Ingredients

For the cake:

150g/5oz

golden organic caster sugar

150g/5oz

butter, softened

eggs, whisked lightly

150g/5oz

self-raising flour, sieved

1½tsp

baking powder, sieved

1tbsp

instant coffee

1tbsp

hot water

For the icing:

225g/8oz

icing sugar, sieved

100g/4oz

butter, softened

1½tsp

instant coffee

1tbsp

hot water

A simple but delightful coffee cake that always looks wonderful as a showpiece at the table, with it's caramel coloured buttercream topping looking so inviting.

Method

Pre-heat the oven to 160oC/325oF. Butter and line 2 small cake tins about 18cm/7 inch in diameter.
Cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.
Whisking all the time, now add alternately some of the whisked eggs followed by 1tbsp of the flour each time, making sure you do not use up all the flour.
Add the rest of the flour and the baking powder to the mixture and fold these gently into the mixture.
Dissolve the coffee in a mug and then add to the cake mixture and fold in gently.
Pour the mixture equally between the 2 prepared cake tins and bake for 30 minutes, or until ready. Remove the cakes from the tins and allow to cool on a wire rack.
To make the butter icing, cream together the butter and icing sugar until light and fluffy. Mix the coffee with the hot water and add to the butter icing.
To ice the cake, put one cake onto a flat surface. Now spread coffee butter icing on the bottom of the other cake and sandwich the 2 cakes together. Finally, spread coffee butter icing over the top of the cake.
You can decorate the cake with walnuts, almonds or how about chocolate coated coffee beans.