(My) Cakes

[wolf]

I have a large, round cake carrier that has a strap that acts as a handle and secures the bottom to the top. I feel your pain on the drop, though.

For a shaped cake, you definitely want to both butter and flour your pan, let it cool 15 or 20 minutes after it comes out of the oven, then flip it over after poking around a bit with a knife to release the cake. Even with that I've still lost bits on the bottom, but hey, that's what frosting or drizzle is for.

The important question, though is, how did the lemon drizzle taste? If it tasted good it's not a total fail. It's important experience for the next time!

[Sundae]

I never thought of strapping it.
Good plan, Wolf-ma'am.
Just adding an old bungee cord (I don't know if that's the real name, but we have them around) will give me the security I need.

Well as I said, Mrs W liked it lots.
I'd add less liquid to the drizzle next time - I think I added too much icing sugar to offset it. That's what made it so sweet.

And yes, I'll be much more observant when preparing my shaped moulds in future.

The staff don't know it, but I'm using a packet mix this weekend.
It's in the cupboard from last month and I just add oil and an egg.
Next term it won't be a cake a week, fun though it's been. I know what I'm cooking for the May Fayre now, so I'll scale down again.

Still, packet mix cakes get eaten anyway.
And I have the most fun in decorating them.

[Aliantha]

don't forget what happened last time you used a packet mix and didn't come clean. lol

[Sundae]

Oh crikey I forgot that!
Well this time I will admit if asked.
Lesson learned.

[Lola Bunny]

Sundae: Wonderful cakes! Pity I don't work at your school to try them all. I have a question concerning your coffee and walnut cake. Is it a coffee cake or coffee flavored cake? If it's coffee flavored, can I please have the recipe? I like the idea and would love to try it. Thanks!

[monster]

Coffee cake means coffee flavored to a Brit. Imagine how disappointed I was the first time I had coffee cake here I just make a regular sponge cake and add a few spoonfuls of extremely strong coffee. You can also just substitute a tablespoon of the flour for instant coffee powder in a basic cake recipe. Or you can get Sundae's recipe which is likely to be much yummier.

[BigV]

Hi Lola Bunny, long time no see. :waves:

[limey]

So what is a coffee cake in America?

[Sundae]

Perhaps a cake you eat with coffee?

I can't take any credit for my cake, it was from a recipe website.
saying that, it was a damn good recipe.
Off to bed now, but promise to link tomorrow.

[monster]

Originally Posted by Sundae

Perhaps a cake you eat with coffee?

Yup. Usually quite plain, often cinammony, very sweet and drizzled in sugary stuff. Bundt-type or sometimes loaf-style.

[Aliantha]

Hmmm...why do the yanks have to change the name for things so that they sound like something they're not. Why make life harder for everyone. lol

If someone says coffee cake here, you are right to assume it's a cake that tastes like coffee.

[wolf]

Originally Posted by limey

So what is a coffee cake in America?

Cinnamon swirly cake, usually with a crumb topping. At least in my neck of the woods. Different, of course from a coffee roll, which is more like a German schnecken, only covered in glaze, second cousin to a donut, only baked, not deep fried. Although I guess you could deep fry one ... and then there's cinnamon rolls, which are again different. Rolled up dough with sugar and cinnamon coated on them and dusted over them so that it all becomes a lovely, gooey, runny mess.

Brit coffee cake would probably be called a mocha cake or something like that. Oh crap. Now I want one.

Our next lesson will include bear claws and elephant ears.

[limey]

Bake me a cinnamon roll, please Wolf!

[Sundae]

Here is the link to the Coffee and Walnut cake recipe I used.
It's a BBC website so it's reliable and SFW.

Shown below too.
I read through most of the comments and made amendments.

Ingredients
125g butter, at room temperature
125g caster sugar
2 eggs
125g self-raising flour
1 tsp baking powder
2 heaped tbsp coffee, dissolved in 100ml water
100g walnut halves

ICING
200g butter
2-300g icing sugar


1. Heat the oven to 170C/fan 150C/fan 3. Line a deep 18cm loose-based or springform cake tin. Beat the butter and sugar together with electric beaters and then beat in the eggs, flour and baking powder.

2. Beat in 1 tbsp of the coffee mixture and then add up to another tbsp little by little until the mixture drops easily off the spoon. Keep the rest of the coffee mixture for the icing.

3. Stir in half the walnuts, snapping them in half as you drop them into the bowl. Spoon into the tin, level the top and bake for 40 minutes or until a skewer comes out cleanly. Cool.

4. To make the icing, beat the butter until soft and then beat in 200g icing sugar followed by the remaining coffee mixture, little by little. Stop when you have a depth of colour and flavour that you like. If the icing looks a little soft, beat in extra icing sugar.

5. Cut the cake into 3 slices horizontally and then sandwich the layers together with some of the icing, you need a reasonably thick layer. Ice the top of the cake with the rest of the icing and decorate with the rest of the walnuts.

Amendments.
I upped the 125g butter, flour and sugar to 200g.
I then split into three 18cm pans, so that I could assemble more easily.

I smashed up the walnuts in the cake - they were there, but just not in big bites.
I kept the ones for decoration as halves of course.

I added the coffee to the cake as recommended, but added an extra teaspoon to the icing. I wanted a good coffee taste.

The cake was a little crumbly.
But easily held together with icing.
It's an impressive cake while still looking home-baked, so I didn't worry too much about appearance.

[Sundae]

Having thought this through, I understand that the above may be inaccessible to the majority of American readers.

I found this online - Brie Barton's blog on a wing and a prayer
She references the Hummingbird Bakery, of whom I am also a fan.
So this recipe is different, untested by me, but will probably be easier to follow.

2 tbsp instant coffee granules (espresso powder makes a great rich taste!)
450 g (2 cups) unsalted butter at room temperature
450 g (2 1/4 cups) caster sugar (white sugar)
6 large eggs
450 g (3 1/2 cups) plain flour (all-purpose or cake flour)
2 tbsp baking powder
2 tsp cocoa powder
1/2 cup of walnuts crumbled, plus half walnuts to decorate (optional)

1 quantity frosting

250 g (2 1/4 cups) icing sugar, sifted
80 g (5 tbsp) unsalted butter, room temperature
25 ml (2 tbsp) heavy cream
a few drops of vanilla extract
1 tbsp instant espresso mixed with 2 tbsp boiling water


25 cm ring mould (known as a bundt pan in north america)

to make cake:

to make 'coffee essence' put instant coffee and 170 ml (3/4 cup) of water in a small sauce pan, bring to a boil and reduce by half. set aside to cool completely.

preheat oven to 170 C (325 F)

beat together butter, sugar and coffee essence. add eggs one by one, mixing well and scraping the bowl down as you go. beat in flour, baking powder and cocoa powder, mix until batter is light and fluffy. fold in crumbled walnuts.

pour mixture into prepared mould and even with spatula. bake for 40 minutes in preheated oven or until the sponge feels firm to the touch. (do not open oven door during early cooking or you will collapse the the cake). cool slightly in mould before turning out onto a wire rack to finish cooling completely.

to make frosting:

beat icing sugar and butter until mixture comes together. in a small bowl combine cream, vanilla and instant espresso. add wet ingredients to sugar and beat until light and fluffy (5 minutes).

cover top of cooled cake with frosting, decorate with walnut halves