Instant Coffee Cake (Easy Coffee Loaf Cake)

❤️Why you will love this recipe

• This loaf cake is easy to make and uses simple ingredients. It starts with a butter cake base and is then flavored with instant coffee and filled with chocolate chunks before baking.
• This is not the typical coffee cake made with cinnamon-sugar mixture, but rather, a butter cake flavored with coffee. It is a coffee lover edition of butter cake.
• It's great to be eaten on its own and can also be frosted with a simple chocolate or coffee drizzle.
• Can be baked into a round or square cake, frosted and used as a special cake for a special occasion or as a birthday cake for a coffee loving person.

📋Ingredients

• Self-raising flour + baking powder + salt - mix these together and sift them into the cake batter.
• Brown sugar - give the cake a lovely caramelized depth in flavor.
• Butter - I use salted butter. If using unsalted butter, add a small pinch of extra fine salt in the recipe.
• Eggs - Use large sized eggs (whole eggs).
• Instant coffee powder + hot water - these are to be mixed to dissolve the coffee into a smooth paste.
• Milk - Use whole milk for a rich cake.
• Dark chocolate chunks (or chocolate chips) - these are optional, but definitely enhances the taste.

🧾Substitution and variations

• Self raising flour can be substituted with all purpose flour and baking powder. For every 225g of self raising flour, substitute with 225g of plain flour and one and half teaspoons of baking powder. Mix well and sift them 3 times before using.
• Unsalted butter can be used in place of salted butter, just add a small pinch of extra salt in the recipe.
• Instant coffee granules or powder can be replaced with instant espresso powder.
• Brown sugar can be replaced with granulated white sugar.
• Simple topping options for this coffee loaf cake include drizzles of caramel sauce, simple glaze (made using 60g of powdered sugar (icing sugar) and 3 teaspoons of warm water) or coffee glaze (made by dissolving a quarter teaspoon of instant coffee powder in 3 teaspoons of hot water before mixing with 60g of powdered sugar).
• To make a coffee walnut loaf cake, top the cake with some buttercream and sprinkle chopped roasted walnuts on top.
• To make a round or square cake, double the recipe below and bake in two well greased and floured (or parchment paper lined) 7 inches round tins or 6 inches square tins. Sandwich the cake layers with coffee buttercream, cream cheese frosting or chocolate ganache.

Mixing the cake batter

1. Start by mixing the instant coffee powder with hot water in a separate small bowl until it is dissolved.
2. Add milk into the coffee solution. Mix well and set aside.
3. In a large mixing bowl, mix sugar and butter.
4. Beat the butter and sugar mixture until light and fluffy. Use a paddle attachment if using a stand mixer. This should take about 2 minutes. Scrape the sides of the bowl at a 1-minute interval. Add the eggs, one at a time. And each time, beat until all the traces of the egg are no longer visible. Scrape the sides of the bowl.
5. In a separate medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt. Sift these dry ingredients (flour mixture) into the creamed mixture in three batches. Fold in each batch until well incorporated.
6. Alternate the dry ingredients with the instant coffee mixture (wet ingredients) in 2 batches, starting and ending with the dry ingredients.

Baking the coffee cake loaf

1. Pour half of the batter into a well-greased and floured loaf tin. Level and add half of the chocolate chunks to the leveled batter.
2. Top the chocolate chunks with the second layer of remaining batter. Level the top.
3. Add the remaining chocolate chunks onto the top of the batter.
4. Bake the instant coffee cake loaf in a preheated oven at 175 degrees Celsius for 45 minutes. Check the cake for doneness at about 40 minutes by inserting a skewer into the center of the loaf. If it comes out without any wet batter sticking to it, the loaf cake is done and can be removed from the oven. If not, let it continue to bake for another 5 to 10 minutes.

After baking

• Once removed from the oven, let the loaf cake rest in the tin for about 5 minutes before loosening the sides with a jam knife.
• Turn the cake over onto a wire rack and then turn it back up onto another wire rack. This is to allow the top cake to remain upwards instead of facing the wire rack.
• Let the loaf cake cool at room temperate until it turns warm. Keep it covered with a kitchen towel while cooling down.
• As soon as the cake turns warms, wrap it with cling wrap (plastic wrap) and refrigerate it. Keep it refrigerated for at least 30 to 45 minutes. You can also leave it overnight.
• Remove the instant coffee cake loaf from the fridge and let it return to room temperate (if you refrigerate it for a few hours and if the cake is completely chilled in the fridge) before removing the cling wrap. This will avoid direct condensation on the cake.

🍽️Serving & storage

• This loaf cake can be served on the very same day it is baked, even while it is still warm (without any frosting). It is also equally good when baked in advance and stored in the fridge until it is ready for use, within one week.
• To store the cake in the fridge, once it is baked and has cooled down slightly, wrap it tightly with cling wrap and refrigerate.
• When you wish to serve it, remove the cake from the fridge and with the cling wrap still intact, let it warm up to room temperature. Remove the wrapping only after the cake has reached room temperature to prevent condensation on the cake which can reduce its shelf life.
• Leftovers of this loaf cake can be stored at room temperature for a good 4 to 5 days provided it is handled without any moisture.
• Always use a completely dry knife to cut the loaf into slices. Also make sure the container you intend to store the cake has no traces of moisture in it. The leftovers can last up to one week if refrigerated (in an airtight container).

💡Expert tips

• Make sure you use room temperature butter and eggs. If either the butter or eggs are cold, you will find that your mixture will start to curdle as you add the eggs. This is ok and you need not discard the batter. If this happens, add some of the flour mixture to the creamed mixture and mix until the batter is no longer curdled. And then proceed with the remaining steps in making the cake.
• This instant coffee cake loaf is best made using instant coffee granules or powder. It is easy to dilute and you can make it in thick consistency.
• Always dilute the instant coffee with some hot water. If you add coffee directly into the cake batter, the instant coffee will not dissolve and you will end up with specks on coffee in your batter.
• There are 2 ways in which you can mix the instant coffee into this coffee-flavored loaf cake. You can dilute it with hot water and then add it directly to the cake batter (make sure the coffee cools down first) after beating in the eggs or you can add the instant coffee solution into the milk and then add it alternately with the sifted dry ingredients. Both ways is fine to make this coffee cake.
• Tips for a moist coffee cake loaf:
  • Just like any other cakes, the baking time plays a very important role in the texture of this instant coffee cake. Baking the cake for too long can result in a dry cake and so it is important to not overbake it. Check if the cake is done at least 5 to 10 minutes before the baking time is up by inserting a long skewer in the center of the cake. If the skewer comes out without any wet batter sticking to it, the cake is done and can be removed from the oven.
  • Ideally, for best results, there should be soft cake crumbs sticking to your skewer. If the skewer comes out totally clean, the cake could have been overbaked. Also, when the cake is done, the sides will pull away from the tin.
  • The other tip to keep this cake super moist is by refrigerating it while it is still warm. Wrap the cake in plastic wrap while it is still warm and place it in the refrigerator to cool down completely before unwrapping and serving.

💭FAQs