Chocolate / Espresso Cake

Two of the world's best things in one… Well, three even, you get to bake, make have coffee and eat the cake!

Please disregard the Nespresso machine we keep. We are not regular coffee drinkers, so the capsules are perfect. 

I just recently treated myself to a spice / coffee grinder so I can grind the exact small amount of beens I need for one cup of coffee. Today I made a whole pot, though, brewing the coffee in the French Press, just like I learned back then. 

Today I used Anniversary Blend which is typically available in the fall on account of Starbucks' anniversary. During the year you could use Guatemala Antigua, Caffè Verona or Gold Coast Blend or just your regular favorite coffee!

So let's get to the recipe!

Ingredients

0.75 cup butter, room temperature (170g)
1      cup brown sugar (200g)

2 eggs

0.75 cup unsweetened cocoa (90g)
1      cup hot espresso (230ml)

1.75 cups all purpouse flour (220g)
1 tsp    baking soda
1 tsp    baking powder
0.5 tsp salt



Directions

Preheat oven at 350°F (180°C) and prepare your baking dish. I used a 8 x 8'' pan, lined with aluminum foil.

Cream butter and sugar together until fluffy, add the eggs, one at a time.
Dissolve cocoa powder  in 3/4 of the coffee. (Set 1/4 cup of the cocoa/coffee mixture aside!)
Don't worry if there are a few lumps, you're going to dump it into the batter anyway and mix until well combined.

Add the dry ingredients and beat until combined.

Pour your batter into the baking pan and bake for about 40-50 minutes, depending on your oven.

When the stick comes out clean, you're good!

Take out the cake and let cool in the pan for 15 minutes, then take it out and turn it out, upside down, actually, flat side up, if you know what I mean ;-) 

Drizzle with the remaining coffee and let cool completely. Or - if you like me - cut it while it's still warm and risk for it to fall apart. 

If you can't have cake without ganache or frosting, go ahead and make some. Otherwise dust with confectioner's sugar, cut and enjoy!

Now to be completely honest, I expected "more". You know when you read "Chocolate / Espresso Cake" you associate it with dying and going to heaven and having coffee with George Clooney, right? 

Well, I am still here!

Which is not a bad thing as such. 

My blogging friend Erin (searching for sanity) from Down Under kept me company via messenger. We were talking about chocolate, man-children, blogging come-backs and baking fails - the latter having nothing to do with how I like that cake, of course ;-) 

Just - next time I might try a version that includes melted chocolate.

Oh, I almost forgot to mention… I reached a milestone on my Facebook page! 300 likes! Thank you for reading, commenting, laughing with me...