MACMILLAN COFFEE MORNING RECIPE: COFFEE & CHOCOLATE CAKE

Last year I decided to get my fund raising hat on and host a Coffee Morning for Macmillan Cancer Research, and in an hour we raised just over £150. Every little helps right? So this year I decided to do it again and invite all my work colleagues to come have a couple of slices of goodness, a pot of coffee and donate some of their hard earned cash.

If you're planning on hosting your own coffee morning - which I definitely think you should - I've put together the recipe to a gorgeous coffee and chocolate cake I made recently. My friends and family have been kind enough to "test" the cake and it seemed to get the thumbs up for everyone. 

I know you don't need me to sit here and relay statistics to you but the sad reality is you will know someone who's been effected by cancer. When my dad was diagnosed with bowel cancer, it was charities like Macmillan which helped him. Anyway, scroll down for the recipe to this tasty little number and let me know how yours turns out if you decided to give it a go.  

Ingredients

For the sponge

50 grams walnut pieces

225 grams caster sugar

225 grams soft unsalted butter (plus some for greasing)

200 grams plain flour

2 teaspoons instant coffee dissolved in 1 tablespoon boiling water

2 ½ teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

Half a cup of chocolate chunks (suitable for baking)

4 large eggs

1 - 2 tablespoons milk

For the buttercream frosting

350 grams icing sugar

175 grams soft unsalted butter

2 ½ teaspoons instant coffee dissolved in 1 tablespoon boiling water

chocolate stars for decoration

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 180°C/gas mark 4/350°F.
• Butter two 20cm / 8inch sandwich tins
• Combine the chocolate chunks, sugar, 225g butter, flour, dissolved instant coffee, baking powder, bicarb and eggs and process to a smooth batter.
• Add the milk to loosen the cake mixture: it should be a soft, dropping consistency, so add more milk if you need to.
• Divide the mixture between the 2 tins and bake in the oven for 25 minutes, or until the sponge has risen and feels springy to the touch.
• Cool the cakes in their tins on a wire rack for about 10 minutes, before turning them out onto the rack and peeling off the baking parchment.
• When the sponges are cool, you can make the buttercream.
• Pulse the icing sugar in the food processor until it is lump free, then add the butter and process to make a smooth icing.
• Dissolve the instant coffee powder in 1 tablespoon boiling water and add it while still hot to the processor, pulsing to blend into the buttercream.
• If you are doing this by hand, sieve the icing sugar and beat it into the butter with a wooden spoon.Then beat in the hot coffee liquid.
• Place 1 sponge upside down on your cake stand or serving plate.
• Spread with about half the icing; then place on it the second sponge, right side up (i.e. so the 2 flat sides of the sponges meet in the middle) and cover the top with the remaining icing in a ramshackle swirly pattern.
• Gently press the chocolate decorations into the top of the icing all around the edge of the circle about 1cm apart.

If you want to register to host your own MacMillan coffee morning you can by visiting the website here, or in fact you want to donate you can here.