Coffee Flavored Cake with Espresso Meringue
Savor our spiced coffee flavored cake topped with whipped espresso Swiss meringue. Perfect for coffee lovers, gatherings, or a sweet treat anytime!
Servings: 12 people
Calories: 140kcal
Equipment
- whisk
- 8 inch cake pan
- kitchen thermometer (Optional) only if making the espresso Swiss Meringue frosting
- heat resistant bowl and saucepan (Optional) only if making the espresso Swiss Meringue frosting
- electric hand held or stand mixer (Optional) only if making the espresso Swiss Meringue frosting
Ingredients
Spiced Coffee Flavored Cake
- ½ cup almond milk dairy free milk of choice or regular milk (to make homemade buttermilk)
- 2 teaspoons vinegar apple cider (to make homemade buttermilk)
- 1 an ¼ cups all purpose flour sifted (or can exchange with 1:1 (cup to cup/measure for measure gluten free flour mix) * see notes for measuring.
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ¼ cup brown sugar packed (we used light but can also use dark brown sugar)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder (gluten-free if required)
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1.5 teaspoons cinnamon
dried ground - ½ teaspoon nutmeg
dried ground - ½ cup water hot (to be mixed with instant espresso)
- 3 tablespoons instant espresso coffee dried ground (to be mixed with hot water)
- 1 whole egg
Espresso Swiss Meringue Frosting (OPTIONAL - Homemade Marshmallow Creme)
- 2 egg whites
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ¼ teaspoon cream of tartar
- 1 teaspoon instant espresso coffee dried ground
Instructions
Spiced Coffee Flavored Cake
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (176 °C). Grease and flour one 8 inch cake pan or grease and line the cake pan with parchment paper.
- Add apple cider vinegar to non-dairy milk or dairy of choice to make a homemade buttermilk. Stir and set it aside. (If you already have buttermilk at home, you can skip this step and measure out ½ cup)
- In a separate little bowl, add hot water to dried instant espresso coffee and stir well. Set aside to cool.
- Mix the Dry Ingredients Together: In a large bowl add flour, granulated sugar, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg and stir.
- Mix the Wet Ingredients into Dry Ingredients: Add egg, ½ cup homemade buttermilk mixture, ½ cup espresso coffee mixture and vanilla and stir with whisk or fork until well combined.
- Pour prepared cake batter into the prepared cake pan. Bake for 30 - 36 minutes or until the toothpick comes out clean.
- Cool completely on a wire rack before frosting or topping as desired.
Espresso Swiss Meringue Frosting (optional)
- Carefully separate the egg whites from the egg yolk. Reserve the yolks for another recipe.
- In a heat proof bowl, add egg white, sugar, cream of tartar and dried instant espresso. Place the filled heat proof bowl over a double boiler or a sauce pot with a couple inches of water on the bottom. Bring to a simmer while whisking continuously.
- Continue mixing the meringue until the temperature reaches 160°F (71°C) and no grains of sugar are felt between your fingers. This step takes about 5 minutes. (The mixture will go from a dark to frothy mixture)
- While the frosting mixture is still piping hot, transfer to your stand mixer or use handheld beaters and whip until glossy stiff peaks are formed on high. This process takes about 5 minutes. The mixture will go from a dark brown to a pale beige color.
Toppings or Frostings
- You can simple top the coffee cake with a little powdered sugar, a dollop of whipped topping or try a drizzle of our Pumpkin spice coffee sauce.
- Or you can pipe or frost espresso meringue frosting on the coffee cake. If you are feeling crafty, carefully bronze the edges of meringue marshmallow creme with a kitchen torch.
Video
Notes
Tips for Make the Cake
- Ensure your eggs and non-dairy milk come to room temperature before mixing. This makes them easier to incorporate into the cake batter.
- Do not use the measuring cup to scoop up the flour. Instead, use a spoon to gently spoon the flour from the flour bag or storage to the measuring cup. Be sure to level off the measuring cup off with the back of a butter knife.
- Pack the brown sugar into the measuring cup.
- Don’t overmix the cake batter – just mix until the ingredients are well combined.
- Stop opening the oven door every 5 minutes to check on the cake! This will cause the temperature to lower. Your cake may not rise properly, crack or even sink.
- Determine if your cake is done by using the toothpick test. If the toothpick comes out clean in a couple of places near the center, it is done.
- Allow the cake to fully cool directly in the pan BEFORE removing it from the pan.
- Please see the post above for all of the helpful tips and hacks for making homemade espresso meringue (marshmallow creme)
Nutrition
Serving: 1slice of cake | Calories: 140kcal | Carbohydrates: 33g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 0.4g | Saturated Fat: 0.05g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 0.1g | Cholesterol: 0.3mg | Sodium: 168mg | Potassium: 121mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 21g | Vitamin A: 1IU | Vitamin C: 0.01mg | Calcium: 38mg | Iron: 1mg