HOMEMADE: Tiramisu Layer Cake (aka GBD's Ultimate Coffee Cake!)

I have to admit, these days my palate has a bit of a love-hate relationship with cake. Well, maybe more 'not too keen' than 'hate' but, still, cake divides me in a way I wish it wouldn't. The reason for this: overwhelming sweetness. Specifically, cakes, especially, some shop-bought ones, that do little to balance liberal amounts of icing and/or buttercream. Of course, this doesn't apply to all, a Victoria sponge with lots of freshly whipped cream and a bit jam for the filling or a carrot cake with a cream cheese topping are just a couple of great examples that get it right for me.

With this in mind, I was thinking about good old coffee cake the other day and I hit upon the idea of switching in the usual buttercream for a boozy Tiramisu-style filling. In my head, this combination would deliver sweetness but, crucially, punctuate proceedings with some heady, mature notes. Anyway, I was convinced by the concept and quickly set about making it.

My starting point for the cake was a basic sponge recipe. I wanted to have four layers of cake so each slice would deliver a decent hit of boozy cream filling. To that end, I used four large eggs and employed the old fashioned method of weighting out my butter, sugar and self-raising flour against them. I chose light Muscovado for an extra depth of flavour, though regular caster would have been fine. As for the sponge's caffeine component, I turned to an instant coffee favourite, Douwe Egberts Pure Indulgence, for a beautifully rich flavour.  

When it came to the filling, I looked no further than the cream, mascarpone, sugar and brandy combination that had served me so well with my previously featured tiramisu (see here). Liking a decent hit of alcohol, I put in quite a bit of brandy but upped the sugar accordingly. Slathering this on three of the sponges, I then grated some 70% dark chocolate over the fillings to intensify those deep, mature notes.

As for the topping, I exchanged the brandy in the filling recipe for some more coffee mixture using my Douwe Egberts Pure Indulgence. I played around with the quantities of sugar a bit, as you might want to if you make this, but I eventually got the smooth, rich taste I was looking for. In any case, the result was a fittingly brownish, coffee-looking cream to top the cake with. 

In terms of taste, this cake lived up every bit to my expectations. The sponge and topping provided a beautiful wave of sweet, coffee-laden notes whilst those hits of filling delivered a gorgeous burst of warm brandy. The only thought I had afterwards was whether or not I could have replaced the filling between the second and third sponges with a coffee-flavoured one, as per the topping recipe. The reasoning behind this is that, being a four-layer cake, it is hard to get the coffee and brandy creams in every mouthful. By alternating the creams it might have helped alleviate this issue but, then again, I do love my brandy! 

All in all, this was a great success and, if I do say so myself, the best coffee cake I've eaten to date. Definitely recommended. 

RECIPE

Ingredients

Sponges

4 large eggs

Self-raising flour, light Muscovado sugar (or regular caster sugar) and softened butter - quantity of ingredients determined by weighing each against 4 eggs used.

Coffee mixture (around 4 very decent teaspoons of instant coffee fully dissolved in around 1 tbsp boiling water)

1/2 tsp baking powder

Filling

185 g mascarpone

425 ml double cream

5 tbsp golden caster sugar (or regular caster sugar)

110 ml brandy

Dark chocolate

Topping

3 tbsp sugar

35 g mascarpone

70 ml double cream 

Coffee mixture (around 2 1/2 very decent teaspoons of instant coffee fully dissolved in around 1 tbsp of boiling water).

Tins

2 x 20 cm / 8 in round baking tins (well greased and base lined)

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 160°C fan (180°C non-fan).

2. Cream together the softened butter and sugar. 

3. Pour in the coffee mixture and then add the eggs slowly, mixing them in one at a time.

4. Add the flour (sift in) and baking powder and fold in gently until everything is well incorporated. 

5. Divide the cake mixture evenly between the two prepared tins.

6. Place in the preheated oven for around 25-30 mins, or until the sponges are coming away from the sides and are nicely coloured.

7. When done, remove the sponges and place them inverted on wire racks to cool. 

8. After 5 or so minutes, lift off the tins and leave the sponges to cool thoroughly.

9. When the cakes have cooled completely (this will take a few hours or so), take a serrated knife and very carefully cut the two sponges in half.

10. For the brandy filling, place the mascarpone, double cream, sugar and brandy in a bowl and, using an electric whisk, mix until nicely thickened. 

11. Top three of the sponges with generous amounts of filling and finish off each by grating over dark chocolate.

12. For the topping, place the mascarpone, double cream, sugar and coffee mixture in a bowl and, using an electric whisk again, mix until nicely thickened.

13. Liberally spread this coffee cream over the fourth, still-bare sponge.  

14. Assemble the cake with the coffee-cream topped layer obviously going on last.

15. If not eating immediately, refrigerate due to the use of fresh cream.

BRAND LINKS
Douwe Egberts Website

HOMEMADE: Orange, Vanilla and Cinnamon Rock Cakes

Quick, economical and addictively tasty, the humble Rock Cake is a kitchen treasure that'll delight both young and old alike. All that said, with an abundance of recipes now available both online and in books, such simple creations can easily be overlooked. In my case, it was only the other day when someone happened to mention their love of Rock Cakes that I was reminded of how long it had been since I last made them.

Presentation-wise, I'll keep this brief. Their golden exterior and visibly irregular studding of dried fruit make for a suitably rugged-looking bake. Indeed, their uneven form goes some way at least in capturing the idea of a rock - or mound of rocks. Admittedly, not at all sophisticated but charming nonetheless. 

As for taste, the notes of vanilla and orange are immediately apparent and certainly more than welcoming. Taking a bite, these flavours translate to the palate with the vanilla's flavour deliciously distinct, the cinnamon's sweetness chiming in and the orange's zestiness cutting through the whole ensemble. Thankfully, texture-wise, Rock Cakes don't live up to the solidity of their name. The basic dough crumbles beautifully to the bite with the exposed surface offering a slight crispness; whilst, the generous helping of dried fruit punctuates proceedings beautifully as it interjects with soft, juicy bursts of flavour. 

All in all, this offering boasts the usual charm of a Rock Cake whilst offering a twist that balances notes of vanilla, orange and cinnamon well. On reflection, I might include a teaspoon of orange juice next time to just bump up the citrus tang slightly but, still, these were an absolute delight to eat. Recommended.

RECIPE

See here.

HOMEMADE: The Guardian's Perfect Carrot Cake

Hands down, carrot cake is one of my all time favourites. It boasts a wonderful array of flavours and textures and, unlike many icings and butter creams which often overwhelm sponges with sweetness, carrot cake's cream cheese filling and topping is as good as it gets for me. Given my love for this classic, I need very little motivation to make one and, with it being National Carrot Day earlier this week, I quickly found myself in the kitchen.

Wanting to try a slightly different recipe, a quick Google turned up an excellent article on The Guardian's website detailing what they thought constituted the perfect carrot cake and why. Boasting tried-and-tested flavours I was pleased to see their recipe didn't get lost in chefy elaborations. Moreover, I was interested in the fact that it switched in butter for the often heavily prescribed glugs of vegetable oil. Indeed, anything that gives me an excuse to advocate for the use of butter, a wonderful, but tragically maligned, fat choice, is a very good thing in my book.

Anyway, I went ahead with the recipe keen to see if it could live up to its title. I must say I did make a couple adjustments by exchanging wholemeal self-raising flour for white (I find wholemeal too heavy in cakes), adding in more spice and slightly upping the lemon zest content of the icing.  

That aside, the method was quite straightforward with one only having to be careful over folding in the dry ingredients so air wasn't overly knocked out. At first I thought there wouldn't be enough cream cheese mixture but the recipe ended up judging it perfectly as the mixture had a lot of flavour meaning only a relatively light spreading was needed.

The resulting cake looked good with a cross section revealing a nice sponge studded with sultanas, pecans and grated carrot. As for the taste, well, nothing is 'perfect', but this was probably the best carrot cake I've ye to taste. The sponges were jam-jacked with the flavour and textures courtesy of the spices, savoury pecans, juicy sultanas and tangy orange peel. Whilst that cream cheese filling and topping stole the show for me as zingy lemon offset the slightly sweet creaminess beautifully. All in all, this carrot cake was an absolute joy and I thoroughly recommend it.  

RECIPE 
See here.