This old-fashioned cake is buttery, tender and not too sweet, with a slightly dense crumb. The elegant frosting, made with a meringue-based buttercream, is perfumed with coffee liqueur. Make sure your butter is at room temperature, and beat it with the sugar for the full five minutes so the cake will bake up light and fully risen. It tastes best when served the day it is baked.
| Level: | Intermediate |
| Total: | 2 hr 25 min |
| Prep: | 30 min |
| Inactive: | 1 hr 10 min |
| Cook: | 45 min |
| Yield: | 12 servings |
Ingredients
- 1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus more for greasing the pans
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled, plus more for greasing the pans
- 3 tablespoons cornstarch
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon fine salt
- 2 cups sugar
- 4 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup milk
- 1/2 cup Irish cream liqueur, such as Baileys
- 4 large egg whites, at room temperature
- 1 cup sugar
- 3 sticks unsalted butter, cut into small pieces, at room temperature
- 1/3 cup coffee liqueur, such as Kahlua
- 1 tablespoon instant coffee
Instructions
- For the cake: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter the bottoms and sides of two 9-inch round cake pans; dust with flour, and tap out the excess.
- Whisk together the flour, cornstarch, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl; set aside.
- Beat the butter and sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, making sure the batter is well mixed before adding the next egg. Beat in the vanilla until blended.
- Alternate folding the flour mixture and the milk into the butter mixture with a spatula, adding the flour in three additions and the milk in two, starting and ending with the flour, until just smooth. (The batter may look slightly curdled as you mix it, but this is not a problem.) Divide the batter evenly between the prepared pans.
- Bake until the cakes are golden and the centers spring back to the touch, 35 to 40 minutes. Let cool in the pans about 10 minutes, turn out onto cooling racks and let cool completely. Turn the cakes over, and poke the tops all over with the tines of a fork. Generously brush the tops with the liqueur, letting it soak in before brushing on more.
- For the frosting: While the cakes cool, bring a few inches of water to a simmer in a medium saucepan. Set a large heatproof bowl over it (do not let the bowl touch the water), add the egg whites and sugar and whisk until the mixture is warm and the sugar has dissolved, 3 to 4 minutes. Remove the bowl from the pan, and beat the mixture with an electric mixer on medium-high speed until stiff, glossy peaks form, 4 to 7 minutes. Beat in the butter a few pieces at a time, and continue beating until the frosting is smooth, 1 to 2 minutes. (Don’t worry if the mixture becomes soupy or looks separated; keep beating and it will come together.) Stir the Kahlua and instant coffee together until dissolved, and beat into the frosting with the mixer running on low speed. Increase the speed to medium-high, and beat until fluffy, 1 to 2 minutes.
- To assemble: Place 1 cake layer right-side up on a cake plate or stand, and spread with 1 cup of the frosting. Top with the second cake layer. Frost the top and sides of the cake with the remaining frosting.
Nutrition Facts
| Serving Size | 1 of 12 servings |
| Calories | 678 |
| Total Fat | 33 g |
| Saturated Fat | 20 g |
| Carbohydrates | 82 g |
| Dietary Fiber | 1 g |
| Sugar | 59 g |
| Protein | 7 g |
| Cholesterol | 145 mg |
| Sodium | 297 mg |
Reviews
The cake was delicious and fun to make. Only complaint I got was the strong coffee flavor in the icing. By the title of the cake one would think it would taste like chocolate. I think the 1 tablespoon of instant coffee could be changed to 1/2 T Hershey’s chocolate.
Is the cake dense enough for a 3rd layer?
We really enjoyed this cake; it’s definitely rich, so we got many more than twelve servings as the yield suggested. The meringue buttercream frosting is just great, you could definitely use it on other cakes for a delicious coffee flavor. I was hesitant about the cake, the batter seemed too “flour-y” for my tastes, but I understand why now; once baked, you need that dryness to soak up the Baileys, otherwise it would be mushy or sticky. It’s a very nice cake, I made it for a party and everyone really enjoyed it. I think it tastes even better the second day, out of the fridge! Definitely recommend to give this one a whirl!