Chocolate and cinammon cake

I was at loss at what to make for my granddad's birthday, after all you only turn 78 once! Having seen a stack of chocolate, lonely in the cupboard, I decided to put it to use. Originally I intended to make a large chocolate cake by itself, but I didn't think it would be enough, and so the cinnamon cake was born... If you were to close your eyes whilst eating the cinnamon cake, it would taste like a light cinnamon bun, but with crumbs. The cinnamon cake provides a contrast to the chocolate cake in that it has a less rich flavour. The espresso in the cake adds another dimension of bitterness so the cake is not overly sweet, whilst the salt brings out the flavour of the chocolate. The pepper adds a little bite to the sugary goodness. Whilst the white chocolate buttercream is sweet, the ganache is slightly bitter, and so the sugariness is not too much...Whilst they make the cake look quite dramatic, the nuts add another dimension to the cake in that they give more texture, more of a bite.

Cinnamon cake:

150g self-raising flour

100 caster sugar

50g brown sugar

two teaspoons of ground cinnamon

one teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda

150g unsalted butter, softened

a dash of milk

3 eggs

Preheat the oven to 180C.

Cream the butter and sugars.

Add the flour, bicarbonate of soda and cinnamon to the mixture, and fold in.

Whisk the eggs, then add to the mixture along with the milk.

Mix together until you have a smooth batter, and pour into a buttered baking tin.

Bake in the oven for 30 minutes, or until a few crumbs comes out of the cake when it is skewered with a fork.

Take out of the oven and leave to cool in the tin for five minutes, before turning out onto a wired rack.

Chocolate cake:

200g self-rasing flour

180g caster sugar

one teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda

150g unsalted butter, softened

a drizzle of olive oil

two teaspoons of coffee granules dissolved in 30ml of boiling water

two heaped teaspoons of cocoa powder

120g dark chocolate, melted

2 eggs

a teaspoon of sea salt

lots of freshly ground pepper

Preheat the oven to 180C.

Cream the butter and sugar.

Add the flour, bicarbonate of soda, salt, pepper. and cocoa powder to the mixture, and fold in.

Whisk the eggs, then stir into the mixture.

Once the espresso mixture has cooled down, add to the cake batter. If you add it whilst it is too hot, it will start to cook the eggs.

When the melted chocolate has cooled, fold into the mixture, along with the olive oil.

Bake in the oven for 45 minutes, or until a few crumbs comes out of the cake when it is skewered with a fork.

Take out of the oven and leave to cool in the tin for five minutes, before turning out onto a wired rack.

Dark chocolate ganache:

50ml whipping cream

80g dark chocolate, broken in pieces

In a small saucepan, heat the cream.

As soon as the cream starts to bubble, take off the heat.

Stir the chocolate into the cream, so it is fully combined.

Set aside to cool before using.

White chocolate buttercream:

150g unsalted butter, softened

180g icing sugar, sieved

150g white chocolate, melted

dash of milk

Cream together the butter and the sugar.

When you have a smooth mixture, pour in the white chocolate. Make sure the chocolate is not too hot, or the butter will melt, giving a runny icing.

If the icing is too thick, add a few drops of melt to thin it.

Toppings:

Chopped pistachios

Chopped caramelised hazelnuts

Assembling:

If the cakes are too high or too sunken in the middle, trim with a serrated knife, so that you have a flat surface. Make sure that the cakes are cool when you cut them, otherwise they will crumble, and will the trimming will not be as neat.

Spread your base cake with the chocolate ganache near to the edges. Don't spread right to the edges, or when you put the other cake not top, the filling will spill over the sides. I put the chocolate cake on the bottom because it was bigger.

Put the smaller cake on top of the ganache and press down firmly.

Using a palette knife, (preferably a straight one,) spread the buttercream over the top and sides of the cake. I find that working from the top down is easiest. The buttercream should be thick enough that it can hold the nuts, but not so thick that it is too much to eat in a slice...however much that may be!

Firmly press the hazelnuts onto the side of the cake so that they stick. Using a palette knife to press them in may help.

Spread the pistachios on the top of the cake, but much more sparsely than the hazelnuts were put onto the cake. 

No.193 (Tap Coffee) - Wardour Street

This small independent chain of three shops all located W1 shows how coffee should be...

 

Walking in to No.193 Wardour Street, there are plain wooden benches, and high stools for adults who want to feel like children with legs dangling above the floor. Looking around, all you can see are hipsters and advertising types in beanie hats and checked coaks sipping their 2-shot macchiatos.

 

A latte and an orangina comes to £4.20, an acceptable price for the notoriously extortionate West End. The latte is brought to your table by the 20-something pierced good looking barista in a small glass (as it should be). Spotting the heart on the top of the coffee does make you think you might get the barista's number, but then you realise everyone else has one too.

 

The latte is smooth and creamy, and a good choice amongst the other drinks offered. Cakes are available (around £2.50), as well as sandwiches. The orangina tastes like orangine.

 

The constant grinding of coffee ensures it is never silent, and adds to the delicious aroma. With a lack of women, the crowd is surprisingly tame, entertained by the modern art on the walls, and the coffee machine at the end.

 

Although it is a chain (albeit a small one), the bathroom shows exactly what they think of mainstream coffee shops... the toilet brush holder is a Starbucks mug.

 

Worth another visit? Definitely, but the seats are not the most comfortable...

 

Find Tap on twitter, or at their website.

Coffee and walnut loaf cake

Simple yet yummy cake! This can easily not be a loaf cake, just cook it in a cylindrical tin.

Ingredients:

250g self raising flour

250g soft brown sugar

225g soft unsalted butter

4 eggs

40ml very concentrated espresso coffee (about 1tsp ground espresso)

20ml whiskey - optional

handful of roughly chopped walnuts

250g icing sugar

25g soft unsalted butter

175g cream cheese

How to make:

Preheat the oven to 180C and grease a (loaf) tin.

Beat the butter and sugar until creamy, like a butter icing.

Add the eggs one at a time whilst constantly beating.

Pour in the coffee and whiskey and mix.

Fold in the flour and make sure the mixture is combined.

Add the walnuts and give a quick stir.

Pour the mixture in the tin and cook in the oven for at least 40 minutes.

When the cake mixture is cooked, turn out on a wire rack so that the air can get to it and the cake can cool down.

Beat the unsalted butter and cream cheese into a smooth paste.

Add the espresso mixture and icing sugar and beat until there are NO lumps.

Spread evenly/drizzle the mixture over the cake.

The cake will keep in an airtight container for 3-5 days. Well it might be gone before it reaches anywhere near three days...

Notes:

If the butter is not soft, put it in the oven for 10-30 seconds, depending on how big the butter pieces are. REMEMBER, you don't want to melt the butter, just soften it.

Take the eggs out at leat 30 minutes prior to using so that the mixture doesn't curdle.

If you stick a fork into the sponge and it comes out clean or with a few crumbs, the cake is cooked.