I am a really lazy baker sometimes. I love to make a recipe that you just put all the ingredients into a food processor, whizz it up then pour into a cake tin then bake while you make the icing. This is one of those recipes and it is really rather tasty too.

I realised that I kept making carrot cakes as my default tea time treat when friends came over so needed to show them I could actually bake something else. I love to invite friends over for tea, it is the time of day when I feel one needs a sweet treat and I am very British in that I always have a cup of tea late afternoon.  Also during the winter months, once it is dark it can become a very long evening ahead of you so the perfect time to see friends and then all can go home to get tucked up in front of the tv with their loved ones without having to brace the dark cold night too late.

Cappuccino cake was something I decided to make as someone left some instant coffee in my cupboard (I hate the stuff) but also hate throwing out food so decided to use it as an ingredient.

Ingredients

Cake:
115 g soft butter
115 g caster sugar
115 g self raising flour
1 tsp baking powder
2 eggs
3 tsp instant coffee granules diluted in 1 tbsp boiling water

Icing:
2 tbsp milk
50 g soft butter
1 tsp instant coffee granules diluted in 1 tsp boiling water
1.5 cups icing sugar

Turn on fan oven to 180 degrees and either line a tin with baking paper or grease with butter and flour.  I used a loaf tin but if you wanted to do round cake you may want to double the mixture and cook for approximately 10 – 15 minutes longer.

In your food processor add all the cake ingredients apart from the coffee mixture. Blend till smooth then add in coffee. Pour into cake tin and place into oven for 25-30 minutes keeping an eye and testing it is cooked by using a skewer in the middle of the cake and making sure no wet mixture left.

Allow cake to cool in tin for about 10 minutes then transfer onto a wire rack to completely cool. At this stage you can make your icing by blending the butter, milk, coffee and icing sugar together with an electric whisk or electric standing mixer till it’s combined. Taste and if too thick add a little more milk, or too thin add more icing sugar.

Spread over your cooled cake and use a spatula dipped in hot water to smooth it out then with a potato peeler take peels of dark chocolate so it looks like a cappuccino! Slice it up, make some tea and enjoy with friends*.

 

*friends not necessary if you don’t like sharing!