“Coffee & Cake”! What a cute Duo they once were. The perfect couple! Inseperetable!
Once upon a time, an invitation to coffee included usually some pastry on the side.
On a dinner party, however, even if it had any fancy dessert when eventually coffee was served – usually the host (the hostess, to be more precise) did not dare to serve it without a cake – otherwise she would have put herself at risk of being a target to a juicy gossip or even direct criticism!
Those were the days, my friends!
Today, however, it’s actually not acceptable to serve a cake by default; In addition to the caloric consideration – each one and his own diet: vegan, gluten-free, sugar-free, or None at all! 🙂
The years passed, conventions have changed, the coffee that was associated with distinct ceremonies and prolonged sitting in a cafe or at home, was stripped of manners, underwent a facelift, and became an “easy-going” drink that could also be drunk on the road.
‘Invitation to coffee’ – has become a mere expression – which means some kind of pastime.
Or as the Wise Owl declares:
“An invitation to coffee is rarely an invitation to coffee” 😉
So after ‘A Brief History of Coffee Culture’ – I’m happy to invite you to ‘Cake & Coffee’ – the coffee is already inside the cake, but this cake will be happy to accompany a nice cup of coffee or any .other beverage of your choice
This is a simple sponge cake and very easy to make; The batter is fortified with 2 tablespoons of granulated instant coffee.
You can serve it as is, sprinkle some powdered sugar, or upgrade and coat it with excellent coffee buttercream.
Enjoy and let me know how it turned out 🙂
Dry Ingredients
- 2 cups white spelt flour
- ½ cup white sugar or cane sugar
- ½ tsp ground ginger
- 1½ tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ¼ tsp salt
Wet Ingredients
- 1 cup hot water
- 2 tbsp granulated instant coffee
- 1 tbsp almond milk or soy milk
- 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
- ½ cup canola oil or melted coconut oil
- ¼ cup apple sauce, preferably without sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Optional addition
- 2 dried figs, chopped
Coffee Buttercream
- 100 grams vegan butter
- 2 tbsp powdered sugar preferably ground with a vanilla bean
- ¾ tsp granulated instant coffee melted in 1 tsp of hot water
- Turn the oven to 170 degrees Celsius
- Grease an English cake mold, size of 22 cm X 10 cm
- Sift the flour into a medium bowl, add the rest of the dry ingredients and mix with a whisk or fork. Set aside.
- Mix the hot water with the coffee in a cup and pour into a large bowl
- Add oil, apple sauce, vanilla and salt
- Mix the milk and vinegar in a small bowl and add to the bowl with the wet ingredients
- Gradually add the dried mixture into the wet mixture and mix until they blend
- Add the dried figs and mix
- Transfer to the greased mold, place in the hot oven and bake for 40-45 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
- Remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack while in the mold.
- Release the cake from the mold and spread the coffee buttercream on top of the cake. You can sprinkle some grains of granulated instant coffee.
Coffee Buttercream
- Put butter and powdered sugar in a medium bowl and mix well.
- Put the coffee and hot water in a small bowl, stirring until melted
- Add the coffee to the bowl with the butter and mix well. Store in the refrigerator. Remove from the refrigerator a few minutes before icing the cake.
- It is recommended to coat the cake with the buttercream just before serving or keep it in the refrigerator so that the buttercream does not melt.
- For coating the whole cake – double the amount of the buttercream ingredients.
- You can freeze the coffee buttercream in an airtight container.
- The size of the mold is calculated according to the inside – without the wide margins.
- It is recommended to mix the dried figs with a tablespoon of flour so that they mix easily in the batter.
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