Today is the last ‘Concert at Cratfield’ in the 2013-14 season and I think I have achieved a good-tasting Coffee Cake, although I am still not happy with the icing and filling.


The recipe is the Double Espresso Brazil Nut Cake from Dan Lepard‘s Short & Sweet. I am still not happy with the filling and icing. I used mascarpone cheese flavoured with coffee, but it made a very sloppy icing – perhaps it was the brand of mascarpone? I topped the mascarpone with a coffee glace icing.
Previously I used a Coffee Mousseline Icing from Delia Smith’s Book of Cakes and it was excellent, but very heavy on butter and egg yolks. The icing was also quite soft and not entirely suitable for a cake stall on a hot afternoon.

Geraldine Holt, Cakes, has an English Butter Cream which uses a hot liquid to melt the sugar crystals and no egg yolks – I could try that. Dan Lepard uses a Coffee Water Icing which, judging from the photograph in the book, looks quite ‘thick’. But I am reluctant to take his advice because I want something creamier…
Dan Lepard lists a Meringue Buttercream Icing which sounds very good. I think I need to decide the ‘look’ I am trying to achieve; the cupcakes are pretty; the coffee cake looks nice with the icing swirled on top; and then there is a smooth finish.



So where does this leave me? I like Dan Lepard’s recipe; I like the sandwich cake shape; a coffee mousseline butter icing makes a wonderful filling; and the meringue buttercream seems to give the best ‘finish’; and for a filling and covering without eggs I should try Geraldine Holt’s English Butter Cream. Or Nigel Slater has a recipe for Mascarpone icing which sounds ‘firmer’ and I could try another brand.
I’d like to invite you to join our site http://www.easyrecipes.com . I really enjoy your blog and recipes and I think the over 8,000 unique daily visitors to Easy Recipes will too.
By joining Easy Recipes, we will provide the Nutrition Facts for every recipe you post in which you could customize and add to your blog. Viewers need and love to know the nutritional facts. Its a free service that we offer to blogs and recipes we really love. It looks professional and your members will love it. Simply visit http://www.easyrecipes.com or contact me at michelle@erecipe.com. We look forward having you in our network!
I have a new blog at http://cakesandbaking.wordpress.com Perhaps you would like to look at this instead?