This mocha cake makes a perfect weekend afternoon treat, however in this instance, I made it to reward our volunteer “patients”. As I’ve got exams coming up, I need to practise my clinical examinations on people who don’t know the routines off by heart. It’s hard to make sure you’re being clear enough in your instructions when your patient is already sticking their tongue out before you’ve even finished asking your them your question. O well. Luckily, cake is a strong enough incentive to get some fellow students to give up a bit of their time to be poked and prodded by us baby doctors.

Normally my go to recipe for a chocolate cake is what one of my best friends dubbed “the Cake of Death“. Named so because it’s so rich that the first time she had it, I accidentally gave her an behemoth piece which she claims was almost the death of her.  However, this is a food blog dedicated to trying out and sharing new recipes, so I decided to go a little bit out of my comfort zone and try a new chocolate cake recipe.

This is a different take on the ruffles piping technique. I used the same tip (Wilton #103) and just piped horizontal rows instead of vertical columns of ruffles.

This recipe is adapted from Brown Eyed Baker’s Mocha Cupcakes with Espresso Buttercream Frosting. The original recipe makes 12 cupcakes, but a quick glance at it told me that it would be fine to adapt into a 6″ cake. I made a few other changes, mostly because of what I had in my cupboard.

So as for the cake itself, it is still very moist and dense (two very important qualities in a chocolate cake).However, I think it has a milder chocolate flavour than the Cake of Death. Even though there is quite a bit of strong coffee in the recipe, it adds more of a subtle richness to the flavour rather than being a “coffee flavoured” cake.

I had some issues with icing this cake. The buttercream itself is delightful, having the unmistakable flavour of coffee but not being overwhelmingly strong. However, I just didn’t quite make enough of it! I think it’s because I torted the cake, turning it into a four layer cake instead of a two layer cake. The piping technique also puts quite a thick layer around the edges and if you just spread the icing on normally, I think there would have been enough. As it is, I would have liked to have just one more row of ruffles and a bit more icing on the top. O well. Live and learn. I’ve included my original amounts, but I wouldn’t recommend torting the cake unless you increase the amount of icing.

Overall, a very nice cake that has distinct but not overpowering flavours of chocolate and coffee – the perfect mocha cake.

I just didn't have quite enough icing to do one last layer of ruffles. :( O well.

Mocha Cake

Adapted from Brown Eyed Baker

Makes a two layer 6″ cake

Ingredients:

• 1 1/3 cup plain/all purpose flour
• 1/3 cup cocoa powder
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda (bicarb of soda)
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/2 cup strong coffee, room temperature (2 tbsp instant coffee dissolved into 1/2 cup boiling water)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 c/125g unsalted butter, softened
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar (I used a mixture of light and dark brown sugar because that’s what I had in my cupboard)
• 1 egg, at room temperature

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350F/175C. Mix the instant coffee into the boiling water and cool to room temperature. Prepare two 6″ cake tins by buttering and covering with cocoa, and lining with buttered and cocoaed baking parchment.
2. Sift toether the flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium sized bowl. Set aside.
3. Beat together the butter and both sugars on medium high until light and fluffy (about 2-3 minutes). Add the egg and beat until well combined.
4. Mix together the coffee, milk, and vanilla.
5. With the electric mixer on low-medium, add one third of the flour mixture. Mix well. Add one half of the milk mixture and mix well. Add half of the remaining flour and mix well. Add the remaining milk mixture and mix well. Finally, add the rest of the flour mixture and beat on medium for 1 minute to make sure all ingredients are well combined.
6. Bake in preheated oven for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean.
7. Cool for 5-10 minutes in the pan before turning out on a wire rack to cool completely. Once cool, frost as desired.

Coffee Buttercream

Makes just enough to fill and frost a two layer 6″ cake (don’t tort the layers unless making more icing)

Ingredients:

• 250g unsalted butter, softened
• 500g icing sugar, sifted
• 1 tbsp vanilla + 2 tsp instant coffee
• 3 tbsp milk

Instructions:

1. Dissolve the instant coffee into the vanilla extract. You may have to put the mixture in the microwave for about 20 seconds to make sure it is fully dissolved.
2. Beat together the butter and vanilla mixture until thoroughly mixed and light and fluffy (a few minutes).
3. Gradually add the icing sugar, adding milk as required. Once all the icing sugar has been added, beat on high for a 1-2 minutes to make sure the icing is dreamy smooth and fluffy.
4. Ice cooled cake as desired. I used a Wilton #103 tip to pipe ruffles around the edge of the cake.

Happy Baking!