Espresso cake

This easy, one-layer cake defies the usual techniques and I wouldn’t have noticed the recipe if I hadn’t spotted a pet peeve: expresso for espresso. That the word appeared on a box of Domino powdered (icing) sugar only increased my irritation. Domino is our top sugar producer and they should know better. Of course, they do. When I read it, I saw they were aiming for a pun for an express cake, but it so misses the mark that it’s not used on Domino’s website, where it’s simply called Cafe Espresso Cake.

But express it is, with only a single layer. And get this — the frosting is made first and some is reserved for icing the cake, but most goes into the cake itself. The result is a very moist cake, albeit a sweet and rich one. I didn’t know what else to expect in terms of taste, with espresso powder in both the frosting and batter. To my surprise and delight, it’s reminiscent of a spice cake, but with a deeper flavor.

Something else on the box caught my eye: it was to be baked in a square pan. My first thought was to go round, and indeed that’s how the website version reads. But panning is a real issue with this recipe. It specifies an 8″ pan; in my experience, that size is fine when one cup of flour or less is used for each layer. This uses more and I didn’t even bother prepping an 8″ pan when I did my mise en place. I reached for my usual 9″ pan with 2″ sides but remembered many people use the ones with 1.5″ sides and decided to try that. It was large enough, but only barely. My advice is to use a deep pan, even if you have to resort to using a springform.

Instead of frosting the top and sides as the recipe says, I’d wanted to use it only on top, fluffing it, hoping for the look of froth in a cup of espresso or cappuccino. I could have achieved it with a smaller cake but didn’t have quite enough. Then I wanted a more finished look, so I sifted dark chocolate cocoa onto the frosting and drizzled on a simple ganache made of cinnamon chips and cream. Those extra flavors worked well, just as they do in cappuccinos. The small additions of ice cream were a tasty treat.

Despite all that tinkering, I will make this again because it’s almost effortless and quite delicious. I will try removing the set-aside frosting before all the sugar is added so the frosting’s not so sweet. I don’t think that will hurt the structure of the cake, but I really don’t know.

The recipe now reflects my 9″ pan. You’ll notice an unusually long baking time for a single layer. It’s not a typo. It needed a full 40 minutes in my oven. By the way, I used reduced-fat cream cheese (Neufchatel) without any problems but stayed with whole milk.

Cafe Espresso Cake

Adapted from Domino

Frosting:
3 ounces cream cheese, softened
4 ounces (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1 tablespoon instant espresso granules
3 ounces (1/3 cup) milk
1 pound Domino® Confectioners (icing) Sugar

Cake:
5.5 ounces (1 1/4 cups) all-purpose flour, lightly spooned into the cup
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon instant espresso granules
3 ounces (1/3 cup) water

Set a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 350F/180C/Gas 4. Grease and flour a 9 – inch round pan, preferably with 2″ sides.

For the frosting, dissolve the espresso granules in the milk and set aside. For the cake, dissolve the espresso granules in the water and set aside. In a bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder and salt and set aside.

Frosting:
In large mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese and butter at medium speed until smooth. Add confectioners’ sugar to cream cheese mixture alternately with milk and espresso mixture, beating 1-2 minutes or until blended. Remove 1 cup of frosting from bowl and reserve.

Cake:
With mixer at slow speed, add eggs one at a time to remaining frosting in mixing bowl. Add vanilla; beat until blended. Add flour mixture to mixing bowl alternately with water mixture and continue beating 1-2 minutes or until well blended.

Scrape batter into pan and bake 30-40 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pan. Cool completely.

Place cake on serving plate and frost sides and top with reserved frosting.

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Tagged as: easy, quick