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Easy Coffee Cake – A delicious all-in-one coffee sponge topped with smooth coffee buttercream. Simple to make and packed full of flavour.
PLUS – How to make this cake in any size of round, square or rectangular tin.
Last week I shared with you my recipe for Easy Chocolate Cake, and today I’m back with another simple, classic cake recipe – Coffee Cake topped with Coffee Buttercream.
Two big cake recipes in a row?
Yes. I realised that I have so many more cupcakes on here than full-sized layer cakes. The reason for this is that I almost always test new cake recipes as cupcakes, as it’s easy to make small batches making lots of little tweaks until the recipe is just perfect. As soon as the recipe is just right, I’ll share it on here and move onto the next one.
I decided it was about time that some of those cupcakes were transformed into big cakes, so I’m on a mission to supersize them all for you.
One of the reasons I love this coffee cake recipe is that both the sponge and the buttercream are absolutely jam-packed with coffee flavour.
Coffee is one of my absolute favourite cake flavours, and I struggle to resist buying a slice if I spot one in a coffee shop. However, sadly I’ve noticed that quite a few lack coffee flavour in the actual sponge, there’s the subtlest hint, but all the coffee flavour is in the icing. Not so with this cake, both the sponge and buttercream are packed full of flavour.
Can I use freshly brewed coffee rather than powder or granules?
No, the reason I use instant coffee powder or granules in this recipe is that it’s the easiest way to get an intense coffee flavour into both the sponge and buttercream. The amount of freshly brewed coffee needed would mean adding too much liquid to the mixture.
You also cannot substitute the coffee powder/granules for ground coffee beans. Making this substitution wouldn’t give the same flavour (as they need brewing to bring out the flavour) as the coffee beans wouldn’t dissolve into the mixture, so you’d end up with bitty cake and buttercream.
I only have coffee granules, how do I grind them into a powder?
I always use granules rather than powder and I simply give mine a quick blitz in my spice grinder. You can also grind them in a pestle and mortar.
Can I use decaf coffee?
Absolutely. We mostly drink decaf coffee at home and so that’s what I usually use for my cakes. The results of using regular instant coffee and decaf are the same.
Can I use self-raising flour instead of plain?
Absolutely. Instead of the 200g of plain flour and 2½ tsp of baking powder listed in the recipe, use 210g of self-raising flour.
Other recipe inspiration for coffee lovers
If you’re like me and love coffee flavoured treats then take a look at some of my other coffee-filled recipes:
- Caramel Macchiato Cupcakes – coffee cupcakes topped with whipped cream and a hidden caramel centre
- Coffee & Walnut Cake
- Cappuccino Truffles
- Coffee Cupcakes
What’s the best way to store my coffee cake?
This coffee cake can be stored in an airtight container for 4-5 days. Preferably it should be stored in the fridge (but allow it to come up to room temperature before eating as it’ll have a better flavour and the buttercream will soften), but it’ll be fine at room temperature providing the room isn’t too warm.
This cake is suitable for freezing, either just the coffee sponge or the buttercreamed cake. To freeze the coffee sponge cake, wait for it to cool and then wrap the cake in clingfilm or store it in an airtight container before freezing. Defrost it thoroughly before decorating.
The buttercreamed cake can also be frozen in the same way. If you’ve piped the cake beautifully and you’re worried about squashing it when you wrap it in buttercream simply freeze the cake uncovered on a dish for an hour to firm up the buttercream. Then wrap it in clingfilm. As the buttercream is already solid, it won’t get squashed. When you want to defrost the cake, remove it from the freezer and remove the clingfilm (so it doesn’t stick to the buttercream as it thaws).
I would not recommend freezing just the buttercream to use later as the consistency becomes a little too fudgy. This means it’s delicious on the cake but tricky to spread or pipe.
What are the coffee cake ingredients for a different size of tin?
As for my easy chocolate cake, I wanted to make it simple for you to make this cake in a different size or shape (either round, square or rectangular) so you can get it to fit in a tin you already have at home or feed as many or few people as you need.
The main recipe below is for a two-layer 20cm round cake (this serves 12 people). However, this recipe is easily adapted to use other sizes of tins.
To find the ingredients needed to make this cake in a different size, simply add the dimensions of your tin and the number of layers into the boxes below and hit “Calculate”.
Round Cake
Cake Diameter (cm)
Number of Layers
Cake Ingredients
0 g plain flour
0 tsp baking powder
0 tsp coffee powder/granules
0 medium egg(s)
0 g soft margarine or butter
0 g soft light brown sugar
0 tsp milk
0 tsp salt
Buttercream Ingredients
0 g butter
0 g icing sugar
0 tsp vanilla extract
0 tsp instant coffee powder/granules
0 tsp boiling water
Square or rectangular cake
Cake Size (cm)
x
Number of layers
Cake Ingredients
0 g plain flour
0 tsp baking powder
0 tsp coffee powder/granules
0 medium egg(s)
0 g soft margarine or butter
0 g soft light brown sugar
0 tsp milk
0 tsp salt
Buttercream Ingredients
0 g butter
0 g icing sugar
0 tsp vanilla extract
0 tsp instant coffee powder/granules
0 tsp boiling water
Easy Coffee Cake
INGREDIENTS
For the coffee sponge
- 3 tbsp instant coffee powder - or coffee granules ground to a powder
- 200 g plain flour
- 2½ tsp baking powder
- 220 g soft light brown sugar
- 220 g margarine or butter - butter must be soft at room temperature
- 4 medium eggs
- 2 tsp milk
- ⅛ tsp salt
For the coffee buttercream
- 200 g butter - soft at room temperature
- 400 g icing sugar
- ¼ tsp vanilla extract
- 8 tsp instant coffee powder or granules
- 4 tsp boiling water
- A little milk
This recipe is for 2x 20cm round sandwich tins. To find the ingredients for a different size of tin please use the calculator above the recipe.
INSTRUCTIONS
Make the coffee sponge
- Pre-heat your oven to 160ºC/140ºC fan.
Line two 20cm round sandwich tins with greaseproof paper or re-usable baking tin liners (I use these tins and these liners). - Put all of the cake ingredients into a large bowl (3 tbsp coffee powder, 200g plain flour, 2½ tsp baking powder, 220g soft light brown sugar, 220g margarine or butter, 4 medium eggs, 2 tsp milk, ⅛ tsp salt). Beat with an electric mixer or by hand on a low speed until all of the ingredients are combined.
- Split the mixture between the two prepared tins. Then bake for 30-35 minutes until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean.
- Once the cakes are cooked, remove them from the oven. Leave them to cool in their tins for about 10 minutes before removing them from the tins and moving them to a wire rack to cool completely.
Make the coffee buttercream
- While the cakes are cooling make the coffee buttercream. Start by mixing together the instant coffee powder/granules (8 tsp) with the boiling water (4 tsp). Set aside to cool.
- In a large bowl beat the butter (200g) and vanilla extract (¼ tsp) on a low speed until soft. Add the icing sugar (400g) and beat on a low speed until combined with the butter and smooth. Gradually add the coffee mixture, 1 tsp at a time. After each addition beat the buttercream until the coffee has been fully combined before adding more.
- Check the consistency of your buttercream. It should be soft enough that you could spread it onto a slice of bread. If it is too firm, then add a little milk (no more than 1 tsp at a time) until it is your desired consistency.
Build the cake
- Place the bottom layer of your coffee sponge onto your serving dish. Spread about ⅓ of the coffee buttercream evenly across the sponge (I like to use a palette knife, but you could use a regular knife or the back of a spoon).
- Add the top layer of sponge. Again spread ⅓ of the coffee buttercream on top. Put the remaining buttercream into a piping bag fitted with a large star nozzle (I use a JEM1B nozzle). Pipe 12 blobs of buttercream evenly spaced around the edge of the cake. I give the piping bag a little wiggle as I squeeze so that the buttercream looks slightly ruffled.Of course, if you don't fancy piping, simply split the buttercream even between the middle and top of the cake.
- Serve
NOTES
NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION
Any nutritional information provided is the estimated nutritional information per serving. Please refer to my guide to Charlotte’s Lively Kitchen nutritional information if you would like to learn more about how this is calculated.
Free From/Suitable For
The ingredients I used to make this recipe are all free from the following allergens. However, please check any labels carefully for allergens you need to avoid as brands can vary, and product recipes can change over time.
- Suitable for Vegetarians
- Tree Nut-Free
- Peanut-Free
- Sesame-Free
- Soya-Free
- Sulphur Dioxide & Sulphite-Free
- Lupin-Free
Jason Newell says
Turned out great first time
Trudy Adlam says
I’ve made this recipe before and it turned out very nice, but a little dry. I used the calculator for a 23cm round tin, but had difficulty converting to ounces and cups. You have done such a wonderful job making this so flexible for people, would it be possible to do this little tweak also?
Charlotte Oates says
I always recommend using grams rather than cups as it’s a far more accurate way of baking and may explain why your cake was a little dry. If you really want to use cups then I’d recommend using my grams to cups calculator which includes all of the ingredients in this recipe and should make conversion easy.
Nessa Hayden says
Just made this today and it was absolutely delicious! Quick and easy and we all love it! Thank you!
Jenifer Fernandes says
Hello, Charlotte! I just baked this cake and it came out perfect! You can taste the coffee flavour but it’s not super bitter or anything, and it’s also very soft and fluffy!
Kind regards!
Lesley Scholes says
Cake turned out beautifully, but I find you only need half the quantities for the icing. That is enough to fill and top the cake by far.
Emily (Ireland ) says
We love coffee in this house☕. This was my first attempt at making a coffee cake and I was attracted to the ‘easy’ in the title hence went with this recipe. I had two 26cm round tins so really appreciated the ingredient/tin size converter=definitely a must if you have different sized tins to 20cm mentioned in recipe. The cake came out perfect and delicious and full of coffee flavour. I added some walnuts to the top layer of icing. Yum. Very much recommended. Would have left a photo of my successful attempt but don’t think I can!
Sammy says
Hi, I don’t have two sandwich tins, could I bake it in a one deep 20cm cake tin and cut it after it’s baked? I expect it would need a longer amount of time to cook through but I don’t mind that. Would it still work?
Charlotte Oates says
You can try it, but it’s not something I recommend. As the sponge is quite light and fluffy it can struggle with the extra depth and so doesn’t rise quite as well and can also sink in the middle. I know some people who have tried it who have had great results and other who sadly have had problems. I think it may depend on the oven and tins used, but without have access to test them all I can never be sure. If you do decide to give it a go then it’ll need to bake for around 50 minutes.
Harshal Ranglani says
Very very disappointing. The cake didn’t rise at all. I’ve followed everything as mentioned. I don’t know what to do with this cake now.
Charlotte Oates says
I’m sorry to hear that the cake didn’t rise. How old was your baking powder? Over time it can lose its effectiveness. To check it add a little to some boiling water. If it fizzes (a lot) then it’s OK, if not then I’d suggest buying a new batch.
Michelle says
This turned out beautifully! Family loved it!
Manogya Ranjan says
Hey! Lovely recipe. I just wanted to ask if the quantity of milk was enough. My batter didn’t reach the correct consistency. Was wondering where I went wrong with the sponge cake.
Charlotte Oates says
What consistency did you get v what you were expecting? (I don’t think I mentioned what the consistency is in the recipe). My batters tend to be a little thicker than some as I prefer to use medium eggs when many recipes use large. I find this give the cake a lighter fluffier texture. If you were happy with the final cake (which you comment suggest you were), then I’d say the consistency was just right 🙂
Rosemary says
Hi, lovely coffee recipe. Can I use 3 eggs instead of 4, what about, sugar can I use agave or honey if I don’t have brown sugar
Charlotte Oates says
If you want to use 3 eggs instead of 4 then your need to reduce the other ingredients by 25% too. Reducing the eggs that significantly without changing the other ingredients would lead to the cake lacking structure and not rising properly.
If you do this then I’d recommend using an 18cm tin instead.
I wouldn’t replace the sugar with honey or agave as they would add too much liquid to the mix and change the texture of the finished cake.
If you don’t have brown sugar you could use caster instead, or possibly granulated (this might make the cake a little heavier and more grainy).
Helen says
Hi Charlotte – I have just made this cake for my daughter’s 40th birthday. She absolutely loves coffee cake and yours certainly tastes of coffee. My question is could you use Tia Maria in the buttercream to give it a bit more adult treat?
Charlotte Oates says
You could, but I would recommend reducing the amount of coffee if you do that otherwise you’ll be trying to add in too much liquid. If you have a look at my recipe for whiskey buttercream it should help with info for adding alcohol to buttercream.
Poppy Fuller says
Hiya.
Planning on making this cake tomorrow using your conversions for 3x20cm tins, do you think i could use stork for this or shall i stick to butter? Not sure if stork is the same thing as margarine! Xx
Charlotte Oates says
Yes, you can use Stork. It’s what I almost always use for my cakes as it mixes in well with the other ingredients.
MICHELLE PINKERTON says
Hi there…. Can I use this mixture but put it into cupcakes instead? And if so how many would this mixture make
Many thanks
Charlotte Oates says
Yes. It will make 16 cupcakes. They’ll need to be baked for approximately 20 minutes at the same temperature as given in the recipe.
Desha W says
My coffee cake turned out quite dense and oily. Is this likely because I used margarine and not butter? It sank in the middle too. I can’t quite work out why it happened. I followed the recipe exactly as it is.
Charlotte Oates says
I’m sorry to hear the cake didn’t turn out as expected. I almost always use margarine instead of butter as it combines more easily, so it’s unlikely to be the cause. From your description it sounds as though there may have been some lumps of margarine that weren’t fully mixed into the other ingredients. If that happens the margarine can leak out making the sponge greasy,. and can also cause it to not rise as expected.
Marianne says
This recipe turned out great ! Was an instant hit among the whole family.
The only issue was that the coffee buttercream turned out a bit towards the runny side that i would have liked.
But that didnt stop us from enjoying the cake !
Thankyou for sharing this recipe ❤
Gen says
Hi! Could I use cake flour instead of plain flour? Or would plain flour be better? Thanks!
Charlotte Oates says
I haven’t tested it with cake flour so I can’t be certain of the result, but it should work fine.
Carol says
Hi I dissolved my coffee before I put in my mixture my spnge came out really soft I mean soft and light is this normal
Charlotte Oates says
The sponge is designed to be soft and light so that sounds normal.
Em says
Makes wonderful coffee cake that turned out incredible. Thanks for sharing this recipe…
Karin Fisher says
Just made this recipe this afternoon and it turned out fantastic! Thanks so much I used instant espresso powder and dissolved it in the milk and that worked great
Sarah Phillips says
Charlotte, i am going to try your recipe. If I want walnuts in the cake (not just on top), do you know if I just add them crushed to the cake mixture and does the cooking time need to adjust at all?
Charlotte Oates says
You’ll be fine adding finely chopped walnuts into the cake mixture. Make sure they aren’t too chunky as if they’re too heavy they may sink to the bottom, but if they’ chopped like you’d buy in the supermarket, they’ll be fine.
I’d add about 100g.
There should be no need to adjust the cooking time or temperature.