Both Pork Belly and I are caffeine addicts and this sweetly frosted layer cake is enough to satisfy our cravings.
The addition of a generous slug of Irish whiskey makes the cake very rich and moist and the vanilla frosting perfectly complements the coffee flavour.
An Irish coffee in cake form.
Irish whiskey coffee cake
A rich, whiskey-infused coffee cake with a vanilla frosting
Ingredients
- 250 g butter softened
- 250 g soft dark brown sugar
- 250 g self-raising flour
- 50 g cocoa powder plus a little extra for decoration
- 4 large eggs
- 100 g natural yoghurt
- 100 ml strong coffee cooled.
- 1 teaspoon vanilla paste or extract
- For the coffee syrup
- 50 mls strong coffee
- 50 mls Irish whiskey
- 2 tablespoons soft brown sugar
- For the frosting
- 100 g butter
- 200 g icing sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon cream
- Optional decoration – chocolate covered coffee beans
Instructions
- Pre-heat the oven to 180 deg C/gas mark 4.
- Grease and line 2 x 8 inch sandwich tins.
- Put the butter and sugar into a bowl and beat for about ten minutes, until light and creamy.
- Add the flour, cocoa powder, eggs, yoghurt, cooled coffee and vanilla and mix for a few minutes more until well combined.
- Divide the mixture between the two cake tins and bake for about 25 minutes until springy to the touch.
- Leave to cool while you make the coffee syrup by heating the whiskey, coffee syrup and sugar in a small pan until the sugar has completely dissolved.
- Remove the sponges from the tins and place them on a wire rack.
- Brush the coffee syrup across the sponges, allowing it to soak in.
- Leave to cool completely.
- For the frosting
- Beat together the butter and icing sugar and gradually add the vanilla extract and cream until the mixture is smooth, light and fluffy.
- Sandwich the two sponges together with about half the frosting and cover the top and sides of the cake with the rest.
- Sprinkle a dusting of cocoa powder on the top and decorate with the coffee beans.