This breakfast cake is a bad influence. Not possible, you say? Well, when chocolate and coffee join forces against me, I crumble. This cake made me want to call in sick to work this morning, and just spend the day on the couch with cake. I didn’t, but oh, oh the temptation! Maybe it’s the coffee and chocolate combination or maybe it’s the fact that I’m eating cake for breakfast, but it just makes me want to indulge in every other part of my life. These days, my indulgence involves my pajamas, the couch, The Gourmet Cookbook, and well… this cake. It’s cake for breakfast! Try it and indulge.
This cake has three (yes, count em… three) delicious flavors marbled together: vanilla, chocolate and espresso. The coffee cake is moistened by sour cream, which also creates a light and tender crumb. The texture is smooth and light. The Bundt type pan ensure that the cake bakes relatively quickly, without drying out. Essential. This cake is delicious with milk or coffee, and tastes even better when you’re wearing pajamas. True.
Mocha Coffee Coffee Cake with Espresso Glaze
adapted from The Gourmet Cookbook
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 sticks (12 tablespoons) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup sour cream
2 Tablespoons cocoa powder dissolved in 1 1/2 Tablespoons hot water
2 Tablespoons instant espresso powder dissolved in 1 Tablespoon hot water
For the Glaze
1 1/2 teaspoons instant espresso powder
2-3 Tablespoons strong brewed coffee
3/4 cup confectioners’ sugar, sifted
Make the Cake
Put a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Generously butter and flour 8- inch (6 cup) Bundt pan.
Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a bowl.
Combine butter and sugar in a large bowl and beat with an electric mixer at medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition, then beat in the vanilla. Add flour mixture alternately with the sour cream, beginning and ending with flour mixture and mixing until just incorporated.
Transfer about one third of the batter to a small bowl. Add espresso mixture and stir until combined. Transfer 1/3 of the remaining vanilla batter to another small bowl and add the cocoa mixture and stir until combined. Spoon all three batters into the Bundt pan, alternating so each flavor is distributed through the pan.
Bake until cake is golden, or until a wooden spoon inserted in the center comes out clean, 55 to 60 minutes. Cool in pan on a rack for 30 minutes, then invert onto a rack to cool completely.
Make the Glaze
Stir together espresso powder and 2 tablespoons coffee in a bowl until powder is dissolved. Add confectioners’ sugar and stir until well combined. If glaze is not pourable, thin with remaining coffee if necessary.
Pour glaze over coffee cake and let cake stand until glaze is set, about 10 minutes, before serving.
(This recipe can be doubled and baked in a 10- inch (12 cup) Bundt pan. Increase the baking time to about 1 hour.)
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