Coffee Cake Recipe - for Edinburgh Cake Ladies East West Cake event

Here is the recipe for the coffee cake I made for Edinburgh Cake Ladies East West Cake Event this January. It’s based on the coffee cake recipe from Ballymaloe’s 12 Week Professional Cookery Course. Unlike most Ballymaloe recipes where vanilla extract is used and never essence, this uses coffee essence, (really chicory). Camp is the most common brand in the UK. I love cooking with things like this, it's one of those ingredients that feels really nostalgic and old fashioned to use. I suppose it's the same as when people buy golden syrup in a tin instead of those practical plastic bottles. The cake itself is really intense and coffee-ish, even though the sponge on it's own has a quite delicate flavour. You can decorate it how you like, add chocolate curls and bitter cocoa or keep it simple.

My version

This is the recipe from Ballymaloe, I have multiplied the cake ingredients by 50% to make three thick layers from the original two, as I wanted to give the cake more height for the East West Cake theme, 'showstopper cakes'. I did the same for the coffee icing ingredients. The butter cream is increased by 100%. To decorate I added cocoa, chocolate curls and some gold sugar decorations.

Coffee Cake

12oz soft butter
12oz caster sugar
6 large eggs (preferably organic)
12oz plain white flour
11/2 tsp baking powder
2 tbsp Camp coffee essence

Coffee Butter Cream

4oz butter
8oz icing sugar
4 tsp Camp coffee essence

Coffee Icing

11/2 lb icing sugar
 3 tbsp Camp coffee essence
Boiling water

To decorate (all optional)

3 oz walnut halves
2 oz dark chocolate
2 tbsp cocoa powder
Gold cake decorations

Tins

2 or 3 x 8in round sandwich tins

A note on logistics - I only have two sandwich tins, so made this in two batches. I made two thirds of the cake mixture up first, poured it into the two tins and baked them. Once they were cooked and the cakes cooling, I made up the smaller second batch to fill one tin. I also have a gas oven, with only enough room on one shelf for two tins. If you have enough tins and enough shelf space, two ovens or a fan oven enabling you to cook on multiple shelves you can make the cake in one go.
You can't make it all in one go and then keep a third of the batter back while you wait for the first two to cook as the raising agent will have started to react and the cake won't rise when you eventually bake it. You will also get holes on the top of the cake as it will not  have been put into the heat of the oven quickly enough. You could just cook it with two layers, decreasing the ingredients as above, it will still look impressive as per Ballymaloe here:

Pam's coffee cake from Ballymaloe demo, how I would love to have an oven like theirs!

Right, on with the recipe!

The cake

1. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas Mark 4
2. Line the base of the tins with greaseproof or silicon paper. Brush the sides with melted butter and dust with flour
3. Cream together the butter and sugar, by hand using a wooden spoon or in a food mixer (I use a Kenwood Chef, using the K beater). I recommend a mixer as you need to really beat the butter and sugar till it is pale and fluffy. If you think it's ready still beat it a bit more!
4. Whisk the eggs and add to the mixture bit by bit, mixing well between each addition
5. Sieve the flour with the baking powder and stir gently in by hand. Don't over beat the mixture here, almost fold it in with your spoon.
6. Finally add the coffee essence and mix in, again fold it in gently.
7. Divide the mixture evenly between the prepared tins, paddling it round with a metal spoon (you can use an electric scales if you're that way inclined for a perfect split)
8. Bake for 30 minutes, till the cakes are firm and springy in the middle as well as the sides.
9. Rest in the tin for a minute or two, then turn out onto a cooling rack.
10. If you are making it in two batches, repeat steps 1-9 above from scratch.
11. While it's in the oven melt the chocolate for the chocolate curls over simmering water. Pour over the back of a plate or baking tray and leave somewhere cool.
12. Make the coffee butter cream. Sieve the icing sugar into a large mixing bowl - yes this takes a lot of time but really does give a better result.
13. Whisk the icing sugar with the butter, by hand or machine, as it starts to come together add the coffee essence. Continue to whisk till light and fluffy. Cover with cling film till ready to use.
14. When the cakes are cooled sandwich together the sponges with two layers of icing, evening them out with a bread knife if need be. Have enough cream to fill in the sides to give a straightish line for the icing.

Decoration

1. One the cake is assembled make the icing. Again sieve the icing sugar, add the coffee essence and then enough boiling water to make it the consistency of double cream. Add the water sparingly, not too much in one go or you will be back and forth adding more sugar and liquid all day to get it right!
2. Pour icing over the top and paddle it out and down over the sides, smoothing it with a palate knife. Work quickly or do it in batches, patching it up where needed as the icing can slide down the cake before it dries.  
3. Add walnut halves around the bottom of the cake to decorate, they will hold to the icing. You can also use hazelnuts as they do at Ballymaloe.
4. Once the icing has started to set sieve the cocoa powder over the top. If it's set a bit you can dust off any that has stuck to the sides for a neater finish. You could also combine the cocoa with some fine espresso/instant coffee powder.
5. Scrape the chocolate curls from the plate/tin, using a wide Parmesan slice. Try and take long confident sweeps. If the chocolate is too hard or too soft put it somewhere warmer/colder for a bit. It will soften quickly so you may need to wait and do two batches. I hold my hands under a freezing tap as long as possible to stop the chocolate melting, it helps but it hurts! The curls don't need to be perfect as they're all piled on the top, but a bit of practice and they can start to look surprisingly good.
6. Pile the chocolate curls on the top with the gold cake decorations.

Edinburgh Cake Ladies - East West Cake Event

In December I signed up for an Edinburgh Cake Ladies event, they are a group of bakers (not just ladies!) in the city that meet up throughout the year to share their creations each other and eat loads of tasty cake. They organise regular events with different themes and in January they held their biggest get together yet, East West Cake, where they were joined by a group of Glasgow bakers for a serious cake-off. I'd been reading about their cake exploits online for a while but this was the first time I had actually applied for a place and gone along.

Cake as far as the eye can see...

Despite it's popularity I'm not someone that does a lot of baking, though I'd like to do more. At Ballymaloe I learnt loads on the subject but back home it never seems right to bake for only one or two people. I don't have a huge family up here to feed all the cake to and I don't want to end up the size of a house eating it all! Being the office feeder has never appealed and it's also a bit science-y for me, with all the stretching proteins, bubbles of air and exact temperatures. I've always been a far more intuitive cook, before Ballymaloe I rarely measured anything and only started getting interested in the science of food once I realised it would make me a better one.

However baking is both scientific and creative and that creative side definitely appeals to me, I loved making cakes as a child and decorating them from recipes in a Jane Asher cook book. My mother still tells the story of us dancing along to the sound of the Kenwood Chef (dear lord...) and I have cooked loads of tasty cakes over the years, this time though, I was a bit out of practice.

Ahead of this cake extravaganza I planned on making an Italian cake 'Torta Mimosa' from Tessa Kiros' gorgeous book Limoncello & Linen Water. The theme was 'showstopper cakes', this one is decorated to resemble mimosa blossoms, bright yellow from lots of organic yolks, a bit like a sweet version of the Eggs Mimosa dish at Ballymaloe. I thought it fitted the bill, yes I would have time to rustle up some crystallized flowers for the top! Christmas came and went, then the flurry of Hogmanay, January was racing by and suddenly I had no time to practice a cake that required 10 eggs and a bottle of Limoncello. I consider a bottle of Limoncello a sound investment but I didn't want to risk taking something I'd never made before. What if it was a disaster, these ladies' cakes are really good...

My three layer coffee cake, with chocolate curls

Yes, I wussed out and instead made the delicious coffee cake we had at Ballymaloe. I'd made the chocolate cake that week but the differences are really only in the flavouring and icing, and I had most of the ingredients in. I baked a third layer to give it a bit more height, and added additional decoration to the top of dusted cocoa powder and homemade dark chocolate curls. The cake itself has a really intense coffee flavour, especially from the icing and cream, the sponge itself is a bit more delicate and balanced but still strong enough for a coffee fiend like me. There's no chopped or ground nuts in it, it's pure coffee, although I did add halved walnuts at the base and covered the top in cocoa and chocolate curls.

Once the cake was made (recipe in my next post), on its stand and safe in a cardboard box it was time to set off. Carrying it down from the second floor, across the icy pavements, into the car, and keeping it save driving across town was a challenge. "Not the cobbles!" I cried to my poor driver, protective of my precious cargo. Good job I wasn't going to Glasgow, my heart was in my mouth the whole time and we only drove two miles. I've since discovered the sensible thing to do for these things is buy a plastic cake carrier, then assemble it on the stand at the venue. Lakeland, here I come.

The event itself was great, the cake made it there in better shape than me after the journey and took its place with all the other fabulous cakes on display. There were all types, chocolate, chocolate and fruit, gingerbread and Guinness, Malteser, pavlova, carrot, tortes, cakes with macaroons, I could go on and on. I tried as much as possible, I managed about five or six slices, some smaller than others. After that there was no way I could eat anything sweet for the rest of the day! A sugar coma beckoned...but I still took back a huge box full of cake and we ate the rest over the week. It was nice to meet some new people in Edinburgh who were all super friendly and hugely creative with their skills and ideas. I'm definitely looking forward to the next one.

Here are some pictures of the fab cakes from the day:

This George Square cake was too good to eat!

Mine on the table

Nom nom

There's more...

...and more

The icing on this one was amazing!

Rosewater in this one was lovely

Yum!

  

Ballymaloe Day 43, March 8th - Canapé Capers

Middle of the week and there was loads on today. First off the cheeseboard, which this week was Goats’ Cheese, then the canapé demonstration which was an epic affair with both Rory and Darina showing us how to prepare dainty little morsels for any occasion. There were quails eggs, smoked salmon, fish kebabs, anchovy straws, marinated feta, lamb on rosemary skewers, tiny Yorkshire puddings with roast beef and horseradish, meatballs and more. Top tips for presenting the food in a quirky fashion were foraging for an old birds nest (??!) and an antique dormouse grill if you happen to have one. It would certainly start the conversation among your guests if the Prosecco hadn’t done the trick!

Foraged bird's nest!

Quail's eggs, shrimps

Darina and Rory

Anchovy straws at the front

Field mice grill centre!

Canapes on artisan tiles

 

It gave me loads and loads of ideas for when I get back!After a short lecture on freezing and one on spices we all trooped off to Ballymaloe House Hotel a few miles down the road. I had already been to the kitchen to chop cabbages and to the shop and café a few times (warning, the shop is full of cool kitchenware you’d be tempted to buy) but this time we had a tour round the dining room, kitchen, wine cellar and bedrooms. The wine cellar down in the basement has some old stone walls from the remains of the original castle. We also went out to see the Grainstore, a converted barn they use for events which is a fabulous space, and the onsite coffee roastery. Yes, they really do have everything here! It was a gorgeous sunny day and afterwards we had some afternoon tea in the conservatory, all cakes we have cooked ourselves of course! The Allen family told us a bit about the history of the house and how Myrtle Allen first established the restaurant back in the 1960s, cooking country house family food with ingredients from her garden.

Ballymaloe House

The grounds

The wine cellar

The kitchens

Coffee Roastery, The Golden Bean

The Grainstore

The Coffee Roaster

Another thing I managed to fit in to today was the infamous sourdough. The trouble with this sourdough has been the second rising, it has risen fine but it's over risen and sunk a bit the second time. Mainly because its been rising in the middle of the night and would have been perfect to cook at 4 in the morning! Well they had sunk a little but still looked good so I baked then in the morning, here they are:

My sourdough

Ballymaloe Weekend 7 - 25th/26th February, Food Writing Course

This weekend we had a Saturday course on Food Writing with Hugo Arnold, who has written for the Evening Standard, the FT, Food and Wine Magazine and other publications in Ireland. It was all really interesting and a real insight into how to approach writing recipes and articles. As ever, perseverance and exhaustive research seems to be key. Hugo Arnold told us about his experiences, what in his opinion makes a good food writer, and what doesn’t (or rather who!). We met some people from the outside world who weren’t on the 12 Week Course, and had pizza for lunch.

I also carried on feeding up the sourdough starter. I had fed it with a bit of spelt flour and it went mental, bubbling up and out of the small pudding basin I was using. I fed it up with a big feed of flour and water and put it in a big Pyrex bowl covered with clingfilm. The clingfilm was soon rising above the bowl as it was so active. Going to try and use the starter for the dough tomorrow. The elements seem to have been captured anyway, I am the culinary Prospero!

Ballymaloe Day 31, 20th February - A Bout de Soufflé

Argh, we are now in to Week 7 and the course is flying past. I was still in Kitchen 1 for another week, this time I was in a section with a bit more room. I was making the Pâté de Campagne, a Finnochio and Red Onion Salad and the Parmesan and Gruére Cheese Soufflé. The pâté is a terrine made in a small Le Crueset. There was so much meat, minced chicken and pork and bacon and chicken livers, you make up the mixture and fry off a bit to check the seasoning. It took quite a few attempts to get it right, then rolled out rashers of streaky bacon to line the casserole. The minced mixture was then layered up with the livers. I had just folded over the top of the bacon only to remember I had forgotten the pistachios which were lying in a bowl in front of me... That went into the oven sealed with a flour and water paste.

The salad was simple enough but really tasty, then the soufflé. The base of it with the cheese could be made ahead, then you whisk the egg whites at the last minute and fold it in. It took a bit longer in the oven than the recipe suggested, could probably have had another minute or two, it could have done with a bit more colour but it did rise and was sooo tasty!

Finnochio & Onion Salad

Pasty looking Souffle

Vegetarian's Nightmare

 

In the afternoon we had a demonstration with Rachel, she made some delicate winter salads with bitter leaves, lots of stews, polenta and ahead of Shrove Tuesday crêpes with orange butter and toasted hazlenuts.

The day wasn’t over though as we had another wine evening, this time by Pat Smyth, who used to play rugby for Ireland before he got into wine. He is also an expert on French wine. He has a slightly different approach to some of the other wine people we’ve met, he wasn’t a fan of the spittoon anyway! His philosophy is wine is for drinking and sharing, glug!

Also yesterday I started my sourdough starter. Elements be captured!

Ballymaloe Day 19, 2nd February - White Yeast Bread

So here in Ireland they have soda bread, and then yeast bread, which I would just think of as normal bread. So far we have made Soda bread, then a brown yeast bread, but today we were tackling White Yeast Bread and all its capriciousness. Made the dough ok, using fresh yeast as we have here. Then after leaving it to rest for 5 minutes I started kneading. And kneading. And...you get the idea. You are trying to develop the gluten in the flour so it is stretchy and springy. It takes a long, long time and you have to show the dough who's boss. Not so easy if you have weak scrawny arms like me. The teacher made it look so easy! Eventually it was there and I put it in the breading warming cupboard to rise. Then it was on with everything else.

Firstly Chicken Liver Pate with Melba Toast. Prepared some livers - pretty slimy taking off all the membranes and stuff, fried them in loads of butter, then flambeed them in brandy using the flame of the gas stove. The first time I have ever done this, it shot up in flames! Then whizzed it up in the Magimix and left to cool. Next were the Raspberry Squares I had to make as I was making biscuits or some sort of small cake that day. These were pretty quick to make (and I never say that about anything here!), made again in the food processor and then baked in a swiss roll tin, then topped with raspberry jam and dessicated coconut and cut into squares, yum!

Back to the bread, checked a few times and it was still not ready, but with everyone open and closing the door it was hard for the breads to rise. Eventually it was ready and I knocked the air out of it, kneaded it a bit, left it again, then split it into two. Then I plaited one half and made rolls from the other. Finally it goes in the cupboard to rise for the final time till the yeast has pretty much done its job and it is into the oven with it.

Back to the Pate. Mixed it up again with loads and loads of butter and then put it into dishes and covered with a layer of clarified butter. I say a layer, I added about a cm of butter only to be spotted by Rory who advised it only needs to cover the pate, really a mm should be enough! Poured the rest off, topped with a thyme sprig and put it in the fridge. By this time I was really losing the will to live but no, I burnt some Melba Toast, made some more, then filleted a round fish, again another evil looking cod and fried him up served with some herb butter.

A good morning's cooking and loads done, then but into the afternoon's demonstration and we saw the Gravlax from Monday served with a mustard sauce. Next were loads of omelette and egg dishes, mushroom soup and marzipan! I also remembered to go and turn my little cheese after the class. I have been very poor remembering to go and turn it every day, thankfully some of the housemates have turned it for me. From Friday I only need to turn it every week though.

Gravlax

Petit Fours