Coffee Feather Cake Recipes

FEATHERLIGHT CHOCOLATE CAKE

Steps:

• Serving suggestion: Dust with confectioners' sugar and serve with milk
• Arrange a rack in the upper 1/3 of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F.
• Butter and flour a bundt pan or tube pan. (You can use a mixture of cocoa powder and flour instead of flour, to prevent white spots on the cake.)
• In a standing mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, or using a hand mixer, cream the butter until light and fluffy. Mix in the sugar. One at a time, mix in the eggs, then the vanilla, occasionally scraping down the mixing bowl.
• Meanwhile, in another bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and 3/4 teaspoon salt.
• Add 1/3 of the flour mixture; then 1/3 of the ice water. Repeat, mixing after each addition. Transfer the batter to the pan and bake until springy and dry, about 40 to 45 minutes.
• Let cool in the pan on a rack, then carefully turn the cake out. Just before serving, sift confectioners' sugar over the top. Serve with very cold milk!
• Notes about the recipe: When I developed this recipe I was just looking for a good, reliable dark cocoa cake that could sit on the counter over the weekend and be enjoyed in slivers, craving by craving. This cake is really moist and keeps for days. I just finished one that's been hanging around the kitchen for 6 days! You could frost it with creamy white icing but it hardly needs it. My friend Lana's mom June was one of the best cooks I knew as a kid in the '60s and she did a cake by the same name, though the recipe handed down to me from her daughter is a bit different.

COFFEE FEATHER CAKE

Steps:

• Cake: Preheat oven to 325°F. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, 3/4 cup granulated sugar, baking powder, and salt. Add coffee, oil, egg yolks, and vanilla; whisk until smooth. Beat egg whites on medium speed until frothy, about 2 minutes. Increase speed to medium-high and gradually add remaining 3/4 cup granulated sugar; beat until stiff, glossy peaks form, about 5 minutes. Gently fold one-third of whites into batter, then fold in remaining whites.
• Divide batter evenly among three ungreased 8-inch round pans, smoothing tops with an offset spatula. Bake until lightly golden and tops spring back when gently pressed, 25 to 30 minutes. Transfer pans to wire racks; let cool 15 minutes. Run a small offset spatula around edges and turn out cakes, upside-down, onto racks; let cool completely. With a serrated knife, split each cake in half horizontally (making 6 layers).
• Filling: Beat mascarpone with salt on low speed until combined. With mixer running, slowly add cream. Increase speed to medium; gradually add confectioners' sugar and beat to medium peaks. Refrigerate, covered, until ready to use.
• Feathers: Melt each chocolate in a separate heatproof bowl set over (not in) a pan of simmering water, stirring until smooth. Mix a little melted milk chocolate into half of melted white chocolate to create a fourth color.
• Working in batches, spoon half-dollar-size pools of melted chocolate onto baking sheets lined with nonstick baking mats or parchment. (If chocolate hardens as you're working, reheat over simmering water.) Using pastry brushes and short, quick strokes, brush melted chocolate into feather shapes. Refrigerate until set, at least 30 minutes.
• Coffee whipped cream: Beat granulated sugar, salt, cream, and coffee on medium-low speed until sugar has dissolved, about 1 minute. Increase speed to medium-high and beat to stiff peaks, about 3 minutes. (For a stronger coffee flavor, whisk in another 1 to 2 tablespoons coffee.)
• Anchor one cake layer, bottom-side down, on an 8-inch board with a dab of whipped cream. Spread 3/4 cup mascarpone filling evenly over layer, then top with a second cake layer. Spread evenly with 3/4 cup whipped cream, then repeat process, alternating filling and whipped cream between layers, and ending with sixth and final cake layer, bottom-side up.
• Spread a thin layer of whipped cream over cake to form a crumb coat; refrigerate until firm, about 15 minutes. Spread all but 1/4 cup of remaining whipped cream over top and sides of cake. Create a layering effect with chocolate feathers by attaching them, at a slight angle, to side of cake with dabs of remaining whipped cream to anchor.

FEATHERLIGHT SPONGE CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F/325 degrees F fan-forced. Grease and flour two deep 8-inch round cake pans.
• Beat eggs and sugar in small bowl with electric mixer until thick, creamy and sugar is dissolved. Transfer mixture to large bowl; fold in triple-sifted dry ingredients. Divide mixture between pans.
• Bake sponges about 20 minutes. Turn, top-side up, onto parchment-covered wire rack to cool.
• Sandwich sponges with jam and cream.

NUTMEG FEATHER CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 9x13 inch baking dish.
• In a large bowl, cream together the butter, shortening, and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each one. Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, nutmeg, and salt; stir into the creamed mixture alternately with the buttermilk until just blended. Pour the batter into the prepared pan.
• Bake for 40 minutes in the preheated oven, until the cake springs back when pressed lightly in the center. Cool completely before frosting.

NUTMEG FEATHER CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 9x13 inch baking dish.
• In a large bowl, cream together the butter, shortening, and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each one. Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, nutmeg, and salt; stir into the creamed mixture alternately with the buttermilk until just blended. Pour the batter into the prepared pan.
• Bake for 40 minutes in the preheated oven, until the cake springs back when pressed lightly in the center. Cool completely before frosting.

COFFEE CAKE

Steps:

• Heat the oven to 180C/160C fan. Line and butter two 18cm sandwich tins. Add the sugar and butter to a bowl and whisk until very fluffy and pale.
• Whisk the eggs in a mug with a fork, then add them gradually to the mixture with 1 tbsp of flour each time. (Make sure you don't use all the flour.) When the eggs have been fully combined into the mix, add the rest of the flour and fold it in gently.
• Add the dissolved coffee to the mixture, still folding. Divide into the sandwich tins and cook for 25-30 min until risen and firm and a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean. Leave to cool in the tin for 5 mins then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely. Can be frozen at this stage.
• Meanwhile, make the icing by beating the icing sugar with the butter until light and fluffy, then add the dissolved coffee. Whisk, then cover and set aside until ready to ice the cake.
• Spread half the icing on the bottom of one sponge and spread the strawberry jam on the bottom of the other, if using. Sandwich together, then spread the remaining icing on top. Decorate with walnuts or cherries, if you like.

FEATHERWEIGHT BREAKFAST CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease 8X8 square pan.
• Melt butter and cool slightly and add milk and beaten egg, set to the side.
• In bowl, sift the next four (4) ingredients, 2 times. Add butter, milk, and egg mixture and stir only enough to smooth out any lumps.
• Combine the remaining sugar and cinnamon for the topping, in a small bowl or in a ziploc bag.
• Pour batter into greased pan and sprinkle the mixture of sugar and cinnamon over the top and bake 12 to 15 minutes.

EASTER COFFEE CAKE (KULICH)

Steps:

• In a medium sized saucepan, bring the milk to a boil over medium heat. Remove from the heat and add the honey and oil, stirring until the honey is dissolved.
• Gradually add ½ cup of the flour, beating until the mixture is completely smooth. Cool to lukewarm.
• In a large bowl, add the yeast to the water, stir, and let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes.
• Add the milk and flour mixture to the yeast and stir until smooth. Cover with a linen or cotton kitchen towel and let rise in a warm place until the sponge doubles in bulk, about 1 hour.
• In a second large bowl, beat the egg yolks and the sugar until thick and pale yellow. Add the nutmeg, cardamom, vanilla extract, Cointreau, brandy, orange zest and orange juice and beat for a few more seconds.
• Scrape out the seeds from the vanilla beans and add them to the yolk mixture. Add the butter, raisins, almonds, and almond extract.
• With a clean, dry beater, beat the egg white until it forms soft peaks and fold it into the egg yolk mixture.
• Combine the yolk mixture with the risen sponge and mix gently, but thoroughly. Using an electric mixer, gradually beat in the remaining 4 cups flour until you have a very smooth, loose dough. Transfer the dough to a clean, well greased bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk, 1 ½ hours.
• Cut two 1 ½ inch strips of parchment paper, each long enough to be molded down one side, then across the bottom and up the opposite side of a clean 2 pound coffee tin. The ends should extend above the top of the tin. Butter the tin and the strips, then set them into the tin crisscross to each other. Fold the ends over the outside of the tin.
• Punch the dough down and place it in the tin. Let rise again, covered, until doubled in bulk, about 45 minutes.
• While the dough is rising, preheat the oven to 325°F.
• Bake the kulich until it is golden brown and a cake tester comes out clean, about 1 hour to 1 hour 10 minutes. Cool slightly, then carefully lift the kulich from the tin by pulling up on the ends of the parchment strips. Remove the parchment and let the kulich cool on a rack.