Seriously Coffee Cake

Ingredients

For the Cake

1 1/2 cups of plain all-purpose flour

2 tsp baking powder

1 pinch salt

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp ground cardamom

1 tbsp cocoa powder

1 tbsp instant coffee powder

1 cup granulated white sugar

1/2 cup strongly brewed espresso

1/2 cup vegetable oil (like canola or sunflower)

3 eggs

For the Cream Cheese Frosting

100gm (1 stick) unsalted butter

100gm cream cheese

1 3/4 cups powdered sugar

1 tbsp vanilla extract

Preparation

Pre-heat the oven to 170 deg C. In a large bowl whisk together the sugar, espresso, oil and eggs till the sugar dissolves. In a smaller bowl, sift the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, cardamom, cocoa powder and coffee together. Mix well with a fork. Add the dry ingredients into the wet and stir till everything is just combined. Pour in a greased 8-9″ baking tin and bake for 35-40 minutes or till a toothpick inserted through the center comes out clean. Top with some cream cheese frosting and grated chocolate after the cake’s cooled. I find that resting the cake in the refrigerator for a couple of hours before serving makes it infinitely better.

Whisk together the butter and cream cheese till pale and creamy. It is best if you use an electric beater since whisking by hand would be a little tedious. Beat in the sugar spoonful by spoonful till its combined well. Beat in the vanilla essence.