Coffee has such a distinctive flavour that it lends itself to being a cooking ingredient almost as well as it lends itself to being a drink. This cake is a take on the traditional ‘lemon and poppy seed’ recipe, but substitutes coffee for lemon flavouring. The seeds give it texture and crunch. Serve with a large mug of your favourite coffee.
Serves around 8.
You’ll need:
• 80g full fat cream cheese
• 150g butter, softened
• 150g self raising flour
• 250g caster sugar
• 3 eggs
• 40ml espresso, or very strong black coffee
• 100g poppy seeds
For the icing
• 50ml espresso
• 125g icing sugar
Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees C, and grease and baseline a 22cm cake tin.
Beat the butter, cream cheese and sugar together until the mixture looks pale and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating between each addition. Sift in the flour, and stir in the coffee and poppy seeds.
Carefully spoon the mixture into the prepared tin and level the top off with the back of a spoon. Tap the tin on the counter to remove any air bubbles, and put it in the over for around 35 minutes. (Keep an eye on it, as if the top gets too brown you may need to cover it with a piece of greaseproof paper. Check that a skewer inserted into the thickest part of the cake comes out clean.
Remove the cake from the oven and leave it to cool for five minutes before turning out and removing the paper. While it’s cooling, make the icing by mixing the two ingredients together thoroughly. Pour the icing over the cake while it’s still warm, so it can soak in a bit, then leave it to cool properly.
Cut into slices, and serve with cream if you like. For more recipes, ideas and coffee news, keep an eye on our blog at www.wholesalecoffeecompany.co.uk.