So I believe the official international coffee day was on the 1st of October. For me most days start off with a nice cup of coffee - coffee is what gets me from grumpy to happy and settles family disputes in my home. So a tribute to coffee or kaapi as we call it, on my birthday.
When my daughter asked me what sort of cake would you like for your birthday, I scoured the net for a nice recipe. This recipe from The Happy Foodie https://thehappyfoodie.co.uk/recipes/coffee-and-walnut-cake caught my fancy and reading it I could feel the coffee hit. Plus it had a few elements to it and I thought it would be fun to experiment. I gave the recipe link to my daughter and left for work.
I arrived in the evening to find that she had already started working on the cake - and all I had to do was the frosting, syrup and candied walnuts. I used Kaapi, one of my favourite coffee decoctions where I needed to use instant coffee and for the ground coffee I used a Sri Lankan ground coffee from my cousin Lilani.
As you would have probably figured out by now, I like to have elements of family / friends in all my recipes.
The cake itself was crumbly, moist, rich and with a definitive Kaapi hit. I do not think I can sleep tonight - just as well - I can get to see the full moon. Here is the modified recipe from The Happy Foodie. One thing I would mention is if I make this cake another time, I will be making more syrup. A day in the fridge makes the cake dry.
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Part 1 - Walnut Coffee Cake:
Ingredients:
175 grams self-raising
flour
150 grams butter,
softened
150 grams caster
sugar
11/2 tablespoons ground coffee
50 grams ground
walnuts
1 teaspoon instant
coffee, dissolved in just enough hot water to make a paste
3 medium eggs,
beaten
Method:
Turn the oven on to 180 degrees Celsius. Butter a 21 cm
round cake tin and line it with baking paper.
Sift the flour and set aside. Using an electric mixer, beat the butter,
caster sugar and ground coffee together until pale and fluffy. Mix in the
ground walnuts and the coffee paste.
Beat in a quarter of the eggs, then add a heaped tablespoon
of the flour. Repeat the process till all the eggs are mixed in. Gently fold in
the remaining flour.
Transfer the mixture to the prepared cake mould and bake for
about 30 to 40 minutes – till a skewer inserted in the middle comes out
clean.
Remove from the oven and let it rest for about 30 minutes.
Meanwhile prepare the syrup.
Part 2: Coffee Syrup
Ingredients:
1 tablespoon honey
50 grams caster sugar
75 ml water
1 tablespoon instant coffee (or 1 tablespoon kaapi)
Method:
Add the honey, sugar and water and dissolve in a small
saucepan and bring to the boil. Stir to
dissolve the sugar and honey. Turn off the heat and add the instant coffee
powder and mix well.
Once the cake has cooled for about 30 minutes, turn it on to a platter and prick the edges and surface of the cake with a fork. Use a pastry brush and brush the warm syrup on to the warm cake until the syrup is used up.
Leave the cake to cool and set for at least one hour.
While the cake is cooling, prepare the candied walnuts and
the cream cheese frosting.
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons caster sugar
1 tablespoon water
50 grams walnuts
Take a small saucepan and add water and caster sugar. Let
the sugar dissolve and the syrup thicken.
Now add the walnuts and keep stirring until the walnuts are coated and
the water evaporates. Carefully remove
the walnuts and place them on a baking paper to cool down.
Part 4: Coffee Cream Cheese Icing
200 grams full
fat cream cheese
400 grams icing
sugar
50 grams unsalted
butter
2 tablespoons instant
coffee, dissolved in 1 tablespoon hot water (2 tablespoons Kaapi)
Method:
Put the cream cheese, icing sugar and coffee into a bowl and
beat slowly with an electric beater.
Warm the butter in low heat and gradually pour it into the
icing sugar mixture and continue to beat till it is all blended in nice and
smooth.
Decorate cake with the cream cheese frosting and the candied
walnuts.
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