Create a magic coffee cake
We have four words for you. Three. Cakes. In. One. Sounds tricky, right? Wrong. Throw together a few basic cake ingredients in the same tin, cook at a low temperature and voila! You have a magic three-layer cake with a moist cake base, delicate cream filling and light fluffy sponge on top. Christelle Huet-Gomez’s new book Magic Cakes unveils the secret of these cakes – with simple ingredients and preparation method, the magic is in the cooking. The book explores cakes such as this coffee cake, as well as brownies, cupcakes and savoury recipes.
INGREDIENTS
500 ml milk
30 g instant coffee
4 eggs, separated
150 g caster (superfine) sugar
1 tablespoon water
125 g butter
115 g plain flour
pinch of salt
METHOD
Grease a 20-cm rectangle cake tin with butter and line with baking paper (or use a silicon cake mould).
Preheat the oven to 150°C.
Heat the milk and coffee in a saucepan until the coffee is fully dissolved. Allow to cool. Beat the egg yolks with the sugar and water until the mixture whitens. Melt the butter and pour it into the mixture. Then fold in the flour and salt. Pour in the milky coffee little by little, beating constantly.
Beat the egg whites until stiff and, using a whisk, gently incorporate them into the batter. Pour the batter into the greased cake tin, smooth the surface with the blade of a knife and bake in the oven for 45 minutes. When the cake comes out of the oven it will wobble slightly.
Before turning it out, leave it to set in the fridge for at least two hours. Serve chilled.
Chef’s tip: Make a chocolate icing by melting 100 g dark chocolate in 50 ml single cream and drizzle it all over the cake.
This is an edited extract and images from Magic Cakes by Christelle Huet-Gomez, published by Hardie Grant Books.
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