Baking | Layered Coffee & Cream Cake … coffee genoise with coffee cream swathed in a dark chocolate ganache Recipe
“Only one thing is certain about coffee…. Wherever it is grown, sold, brewed, and consumed, there will be lively controversy, strong opinions, and good conversation.”
Mark Pendergrast
Layered Coffee & Cream Cake. It was that time of the year again. June already here and almost gone. With it, another birthday. Before you know it, the years gallop by. From what was a tiny knee kissing, naughty toddler, to an even naughtier, much taller, cookie & brownie monster cum food loving teenager, time does fly! How they change, the challenges they offer, and yet the smile that seems to make things easier!
Sometimes I wish we could have hung on to those days where life seemed simpler. Then again, teenagers are mixed packages. You never know when the next surprise is going to hit you. In many ways, the challenges keep us on our toes. And in even more ways, quite exhausted.
Nothing can prepare you enough…. nothing! That said, there are good times galore too! Who could have thought ‘he‘ would write poems? Now he has a blog that pops out a poem, sometimes few and far between, but does! I would have never expected him to play mother to the dog. He does.
My first choice of cake for his summer birthday is always a fruit based one. With summer threatening to singe us as the earth is literally on fire, stone fruit are true saviours. The colours, the lure, the juiciness … You will find a abundance of stone fruit recipes here on PAB.
Unfortunately we flew in really late from Calcutta the evening before his birthday and the loads of laundry took its toll. There was no way I was going grocery shopping. Thought I’d do a Bittersweet Fallen Chocolate Gateau but that wouldn’t offer an element of surprise. I like the air of expectancy around birthday cakes at home. Makes it so much fun!
The lack of time made me think coffee. Cake of any kind, flavour, texture is welcome. Chocolate was my first choice but the Camisoni coffee extract helped me decide. The deep heady aroma of coffee that emanated from the bottle sent me packing to make a coffee genoise. Coffee is something we all LOVE!A four egg cake is never enough for birthdays. Keeping in mind ‘forever hungry for seconds’ teenagers, I whipped up two coffee flavoured genoise sponges. My love for coffee has been inherited by both the kids. Often their natural choice for dessert when we go out is anything with coffee!
What shall I say about the end result? It was so good that we couldn’t get enough of it. It got over before we knew it. Seconds yes, but there was no chance for thirds {as the birthday boy rued!}. If I had had the energy and the ‘get up and go‘ the next day, IF, I would have happily whipped up another.
I’ve done the genoise sponge before for my birthday a few years ago. That is one of my favourite cakes, an Espresso Coffee Cream Cake. A while later there came about another delicious combination with coffee genoise sponge and chocolate quark. The latter sounded strange when I made it, but tasted great!
So here we go, sharing some deliciousness with this coffee laced cake. And in case you’ve missed it, Camisoni has a giveaway of their extracts on Passionate About Baking. Do stop by for a minute if you’d like to be part of it.
Recipe: Layered Coffee & Cream Cake
Summary: If you love coffee, then this Layered Coffee & Cream Cake is the cake for you. Deep, divine, addictive coffee flavours of the coffee genoise and coffee cream combine with a dark chocolate ganache, promising to make this an unforgettable experience.
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 40 minutes
Ingredients:
- Simple Coffee Genoise {Make 2 X 4 egg cakes}
- 4 large eggs
- 200g sugar
- 2 tbsp instant coffee powder
- 1 tsp Camisoni premium coffee extract
- 220g plain flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- Pinch of salt
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled
- Simple sugar syrup
- 1/4 cup water
- 2 tbsp sugar
- 1 tbsp instant coffee powder
- Filling
- 400ml low fat cream
- 50g icing sugar {as per taste}
- 1 tsp Camisoni premium coffee extract
- Dark chocolate ganache
- 150g dark chocolate
- 150ml low fat cream, room temperature
- Dark chocolate shards for garnishing
Method:
Coffee Genoise Sponge
the oven to 190C. Line the bottom and sides of 2 X 8″ spring form round tin.
In a large bowl, beat the eggs with the sugar over a bowl of simmering hot water for about 5 minutes till thick and mousse like.
Take off water and continue to beat till the mixture cools down, about 5-7 minutes. Add the coffee extract and beat in again for a minute.
Fold the flour through gently, in 3 goes, lightly till it’s mixed through well. Be careful not to release the beaten in air.
Take a cup of this batter in another bowl, and mix the melted cooled butter through it. Now gently fold this back into the rest of the batter.
Turn the batter into the prepared baking tin, and bake for 30-35 minutes, till a tester comes out clean.
Cool completely on racks, then slice into two horizontally.
Total 2 X 4 egg cakes=4 layers
Syrup
Place ingredients in a small pan and stir until sugar dissolves. Cool.
Filling
Whip ingredients together till medium stiff peaks form. Taste and adjust sweetness if required.
Assemble
Brush each layer with the coffee syrup, and sandwich with the filling.
Give the whole cake a thin layer of ganache as a base coat. Let it set for about 30 minutes.
Frost with the remaining ganache and garnish with chocolate shards etc.
Chill for about an hour or overnight. The flavours mature nicely over time.
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Also find me on The Rabid Baker, The Times of India