So, me and coffee cake go WAY back. I've been drinking coffee almost my whole life and the flavour it gives to cakes and pastry is beyond one of my favorites out there. But wait.. there's more.. BAILEYS. Baileys and coffee are the best combo since Brangeli- oh..wait...
LOOK it takes this cake to a whole other level. It's not exactly a revolutionary idea, but if you haven't tried it.. what have you been doing with your life?? With coffee cakes, I prefer to take a.. opera cake-esc twist on the classic desert. I like to have my cake look fancy and be eaten more as a dessert like a tiramisu. Soo here we are with my recipe for Baileys Coffee Cake, I promise you its absolutely delicious with or without the Baileys. x
In this stream I also baked a cosmopolitan cocktail which you can find the recipe to; here!
When I streamed this, I had just flew home from London as the covid virus was really starting to spread quite fast. I wanted to get home and be locked in with my boyfriend rather than alone in a different country for god know's how long without a job. Back in Dublin, I have a kitchen aid mixer and a lot of ingredients and utensils I would never re-buy in London so not starting up Dona Bakes again would've been an absolute waste.
I wanted to bake something that, if you bake, you'd almost have all of the ingredients already so you wouldn't have to leave the house to pick up ingredients (hopefully) ontop of that, we bake in a basic loaf tin which we later trim to make it look a little fancier.
In this recipe I make a coffee dilute using freeze-dryed coffee granules and just hydrate it with some water and add a little sugar. I used Nescafé Gold, I really just use the granules as it tastes perfect, almost everyone has it and it works really well in the recipe. I've been in very fancy bakeries where even they will use coffee granules to flavour expensive cakes. If you'd prefer to brew your own coffee, you definitely can, just make a really really short espresso and sweeten it! I also used a 2lb loaf tin as most people have one and its a small quantity, perfect to avoid waste during isolation!
Anyways, enough of my rambling, enjoy the recipe my loves x
Baileys Coffee Cake
This recipe makes a 2lb loaf tin sized cake. Coffee Dilute
4 tsp Dissolve-able Coffee Granules
6 tsp Sugar
80ml Boiled Water
Cake Recipe
100g Softened Butter
100g Caster Sugar
100g Self-Raising Flour
1 tsp Baking Powder
2 Eggs
1 tbsp Coffee Dilute
Icing
100g Butter
290g Icing Sugar
3 tsp Baileys Liquor
2 tsp Coffee Dilute
Decoration (Optional)
Crushed Walnuts
Dark Chocolate Coffee Beans/Grated Dark Chocolate
Firstly make the Coffee Dilute as you'll want it to be cooled and ready to put into the cake mix, icing AND to flavour the cake after baking. In a cup combine the coffee, sugar and boiled water then mix until fully combined. Place this in the freeze to help cool it faster.
Preheat your oven to 180°C/160°C Fan/350°F. Next lightly grease your loaf tin and line with parchment. Click here and I can show you how I line a loaf tin perfectly!
In a mixer (or with a hand mixer) cream together the softened butter and caster sugar until well combined. This will help the butter mix through the cake evenly. Next add in your eggs, flour and baking powder and mix for another 2-3 minutes until fully combined. Finally mix in your coffee dilute. Try not to over mix this recipe as the more you mix, the flatter and denser the cake will become.
Pour the mixture into your prepared tin and use a spatula to help press the mix into the corners. Place into your preheated oven and bake for 20-25 minutes. After 20 minutes check if its baked by poking it with a knife or skewer to see it comes out clean. If not bake for a further 5 minutes until baked.
Once baked, leave to cool in the tin for 5 minutes then remove from the tin and allow to cool on a rack completely.
While this cools you can start to prepare your buttercream; first beat your butter in a mixer/bowl with a handmixer until very pale, almost white. This can take up to 5 minutes but it really is worth it!
When the butter is very pale, add all of the icing sugar and carefully beat at a low speed to help prevent icing clouds. After fully combining all of the icing sugar and butter, mix in the Baileys and Coffee dilute. Taste test this and if you'd prefer more coffee or baileys, go ahead! You might need to add more icing sugar if it becomes too wet. When you're happy with the buttercream, fit a 15mm round piping tip in a piping bag and fill it! If you don't have a piping tip, you can do without.
After the cake has fully cooled, grab a bread knife and carefully trim off the edges of the cake then cut the cake in half down the side. Now you're ready to put together the cake!
Take your serving plate and place your first layer of cake down, I placed cut side up. Use a fork to prick holes all along the cake and then pour 1-2 tbsp of the Coffee Dilute along the cake. This will help really give a STRONGER coffee flavour, you can do without if you'd like.
Next take your buttercream and from one corner, pipe left to right all the way along the cake to make.. intestine-esc looking pattern. Gross imagery yes, but as a cake.. stunning!
Place down your next layer, pour over your coffee essence and pipe all along this top layer again. Lastly for decoration, you can sprinkle crushed walnuts all down the centre and either place Dark Chocolate Coffee Beans/sprinkle grated Dark Chocolate all along the top.
There you have it! I really hope you enjoy this recipe and if you do end up making it, please tag me on instagram or twitter in my socials down below!! x
