by
Claire Clark, womanandhome.com
Claire Clark's take on Austrian coffee
cake shows how good a sponge cake can be. It's really simple to make,
but the results are stunning. Use whatever fruit is in season
Ingredients
- 185g unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 185g caster sugar
- 3 medium eggs, lightly beaten
- 185g self-raising flour, sifted
- a pinch of salt
- 125g hot, strong black coffee
- 15g caster sugar
- 1tbsp rum
- 300ml whipping cream
- 25g icing sugar
- ½tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tube (2g) freeze-dried raspberries
- 5 fresh black figs
- 5g candied rose fragments
Preparation
- Heat the oven to 170C, gas 3. Grease and flour a 20cm bundt ring tin.
- Using an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Gradually beat in the eggs, creaming well after each addition. Fold in the flour and salt with a large metal spoon.
- Transfer the mixture to the prepared cake tin and bake for about 25 minutes, until it is golden brown and springs back when gently pressed with your finger. Leave in the tin for 10 minutes, then turn out on to a wire rack to cool.
- Sweeten the hot coffee with the sugar and stir in the rum. Return the cooled cake to the bundt tin and slowly pour the coffee over it. Invert immediately on to a serving plate and leave to cool once more.
- Put the cream in a bowl with the icing sugar and vanilla and whip to medium peaks. Spread most of it over the cake, using a palette knife; it does not have to look perfectly smooth.
- Spoon or pipe the remaining cream into the centre of the cake and level with a spatula.
- Grind half the freeze-dried raspberries to a powder in a pestle and mortar or with a spice grinder. Using a tea strainer, dust the powder over the cream.
- Sprinkle with the remaining raspberry pieces. Cut the figs into quarters and arrange them in a circular fashion on top of the cake. Sprinkle with the candied rose fragments.
