dear friend – HAPPY BIRTHDAY to you! I wish I was around to sit around that table and simply spend a lovely afternoon chatting with you. One day dear Deeba we shall meet again I hope! Love you dear sister!

  • suma

    2010/11/16 at 12:51 pm Reply

    JUST STUNNING!!!! You have got me sighing like anything, yearning for this coffee nirvana, would prefer to have this for lunch now rather than my simple Southie meal:-)). Am gonna bake a coffee cake at the next opportunity(am not sure if I can bake a god genoise though)

    P.S: Have been checking PAB so often to catch a glimpse of ur bday cake.

  • Kulsum@JourneyKitchen

    2010/11/16 at 1:16 pm Reply

    Happy Birthday Deeba. Hope you had a great one. This cake is so beautiful and so YOU to do the trademark scrolls . For me its chocolate but inspired by you I think I shd bake myself chocolate coffee kind of cake this time. The birthday is just a few days around so this recipe shd help 🙂

  • Abhilasha

    2010/11/16 at 1:21 pm Reply

    Wow !!!! simply beautiful cakes, that too so many of them 🙂

    Happy birthday to you Deeba !!!!!

    Have a lovely day 🙂

    P.S. it is funny thing that one gets up early to bake her own birthday cake lol :P…..hehe (but hey ! so worth the effort………. hehe)

  • Magic of Spice

    2010/11/16 at 1:33 pm Reply

    Happy Birthday again lovely…Such gorgeous delights:)
    Espresso powder…wow! Hope you had an amazing day!!!

  • Jamie

    2010/11/16 at 2:11 pm Reply

    Oh Deeba, your cake is as beautiful as you are! HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY darling sister! Your cake is stunning, but then again, I am not quite surprised as you have the baking Midas touch! And coffee? Wow! My favorite flavor, too. I always bake my own birthday cake (albeit a lot less grogeous than yours) and my cake is always chocolate and coffee! I love hearing your tidbits of how much your family love you because you deserve to be loved and pampered like a queen! Happy Birthday over and over again, darling and maybe next year we’ll bake that cake together 🙂

  • SHABS

    2010/11/16 at 3:47 pm Reply

    happy birthday deeba!lovely cake and i love ur style of decorating it. I had send an entry, hope u got it?

  • Natasha

    2010/11/16 at 4:51 pm Reply

    Hey Deeba,
    Happy birthday to you! I’m sure you had a wonderful day with family and ALL the goodies your sis got for you. The cake is gorgeous as always….
    Love
    Natasha

  • gloria

    2010/11/16 at 5:40 pm Reply

    Dear Deeba, Have a lovely and beautiful Birthday my dear and lovely friend!!

    Absolutely delicious and beauty Cake! Just for you!
    Dear Sorry Im not crazy (well a little) but finally I made lasta night a ricotta and pears pie for your event! Is my next post! is OK? I think normally we make a lot of lemon! the pie was delicious I tasted at breakfast! see you! huggs and have a fun day! xoxoxoxo gloria

  • Sarah

    2010/11/16 at 6:18 pm Reply

    A very happy Birthday Dear!!!!! may god almighty shower you with all the blessings this day can hold…
    Cake looks fabulously yummy..gorgeous pics too 🙂

  • Happy Cook

    2010/11/16 at 7:28 pm Reply

    Ofcours it has to be coffee for you b’day. Hi hi i can imagine the fright with teh though of both of them in the kirchen.
    I bake a lot but never bake for my b’day 🙁
    Love the cake and the deco.

  • bellini

    2010/11/16 at 7:53 pm Reply

    Happy birthday to you Deeba. You get to celebrate twice, you are surrounded by those who love you. What more could you ask for!!!

  • Renata

    2010/11/16 at 11:41 pm Reply

    In your blog pages, it looks like everyday is a day to celebrate… so many gorgeous things! Your birthday cake is wonderful, I’m sure it tasted heavenly!
    HAPPY BIRTHDAY dear Deeba!

  • Ananda Rajashekar

    2010/11/17 at 12:16 am Reply

    Happy B’day Deeba, Now am bit confused is it 3 cakes or 4 cakes but how lucky you are to be with family and friends and luscious cakes….Glad you had a fabulous day 🙂

  • pavithra

    2010/11/17 at 1:08 am Reply

    Happy birthday Deeba !!! I can say only one word about the cake…”outstanding” . Individual servings are too cute and which is my fav too.

  • Trissa

    2010/11/17 at 2:15 am Reply

    Wishing you a very happy birthday Deeba. The cake is absolutely stunning and you surely deserve such a wonderful treat on your bday. Your kids are such darlings but I understand why you would want to be the one to make that cake. It’s so intricate!

  • Muneza

    2010/11/17 at 2:20 am Reply

    Belated b’day wishes 2 u!D moment i saw ths post,i got up n baked it.It was gorgeous!Thank u so much 4 posting it!I totally trust ur recipes!They NEVER fail!

  • Irina@PastryPal

    2010/11/17 at 2:41 am Reply

    Happy Birthday Deeba! We’re both November babies! The beauty of making your own cake is that you get it EXACTLY how you want it. It looks so good, I can practically smell the coffee. And the crumb does look so moist. I do hope you had a great day, cakes and all.

  • Jane

    2010/11/17 at 4:29 am Reply

    Warmest birthday wishes to you, Deeba! What a sensationally beautiful cake! I adore coffee in desserts, too, and this just looks heavenly to me. You did a superb job on it. Really a lovely post, with–as usual–exceptionally appealing photos. You’re so talented!

  • Patricia Shea

    2010/11/17 at 6:27 am Reply

    What a beateous cake…I love the filigree around the edge…that’s a brilliant and simple way to make a cake oh-so-elegant. And YUM…I think I could make a brave attempt to eat the whole cake in one sitting…if only we could send cake through the ether!! Thanks once again for an inspirational post. Patricia

  • Asha@FSK

    2010/11/17 at 7:54 am Reply

    Many many many wonderful happy returns of the day, dear dear Deeba!!! :)))) Such a lovely cake!!! you should let the kids make you a cake.. and see, how much they have learnt from you :DDD

  • Gera@SweetsFoodsBlog

    2010/11/17 at 8:38 am Reply

    Wow as a coffee lover this cake is magnificent – not only yummy for your birthday – I need other for mine!

    Happy Birthday again Deeba! 🙂

    Cheers,

    Gera

  • Caitlin

    2010/11/17 at 9:06 am Reply

    Gorgeous! Your decorations look fantastic. Great job with that chocolate lace around the outside… thats hard to do!

  • Anna Johnston

    2010/11/17 at 9:56 am Reply

    Ohhh, Happy Birthday Deeba, I adore your swirly wirly cakes, so beautiful, so elegant….., so you 🙂 I must make this cake, I must I must.

  • naomi

    2010/11/17 at 10:56 am Reply

    Happy Birthday to you!

    This cake is so beautiful! Wow! The chocolate decal on it is awesome. The cake itself without it’s beauty sounds awesome as well.

    I love coffee anything, so I’m bookmarking this.

  • Sanjeeta kk

    2010/11/17 at 11:38 am Reply

    Many happy returns of the day, Deeba. An apt post for the perfect occasion. Hope you had a great B’day . Love coffee and anything with the same flavors. Lovely clicks. Send you my entry for the event soon. Best wishes,take care.

  • Taru Kumar

    2010/11/17 at 1:38 pm Reply

    Hi Deeba,

    Wishing you a very very Happy Birthday.

    I had a quick question for the above recipe. Is there no need to add any baking powder? If so how much? and secondly, what flour do I use as here i do not get any specific cake flour.

    I look forward to hearing from you.
    Wishing you a very happy birthday once again.

    Cheers,
    Taru

    • Deeba @ PAB

      2010/11/17 at 2:32 pm Reply

      Hi Taru, thanks for stopping by. No, there is no need to add baking powder in the recipe because the air which is whipped in helps the cake to rise. I use all purpose plain flour in all my cakes, locally referred to as ‘maida’ here.

  • Meg

    2010/11/17 at 7:10 pm Reply

    what a BEAUTIFUL cake!!! wow! glad you got to make it yourself and protect your kitchen, haha. hope the kids weren’t bummed out that they couldn’t create themselves but, with a cake that lovely to feed them, i bet any complaints quieted 🙂

    love your blog, thanks for posting!
    -meg @ http://clutzycooking.blogspot.com/

  • bunkycooks

    2010/11/17 at 7:25 pm Reply

    What a perfectly gorgeous cake for such a delightful person! Happy birthday to you and many, many more!!!

  • Faith

    2010/11/17 at 9:21 pm Reply

    Happy Birthday.
    Moving on to the cake. Oh my, you always amaze me with your creation. It looks wonderful, divine… heavenly,. call it what you please but I’d eat the whole thing instantly. Seriously, it really really looks great. I love how you pay attention to the samllest details.

    Great job Deeba.

  • shabs

    2010/11/17 at 10:45 pm Reply

    Hi deeba,
    Hope u r doing great. Regarding the rosemary, I dint plat them. They grow wild in our yard and surrounding areas. I dont know about the seeds or anything about them as I dint buy them for myself( Who would bother when u get them for free). But I can look out for seeds for you, and if i get hold of some, I am more than happy to post it to you.Sadly, You might need to wait for few months, as I am travelling to DXB in less than 2 weeks and will return only in mid feb. I will keep it in mind and will check them out for you when i return…
    Love,
    shabs…

  • Krista

    2010/11/18 at 1:07 am Reply

    Happiest of Birthdays, dear Deeba!! Your cake is SO pretty – all those wonderful swirls and curlicues. 🙂 I hope you have a fantastic time with your sister. 🙂

  • Mia

    2010/11/18 at 1:37 pm Reply

    Oh what a very pretty birthday cake, aint it cute when u bake ur won birthday cake!!
    ur so creative and artistic and i loveee ur choice of recipes from books, u chose that perfect recipe and i also loveee ur choice of books!

  • El

    2010/11/18 at 7:23 pm Reply

    Happy Birthday! I hope you had a great day. It’s so funny that you pulled yourself out of bed so that the kids wouldn’t destroy the kitchen. At least you have kids that want to help! Anyway, you’re cake and photos of the cake are beautiful. Exquisite, actually!

  • BarbaraBakes

    2010/11/18 at 7:40 pm Reply

    So funny that you got up early to bake before the kids got up. Your cakes are always amazing. Hope you had a wonderful day and that the coming year will be filled with all your favorite things!

  • Nic

    2010/11/20 at 7:22 pm Reply

    Many happy returns my dear! Hope you had a wonderful day. The cake looks divine – I keep meaning to make one and decorate with the swirly chocolate.

  • spice

    2010/11/22 at 6:25 pm Reply

    Oh Deeba! U did it agaian….another soooo good & delicious cake, I’m not a coffee lover but when it comes in cakes with coffee I love it…….and I guess it’s never too late to wish “Happy B’day”

  • Shoba Shrinivasan

    2010/11/23 at 11:29 am Reply

    Hi Deeba,,

    Whats with you and thoe lovely marigolds??? Do you like yellow bursts of flowers…just like me??/ i love sunflowers…and get lost in their beauty whenever i see them!!! Your coffee cake looks yummy and spongy and so does all your little clicks…Hope you are having a great time with y our sis!!!

    Shobha

  • ISABELLA

    2010/11/30 at 8:40 am Reply

    hola! me gusta la reposteria,soy latina,ademas me gusta mucho su pagina,me gusta mucho la reposteria y las recetas que presentan en su pagina,pero me gustaria que tambien estuvieran disponibles en español,podrian! gracias!

  • Vera

    2011/02/05 at 8:13 pm Reply

    I baked espresso coffee cream cake for my 32 – birthday. I was looking for something special and came across you blog. The cake’s fantastic! Thank you very much for the recipe! I even managed to make chocolate decor, not as beautiful as yours of course. Do you describe somewhere in your blog how you make such chocolate lace?

  • chocolatelove514

    2012/11/04 at 2:16 am Reply

    I love your desserts! Just amazing! Would you mind sharing how to the chocolate border around the cakes?

    Do you temper chocolate when doing the decorations?

    Happy Baking!

  • Shri

    2013/03/27 at 1:55 pm Reply

    Hi Deeba, I tried your recipe of Black forest cake (egg yolks + sugar whipped on simmering water and seperately whipping egg whites and finally folding in), the sponge and the cake all turned out delicious. So, I went ahead and tried this sponge y’day, when I baked the first time the cake just sank in the middle, the top layer was crusty (similar to a brownies crust), the edges were dry and the cake cracked all over (my 5 yr old thought it resembled a skating rink ,…..sob sob). When I did the first version, I had to give a 10min gap between whipping the eggs and folding the flour, so I tried it again all over a second time, this time briskly finishing up the entire process, the outcome turned up the same again. Where did I go wrong ? Did I whisk the eggs for too long a duration ? I followed 5mins in a bowl of simmerging water + 5mins out of water + 1min on adding espresso. I want to try this again. Finally, does this sponge require 4 eggs or 3?

    I love the your cake decorations, so elegant and well defined. Do you use the Amul 25% fat cream for piping the borders as well? Plsss would you love to hear your secret in whipping Amul cream, I tried and gave up on amul cream whipping (chilled beaters, bowl, ice bath, cream). I love the well defined beautiful border you piped, its a far dream for me 🙁

  • Charu

    2015/09/12 at 2:08 am Reply

    Can i use Bru instant coffee powder instead of espresso? If yes, how much should I use in the cake and on icing to get the medium coffee flavor, not very bitter

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